What is the Regional Impact Council?

The Regional Impact Council (RIC) is a roundtable of stakeholders from all nine Bay Area counties, convened in April 2020 to address poverty and housing insecurity in our region. The Council foster regional collaboration to identify and advance solutions for people with extremely low incomes, including our unhoused neighbors. The council is composed of policymakers; affordable housing, social equity and economic mobility stakeholders; housing and homelessness service providers; and business and philanthropic partners.

The RIC developed two ambitious regional plans in its first two years.

The Regional Action Plan (RAP) is a roadmap to reduce unsheltered homelessness in the Bay Area by 75% in three years. It was developed in response to the longstanding problem of homelessness in the Bay Area that the COVID-19 pandemic made even more urgent. It was released in April 2021. To achieve its ambitious goal, the RAP introduced the “1-2-4 Framework for Homelessness Solutions” with concurrent investment in interim housing, permanent housing, and homelessness prevention. The RIC is currently working to implement the RAP across the region. 

Big Moves for Housing and Economic Security, released in November 2022, builds on the RAP by focusing on structural and systemic changes to disrupt the cycles of poverty and homelessness in the Bay Area. The Big Moves are designed to increase housing and economic security for people with extremely low incomes. The strategies set out a regional vision and policy agenda to increase housing security, economic stability and social mobility for people with extremely low incomes.

In 2023 the Regional Impact Council restructured in order to focus on implementing both of these plans.

RIC Membership

The Regional Impact Council is composed of policymakers, affordable housing, social equity and economic mobility stakeholders, housing and homelessness service providers, and business and philanthropic partners.

Regional Impact Council Steering Committee Members

  • Amie Fishman, Executive Director, NPH
  • Ashey Banta, Executive Assistant and Project Manager, Vacaville Solano Services Corporation
  • Belia Ramos, Supervisor, Napa County Supervisor, District 5
  • Brandy Jenkins League, Program Manager, North County Housing Resource Center
  • Diane Burgis, Contra Costa county supervisor, District 3
  • Jay Bradshaw, Executive Officer of the Nor Cal Carpenters Union
  • Jennifer Loving, Executive Director, Destination: Home
  • Jim Wunderman, President + CEO, Bay Area Council
  • Jim Spering, Planning Committee, chair MTC
  • Joshua Simon, Senior Advisor, Community Arts Stabilization Trust
  • Judith Bell, Chief Impact Officer, San Francisco Foundation
  • Kate Hartley, Director, Bay Area Housing Finance Authority
  • Kerry Abott, Director, Alameda Homeless Care and Coordination
  • Kevin Zwick, Chief Executive Officer, United Way Bay Area
  • Marakeisha Smith, City Manager, Santa Rosa
  • Matt Franklin, President & Chief Executive Officer, MidPen Housing Corporation
  • Melissa Jones, Executive Director, BarHII
  • Mike Callagy, County Executive Officer, San Mateo
  • Sherilyn Adams, Executive Director, Larkin Street Youth Services
  • Shireen McSpadden, Executive Director, SF Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing

Download a list of current RIC members: Current RIC Roster

The RIC had a different membership makeup in earlier phases as it was developing the RAP and Big Moves. See the April 2022 RIC Roster.