YIMBY Melbourne secures major funding to accelerate movement for housing abundance
Open Philanthropy grant enables expansion with new staff and board to tackle Australia's housing crisis at scale.
Press Release
From volunteer advocacy to professional force for change
What began in early 2023 as volunteers attending local council meetings has evolved into Australia’s foremost voice for housing abundance. With $750,000 in support over two years from Open Philanthropy’s Abundance & Growth Fund, YIMBY Melbourne is scaling up to meet the moment.
The organisation has hired its first professional staff: Jonathan O’Brien as Lead Organiser and Ethan Gilbert as Deputy Lead Organiser. This marks a critical transition from purely volunteer-driven advocacy to sustained, professional campaigning for housing reform.
New board brings deep expertise to housing reform fight
YIMBY Melbourne has elected a powerhouse board combining legal, financial, policy and industry expertise:
- Tom Pisel (President), a founding member and tech sector veteran who previously founded Tramsurance
- Tris Layton (Vice-President), a planning lawyer at the coalface of Victoria’s broken planning system
- Katie Roberts-Hull (Secretary), an education researcher and the face of opposition to heritage-listed concrete carparks
- Romeo Takafuma (Treasurer), a Chartered Accountant bringing rigorous financial stewardship
- Brendan Coates, Housing and Economic Security Program Director at Grattan Institute
- Dan McKenna, CEO of Housing All Australians and former CEO of Nightingale Housing
This leadership team brings decades of combined experience in planning law, housing policy, financial management, and on-the-ground development—exactly what’s needed to turn pro-housing sentiment into homes on the ground.
Building momentum as governments embrace housing reform
The funding comes at a pivotal moment. With the Victorian Government’s Activity Centre Program and similar reforms across Australia, there’s unprecedented political will to tackle restrictive zoning. YIMBY Melbourne’s analysis has already influenced state policy, with more than half of the stations from their open-source model included in government upzoning plans.
Recent polling shows 94% of Australians support upzoning around train stations when presented with the facts. With professional staff and sustained funding, YIMBY Melbourne can now harness this support to ensure reforms deliver the homes Victorians desperately need.
Quotes
Quotes attributable to Jonathan O’Brien, Lead Organiser
“This funding allows us to move from reacting to planning failures to proactively shaping a pro-housing future. We’re no longer just the ragtag volunteers at council meetings—we’re building the infrastructure to win lasting reform.”
“Every day our planning system goes unfixed means more Victorians locked out of the places where they want to live. With this support, we can accelerate the shift from a city that says no by default to one that says an enthusiastic yes to homes where people want to live.”
“Open Philanthropy’s support recognises the global significance of the work YIMBY Melbourne has done to date. With their help, we look forward to continuing our work of bringing affordability to Melbourne—one of the most expensive cities in the world.”
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