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19 Favorites From 2019

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Micaela Connery, a light-skinned woman with dark hair pulled back, is pictured in between Caroline Bas and Eric Mondragon. Micaela is wearing a grey turtleneck with a denim skirt and a red blazer. Caroline is a light skinned woman with long brown hair wearing a green dress. Eric , a light-skinned man with glasses and short brown hair, is wearing a black shirt and a gray blazer.
A large group of people, including Erick Mikiten, Micaela Connery, London Breed and Elizabeth Grigsby is pictured.
Caroline Bas, a middle-aged, light-skinned woman with long, brown hair is pictured wearing a flowered dress in front of a white board with papers posted on it.
A a group of people including Micaela Connery, Eric Mondragon, Lindsay Johnson, and Will Goodman are picture surrounding Liz Grigsby
Micaela Connery, a white woman with long brown hair is pictured wearing a red dress. A young man with brown hair and glasses sits beside her. They are both smiling.
A crowd of people, some in wheelchairs and some standing, are pictured on a patio.
Isaac Haney Owens, a dark-skinned man with glasses. is pictured speaking into a microphone as Mayor London Breed and others look on.
People are pictured with laptops sitting around a wooden conference table. A woman stands in the front of a room in front of a large screen
Micaela Connery is pictured sitting in a chair on a stage along with Jason Kang BHSI Fellow; Co-Founder & CEO, Kinnos. Projected onto the screen behind her is an image of her and her cousin Kelsey. The Kelsey Logo and Twitter and Instagram handles for The Kelsey are pictured in the lower corner of the screen.
People gather in front of the entry of a building. Two women are seen hugging. Two other women stand near them. Another woman is pictured with them in a wheelchair.
Micaela Connery, a white woman with long, dark brown hair, is pictured holding a microphone speaking in front of an audience. She speaks in front of a projector screen.
A crowd of people stands on the lot at the site of The Kelsey Ayer Station.
People do yoga on mats on a roof.

The last year of this decade brought many firsts for The Kelsey. We secured sites, raised funds, formed partnerships, launched new advocacy efforts, and achieved milestones that will create a more inclusive community in the Bay Area and beyond. Thanks for joining us in this journey as champions, donors, advisors, advocates, partners, and friends.

  1. $11.2 million awarded to The Kelsey Ayer Station from the San Jose Housing department as one of 11 projects funding by the city
  2. Won the site which will become the home of The Kelsey Civic Center in San Francisco as part of a global C40 Reinventing Cities competition
  3. Our first Inclusion Hours — yoga, advocacy, panels, happy hours—with more to come in 2020
  4. Got to know the local elected leaders and their teams who support The Kelsey in San Jose and San Francisco—Councilmember Peralez and Mayor Liccardo in San Jose and Mayor Breed in San Francisco
  5. Google funded The Kelsey with a $5.3 million predevelopment loan, as the tech company’s first direct investment
  6. Hosted design sessions where we explored everything from accessible transit to community spaces to sensory gardens and beyond. We love working with the teams at VTBS, WRNS, and Mikiten
  7. Our feature in the San Francisco Chronicle, which ran front page of the Sunday local section
  8. Shared the intersection between Coliving and inclusive living at Common’s capital markets summit in New York City (Common is working with us on The Kelsey Civic Center)
  9. Reminded people what ‘More Inclusion Is…’ with a PSA created by Reid Davenport
  10. Sent Lindsay off to law school (and welcomed her to The Kelsey Board!)
  11. Welcomed Eric and Caroline to The Kelsey team
  12. Elevated the perspectives of people with disabilities and their families as designers, advocates, and advisors (share your story and get involved here)
  13. Got to know the community and neighbors in San Jose through tours, community meetings, happy hours, and lots of coffee chats at Roy’s Station (our favorite spot!)
  14. Joined the Draper Richards Kaplan portfolio of organizations (less than 2% selected!) and welcomed Jim Bildner to our Board of Directors
  15. Kicked off The Kelsey Civic Center in San Francisco with our development partner Mercy Housing, city leaders, partners, and Mayor Breed
  16. Renewed our relationship with CZI to continue our advocacy efforts for affordable, inclusive housing—with lots more to come in 2020
  17. Published our Together We Can Do More Report, shared insights at our Learn Center, and conducted webinars with individuals from over 22 states
  18. Shared our work as a Bluhm Helfand Social Innovation Fellow at Chicago Ideas Week
  19. Toasted to all we’ve accomplished in San Jose for The Kelsey Ayer Station with our development partner Sares Regis, the project team, community partners, and supporters

If we had to sum up 2019 in a word, it would be momentum: “the impetus gained by a moving object”. With the support of strong partners, generous supporters, and industry-leading advisors, our team drove some ambitious and exciting goals forward over the last year. And, it’s only just beginning. Thanks for making more possible with us. Happy New Year!
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