Today, Building Burlington’s Future (BBF) announced a new partnership with the Abundance Network that establishes Burlington as the Network’s first affiliate chapter on the East Coast. The Abundance Network is a national membership organization that collaborates with civic leaders nationwide to achieve ambitious policy outcomes at the local level. 

“BBF is proud to support Burlington as the Abundance Network’s first East Coast affiliate chapter city. This partnership revolves around our shared values that are grounded in practical, results-focused policy and civic engagement and leadership training,” said Sam Donnelly, executive director of BBF. “We can all agree that our city needs more housing people can afford, we need to address the root causes of our community and mental health  crisis, and we need to continue updating our infrastructure so we can build a city that’s ready for the future. The Abundance Network team has years of local policy expertise, and we look forward to working with them to develop policies that help move our city forward.”

The network was inspired by the “YIMBY (yes in my backyard) Movement,” which is a pro-housing social movement focusing on new housing, opposing density limits (such as single-family zoning), and supporting public transportation. It is also tied to the work on improved “State Capacity” via one of its early members, and now Senior Advisor, Jen Pahlka. Today, the Network has chapters in San Francisco, Santa Monica, and Oakland, California. These chapters support policies featured in the book Abundance by Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein including building more housing, improving infrastructure, promoting clean energy, and improving the effectiveness of government itself. The Abundance Network membership is made up of elected officials, former mayors, business leaders, and policy and advocacy experts. 

"The ideas of Abundance only become real with long-term person-to-person organizing. We believe Burlington is a perfect fit to become our first East Coast chapter. The organizers and volunteers on the ground in Burlington have the background, approach, and experience to make a transformative difference over the long term in their community,” said Zack Rosen, Co-Founder of the Abundance Network. “We're inspired by BBF's proactive work to remove the barriers to civic engagement at the municipal level, and we are very excited to partner up to make positive change for the City of Burlington."

Through this partnership, in the coming months, BBF and the Abundance Network will develop civic engagement and leadership trainings that will be free of charge. 

“Building Burlington’s Future is leading the way by becoming the Abundance Network’s first East Coast member. It is exciting to see the abundance movement, with its promise of affordability and a focus on results, take root in Vermont,” said Miro Weinberger, ​​Executive Chair of Let’s Build Homes. “Let’s Build Homes is eager to partner with BBF and more communities around the state to build more homes of all shapes and sizes for all of our neighbors.”