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.
YIMBY Melbourne has elected a powerhouse board combining legal, financial, policy and industry expertise:
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.
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.
"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."