$1B Facebook Housing Effort Helmed By Former Fremont Vice Mayor

FREMONT, CA — Facebook has hired Anu Natarajan to lead its Housing Initiative which includes a $1 billion commitment to address the affordable housing crisis and build 20,000 units of housing for teachers, nurses, firefighters and those most vulnerable.

Natarajan served a total of 10 years as Vice Mayor and City Councilmember for the City of Fremont, and is the first Indian-American to be elected to a City Council in the Bay Area.

"We all share the responsibility of building more affordable and livable communities. I’m honored to lead Facebook’s efforts to be a part of the solution to the housing crisis," said Natarajan. "I’m looking forward to continuing Facebook’s work partnering with critical community organizations and advocates as we work collectively to help expand access to affordable housing."

Prior to joining Facebook, Natarajan served as the Director of Policy and Advocacy for MidPen Housing, where she worked to find solutions to build more affordable housing in the Bay Area.

"We’re thrilled to welcome Anu to the team to lead Facebook’s Housing Initiative," said John Tenanes, Facebook’s Vice President of Global Facilities and Real Estate. "Under her leadership, the Initiative will continue supporting community-driven investments, policies, and civic infrastructure programs that advance innovative solutions to the housing crisis."

At Facebook, Natarajan will lead a team of housing advocacy, financing, and policy experts.

She will build on the company’s progress creating affordable housing in the Bay Area – including Facebook’s recent success in creating more than 600 units of affordable housing near its headquarters.

Upcoming initiatives include Facebook’s teacher housing initiative in Palo Alto, and Community Housing Fund across the Bay Area.

In late 2020, Facebook launched the Community Housing Fund, which dedicates the first $150 million of Facebook’s $1 billion commitment to affordable housing to creating 2,000 homes for families earning extremely low incomes — than 30 percent of the region’s median income. The Fund’s first round of recipients will be announced within weeks.