OUR STORY

"The Manzanita is an indigenous evergreen plant whose many species offer an important connecting layer within the Californian chaparral. Growing in clusters low to the ground with twisting red branches and edible flowers and berries,

it sustains local life in abundance. "


- The Manzanita Report & Alternatives Analysis, December 2019

Manzanita Works grew out of a community organization called Bay Area Forward which was founded in 2014. For about five years, it supported a network of "good growth" groups engaged in the creation of local housing and transportation options in their respective communities. Collectively, we built capacity among residents with diverse perspectives in the public process and cultivated participation.


On December 14th, 2016, over 150 people gathered for a community conversation on how we might be able to collaborate to build a more inclusive Bay Area. Elected officials from Mountain View, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Redwood City, East Palo Alto and San Jose, along with policy experts and essential working neighbors shared the nuanced issues they wrestled with and the ideas they had for improving our region.

Teacher Town Halls

During 2018 and 2019, Bay Area Forward and two collaborators, Support Teacher Housing and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, organized a series of “Teacher Town Halls” to lift up the lived experience of educators and their support staff who struggled with housing availability, affordability and “super-commuting,” traveling more than 90 minutes to and from work each day.


Held at school sites from Redwood City to San Jose, these town halls helped garner support from local public school districts. The County successfully developed 110 affordable rental apartments for teachers and school employees in Palo Alto and the project is now available for occupancy.

During 2018 and 2019, Bay Area Forward and two collaborators, Support Teacher Housing and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, organized a series of “Teacher Town Halls” to lift up the lived experience of educators and their support staff who struggled with housing availability, affordability and “super-commuting,” traveling more than 90 minutes to and from work each day.


Held at school sites from Redwood City to San Jose, these town halls helped garner support from local public school districts. The County successfully developed 110 affordable rental apartments for teachers and school employees in Palo Alto and the project is now available for occupancy.

In 2019, under the branch of a Manzanita in a Bay Area house of faith, private industry and public stakeholders gathered around a series of multi-lateral talks "to explore how the region’s public transit pipelines could connect commuters to job centers in a nuanced way using existing transportation infrastructure."


Moderated by Joint Venture Silicon Valley and utilizing the planning expertise of Good City Company,

Bay Area Forward transformed into Manzanita Works

and helped negotiate the creation of best practices

for transportation management association formation, published by Joint Venture Silicon Valley

in The Manzanita Report and Alternatives Analysis.

Manzanita Talks

In 2019, under the branch of a Manzanita in a Bay Area house of faith, private industry and public stakeholders gathered around a series of multi-lateral talks "to explore how the region’s public transit pipelines could connect commuters to job centers in a nuanced way using existing transportation infrastructure."


Moderated by Joint Venture Silicon Valley and utilizing the planning expertise of Good City Company, Bay Area Forward transformed into Manzanita Works and helped negotiate the creation of best practices for transportation management association formation, published by Joint Venture Silicon Valley in The Manzanita Report and Alternatives Analysis.


Manzanita Coalition

On February 8th, 2020, five voluntary civic institutions came together to form the Manzanita Coalition. Initially interested in accessing commute options, the group's size would nearly triple to 14 institutions in the coming months.


They dedicated themselves to meeting weekly for two hour video calls for an entire year, developing numerous subcommittees to share their lived experience, provide mutual support, leadership development, and brainstorm shared action.


On February 8th, 2020, five voluntary civic institutions came together to form the Manzanita Coalition. Initially interested in accessing commute options, the group's size would nearly triple to 14 institutions in the coming months. They dedicated themselves to meeting weekly for two hour video calls for an entire year, developing numerous subcommittees

to share their lived experience, provide mutual support, leadership development, and brainstorm shared action.


On March 20th, 2020, the Manzanita Conference convened local thought leaders on some of the pressing issues faced by the region's working families: transit, housing, education and the future of work in collaboration with Joint Venture Silicon Valley and California Urban Partnership. Richard Rothstein, author of The Color of Law was the keynote speaker.


As the COVID-19 global pandemic unfolded, the setting for the conference shifted from the UCSF Mission Bay Convention Center to an online format with pre-recorded sessions. We were filming on March 16th as the Governor of California announced the shelter-in-place order. Still, videos of all the discussions were made widely available and offered insights for multi-disciplinary approaches to workforce needs.

Ravenswood Consortiums

Even as the Bay Area commute evaporated overnight for all but essential workers, Manzanita Works received numerous letters of intent from local and regional employers to join a transit consortium. In May 2020, the Ravenswood Transit Consortium was ratified with the Ravenswood Family Health Network and Google as two of the founding members.


Six months later, three hospitals and a school District ratified the Ravenswood Family Consortium for the purpose of exploring the creation of more childcare options for workers.


Even as the Bay Area commute evaporated overnight for all but essential workers, Manzanita Works received numerous letters of intent from local and regional employers to join a transit consortium. In May 2020, the Ravenswood Transit Consortium was ratified with the Ravenswood Family Health Network and Google as two of the founding members.


Six months later, three hospitals and a school District ratified the Ravenswood Family Consortium for the purpose of exploring the creation of more childcare options for workers.

The COVID-19 pandemic had the Manzanita Coalition and the Manzanita Works team rolling up our sleeves!



Here's what we accomplished:

  • Distributed 5,000 face shields
  • Brokered access to long-haul private shuttles
  • Helped host workshops on eviction prevention
  • Hosted a vaccine dialogue among community stakeholders
  • Expanded access to vaccines through pop-ups
  • Brokered childcare and youth enrichment options
  • Secured laptops for youth of essential workers
  • Compiled best practices for COVID-19 testing logistics with local emergency response teams
  • Hosted a series of talks between teachers and parents about the return to in-person learning
  • Volunteered group service at soup kitchens
  • Mentored a youth campaign for essential working heroes
  • Provided a safe space for community members to share their lived experiences

In 2021, Manzanita Works emerged with a series of initiatives and six program areas. We've designed a novel method and model for collective purchasing and community benefit creation over a decade of community-led initiatives and five years of deep research and iterative work.


We are fortunate to steward and champion these efforts with the leadership of voluntary civic society, our collaborating institutions in the public, private and nonprofit sectors,

and the workers we serve.


In 2021, Manzanita Works emerged with a series of initiatives and six program areas. We've designed a novel method and model for collective purchasing and community benefit creation over a decade of community-led initiatives and five years of deep research and iterative work.



We are fortunate to steward and champion these efforts with the leadership of voluntary civic society, our collaborating institutions in the public, private and nonprofit sectors,

and the workers we serve.

In 2021 we were honored to be selected as one of the first Community Service Organizations to help Caltrain launch and implement their Pass Forward Program.


In Caltrain's commitment to ensuring that everyone has access to the transportation they need, the program is aimed at providing low-income and marginalized communities with essential transit access. Qualified recipients of GoPasses in this program are able to ride the Caltrain at no personal cost over the course of the calendar year.


Today, Manzanita Works is honored to be a Caltrain Regional Partner that is helping to provide access to the train for frontline and returning workers for our fifth consecutive year!

Thanks to initial seed funding from the San Mateo County Sustainability Department, Essential Tools™ launched in May 2023. Working with local brick and mortar hardware stores to acquire our inventory, we set it up as a mobile pop-up program. Our first organic loan occurred in April 2024. The item? A sander.


Today, the program serves residents across 17 communities in both San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. Our inventory has over 225 items from pressure washers to vegetation management tools to help with wildfire home hardening. You can read Redwood City Pulse's coverage of it here.

Thanks to initial seed funding from the San Mateo County Sustainability Department,

Essential Tools™ launched in May 2023.


Working with local brick and mortar hardware stores to acquire our inventory, we set it up as a mobile pop-up program. Our first organic loan occurred in April 2024. The item? A sander.


Today, the program serves residents across 17 communities in both San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. Our inventory has over 225 items from pressure washers to vegetation management tools to help with wildfire home hardening. You can read Redwood City Pulse's coverage of it here.

After receiving the co-sponsorship of the City Council of Redwood City, Manzanita Works is honored to have been awarded funding from the San Mateo County Transportation Authority to launch Essential Wheels®, our bike loaner program. Made possible by local sales tax dollars, this award received the highest ranking for equity considerations and is the first 3-party contract of its kind for the transportation authority.


In its first year of operation, participants commuting across seven jurisdictions with loaner e-bikes have been reporting an average of 52% savings on their commute costs. We conservatively estimate a savings of over 20 tons of carbon dioxide and are grateful for our service provider Summit Bicycles who set up our participants for success!



Thanks to the support of individual donors in our community, we launched our Essential Kicks™  program in December 2025.


Connecting qualified essential workers to non-slip professional footwear, we are fortunate to be collaborating with two local service providers Footwear Etc. at their at their Los Altos and San Carlos stores, and KEEN Footwear at their Palo Alto Garage.





Thanks to the support of individual donors in our community, we launched our Essential Kicks™  program in December 2025.


Connecting qualified essential workers to non-slip professional footwear, we are fortunate to be collaborating with two local service providers Footwear Etc. at their at their

Los Altos and San Carlos stores,

and KEEN Footwear at their Palo Alto Garage.

Today, we are honored to serve voluntary civic society with:


  • Consortium creation and facilitation;
  • Program development and implementation;
  • Coalition convening;
  • Local distribution networks for shared resources; and
  • Provision of community benefits.


Like the Manzanita plant itself, we adapt to local conditions.

Our efforts play an important role in connecting infrastructure with enlightened, collaborative interests.

San Mateo Daily Journal Op Ed:

Finding better commute solutions - together

August 2022 - Go To Article

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