Attainable Housing Sprint Participant Spotlight: Gabriel Sanders

Capital Strategy Team

Gabriel Sanders’ path to working in the housing sector is built on his background in policy and local advocacy, and driven by a hopeful goal of what Monterey County can offer its residents. 

Gabriel started out as an analyst in the Housing Policy Division at the California Department of Housing and Community Development. “I've been immersed in California affordable housing policy since 2021,” he shared. “I jumped at the chance to move back to the Monterey Peninsula in 2022 to advocate on the ground for pro-infill housing policy during the 6th Cycle Housing Element update process.”

He then moved into development and community-led solutions. “Since the beginning of 2024, I've been pushing to create workforce housing in Monterey County through my role as Founder of the Peninsula's first community land trust, Monterey Opportunity Housing Trust (MOHT),” he shared. “MOHT is a 501(c)(3) dedicated to acquiring real estate for the creation and preservation of workforce housing, especially housing attainable for lower income households who power the Monterey County economy.”

It was during this time when he connected with Regenerative California's Attainable Housing Project Lead Ashley Muse to learn more about the organization and its bold goal to spur development of 3,000 local attainable homes by 2030. “Attainable housing looks like housing that is the right size and price for working households who contribute their service to Monterey County communities,” he shared. “It's an apartment for a teacher a few minutes from the school where they teach, for a barista or restaurant server a short walk from their place of work.” 

In collaboration with Regenerative California, Gabriel helped design the framework for the November 2025 Attainable Housing Forum. “Since the Forum, I've been working with the Capital Strategy sprint team to identify the right vehicle and mechanisms for creating a long-term workforce housing capital fund,” he shared.

The Capital Strategy team is one of three focus areas born out of the Forum, along with the Land Collective team and the Streamlined Approval team. Gabriel’s team is focused on analyzing the financial barriers that exist to build attainable homes for Monterey County's workforce. Their focus goes beyond financing individual projects to include how to use capital to strengthen the housing ecosystem and expand the community's long-term capacity to produce durable, healthy homes. 

The financial barriers are real. “Predevelopment and construction financing costs too much for the end product to be attainable housing without heavy government subsidy, and too few developers have access to too little low-cost capital to create a sufficient supply of attainable housing,” he shares. But the supply of this capital comes down to the decisions of the people controlling wealth. 

“What we need is bravery from capital stewards whose hearts are in the right place: individuals with wealth we could grow; corporations with employees we could house; foundations with long-term investments we could expand into the local community,” he shares. “With even a fraction of their financial resources, there are developers who could make a significant dent in the workforce housing shortage.”

Through the three sprint teams’ work, Gabriel believes that Regenerative California can support the community in reaching its goal — to offer housing that is stable and meets the needs of the everyday person — by continuing to grow its network of willing resource stewards and moving them to action. 

Balancing proximity to and from work or school, with the opportunity to build community and establish a better quality of life matter deeply. “It's a home with enough bedrooms to fit a nurse's growing family close enough for them to respond to emergencies at CHOMP and make it home for dinner with time to spare,” he shared. “It's a rent or mortgage payment that allows the household to save money for a future that gives them choices, and ideally to invest themselves deeper into our communities.”

Through the 90-day sprint, the Capital Strategy team can see the momentum build: “There are philanthropic toes inching closer to dipping in the capital funding water, and I believe our team can make sure the ripple effect spreads to create the funding environment to scale the attainable housing production Monterey County needs.”