What we do


What we do

We are a think-do tank anchored around three main objectives:

  • Shift the cultural understanding of what makes a ‘good family’

  • Protect and empower diverse family structures through law & policy

  • Design better infrastructure to support evolving family needs

In our first year, we’ve helped design & pass major legislation in two California cities, reached millions of listeners through storytelling with Wondery and NPR, organized a groundbreaking conference on housing for diverse families with Johns Hopkins University, and advanced healthcare policy at the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association. See below for more details on our goals, impact, and plans for 2025 and beyond.

Shift the cultural understanding of what makes a ‘good family’

Through our Media Representation project, we’ve reached 5 million listeners through first-person and data-based storytelling collaborations with NPR and This Is Actually Happening. And we’re pioneering new events like the Chosen Family Portrait Studio, which offers families of all forms the opportunity to take beautiful professional photographs to capture their unique community of care.

Protect and empower diverse family structures through law & policy

We’ve helped design and pass groundbreaking legislation in Cambridge and Somerville, MA that allows for people to register multiple domestic partners, as well as laws in Oakland and Berkeley, CA prohibiting discrimination on the basis of family and relationship structure.

Through our join initiative with OPEN and Out & Equal, we’ve advanced workplace protections at organizations like JP Morgan, Dell, AirBnb. Read our guide to creating a safe and inclusive workplace for all family and relationship structures.

Design better infrastructure to support evolving family needs

Through collaborations with organizations like the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Economy and Society, Haight Street Commons, and the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative, we’ve convened 250+ scholars, policymakers, organizers, and architects to inform the design of our Housing & Finance for Modern Families program.

To design better healthcare systems for diverse families and relationships, we partnered with the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association to pass the first-ever position statement on relationship structure diversity, and are currently in the process of working on a similar position statement with the American Psychological Association.