SF Bay Area

Chamber of Connection

SF Bay Area

Chamber of Connection

Connection Is City Infrastructure. It’s Time We Treated It That Way.

The SF Bay Area Chamber of Connection is a unified voice for the connection and belonging sector — bringing data, aligning leaders, and activating resources to make belonging a civic priority and connects the Bay Area’s community builders with the resources they need.

Join the Connection Marketplace

Established May 2026

THE PROBLEM

We’ve Built Systems for Everything But Connection.

We invest billions in healthcare, education, and transit — and leave belonging to chance.

When people aren’t connected, the costs ripple everywhere. Healthcare gets more expensive. School outcomes fall. Transit ridership drops. Civic participation collapses. Connection isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s the operating system everything else runs on.

  • Healthcare

    Loneliness carries equivalent health risks to smoking 15 cigarettes a day and is associated with a 29% higher risk of mortality.

  • Education

    Students with strong belonging are 3x more likely to complete school and stay at grade level. Disconnected youth disengage entirely.

  • Transportation & Civic Life

    Transit ridership, voter turnout, and local spending all correlate with sense of belonging. Disconnected residents opt out.

  • Business & Economy

    Employee loneliness costs US employers $406 billion annually in lost productivity, turnover, and absenteeism.

OUR ROLE

A Unified Voice for the Connection & Belonging Sector.

The Bay Area has extraordinary community builders,  but they operate in silos, are chronically under-resourced, and lack a collective voice. The Chamber of Connection is the infrastructure layer: bringing data to the sector’s impact, aligning leaders across industries, and activating resources for the organizations on the front lines of belonging.

  • Unlock Critical Data

    Establish what connection and belonging look like across the Bay Area — who is isolated, where, and why — through rigorous regional research.

  • Align Stakeholders

    Convene senior leaders from healthcare, tech, civic, education, and arts through the Connection Council to make belonging a shared, cross-sector priority.

  • Activate Resources

    Direct 50% of every dollar raised to organizations already building community. Create a Marketplace that matches community builders with what they need to grow.

YEAR ONE INITIATIVES

Laying the Foundation.

We are in our first year. The goal is simple: prove the model, build the team, and demonstrate that a coordinated belonging infrastructure can move the needle. Here is what we are focused on.

  • Connection Council

    Recruiting the Bay Area’s senior-most leaders — one per sector — from healthcare, education, arts & culture, civic, corporate, and technology. Each Council member represents their sector and actively works to mobilize it behind this mission, especially in resourcing community-building work.

    Join the Council

  • 3-Year Operational Foundation

    A focused budget to fund a core team, signature events, marketing, and programming across three years. Sized to prove the model without overbuilding — enough to generate momentum and demonstrate what coordinated investment in belonging can accomplish.

    Fund Our Work

  • Community & Belonging Fund

    50% of all funds raised go directly to organizations building community in the SF Bay Area. This is not overhead — it is the mission made concrete. Every dollar invested in the Chamber is a dollar that reaches the front lines of belonging.

  • State of Connection Study

    A consistent, rigorous survey gauging the Bay Area’s current state of connection including the Six Points of Connection, barriers, and life transitions. Part of a national effort coordinated by the US Chamber of Connection. Gives us the baseline to set priorities and measure progress year over year.

  • Core Program Offerings

    Three signature programs built in partnership with local community builders: (1) Welcome Program — for all new SF Bay Area residents; (2) Whimsical Walk — a community activation on the Embarcadero; (3) Club Showcases — connecting residents with affinity groups and social clubs across the region.

How to Engage

Invest in the Infrastructure

FOR FUNDERS & CORPORATE PARTNERS

Support a 3-year plan that funds the core team, signature programs, and events — and ensures 50% of every dollar goes directly to community builders on the ground. This is a rare opportunity to help build something from the beginning. Founding funders will be recognized as architects of a new kind of civic infrastructure.

Explore Funding Opportunities

Invest in the Infrastructure

FOR SENIOR EXECUTIVES- INVITATIONAL

The Connection Council is not a membership — it is a leadership role. We are recruiting one senior leader per sector to represent and activate their industry around belonging. Council members set the agenda, mobilize their networks, and champion this work inside their institutions. Seats are limited and by invitation.

Express Interest in the Council

Join the SF Connection Marketplace

FOR COMMUNITY BUILDERS

Are you building community in the Bay Area? The Marketplace is a simple system to help you get found, get resourced, and get connected. Share your organization, your programs, what resources you need (funding, space, marketing, partnerships), and what you can offer others. Open to any individual or organization doing community-building work in the Bay Area.

Complete the Marketplace Form

Become a Member of the Welcome Committee

FOR VOLUNTEERS

The Welcome Committee is a national movement dedicated to restoring connection in neighborhoods across the country. Members show up for their neighbors through conversation, gathering, and civic engagement, to build the kind of community where everyone belongs.

Apply to Join the Next Cohort

SF CONNECTION MARKETPLACE

A System That Matches Builders with Resources.

The Connection Marketplace is designed to be a simple, accessible system that creates real matches between community builders and the resources, partners, and funders they need to grow.

How it Works

  1. List your organization — your programs, community served, and impact

  2. Share what you need — funding, space, marketing, partnerships, volunteers, or other support

  3. Share what you offer — resources, expertise, venues, or network access you can extend to others

  4. Get matched — the Chamber facilitates introductions to funders, partners, and aligned organizations

THE SF CONNECTION COUNCIL

Leading by sector.

The Connection Council brings the Bay Area’s most senior leaders together around a single mandate: make belonging a funded, coordinated, measurable priority across every sector of our city.

Each seat represents one sector. Members activate their networks, champion this work inside their institutions, and help mobilize the resources that make it real.

Council Sectors

  • Healthcare

  • Education

  • Arts & Culture

  • Civic & Government

  • Corporate

  • Technology

  • Neighborhood & Community

  • Faith Communities

  • Finance & Philanthropy

  • Immigrant & Cultural Organizations

Chapter Founder

Michael Seiler

Get Involved

Join the SF Bay Area Chamber of Connection.