The GrowSF Team

Hi, my name is Sachin Agarwal. I spent nearly 20 years in tech as an engineer at Apple, a product manager at Twitter and Lyft, and the founder and CEO of the YC-backed company Posterous. A few years ago, I left tech to work full-time on making San Francisco the best city it can be, and co-founded GrowSF.

I've lived in San Francisco for 20 years, and I love it. That's why my wife and I decided we're going to raise our family here and put down roots in the Inner Sunset. She is a graphic designer at a museum, and we have two girls.

When I was three years old, my parents immigrated to Southern California, opened a small Indian restaurant, bought a modest house, and sent me to great public schools. That kind of story isn't possible in San Francisco today, and that makes me sad.

I want San Francisco to be a city that welcomes everyone: dreamers, builders, innovators, and the weirdos. A true melting pot, where you can come and be exactly who you want to be. To do that, we need the basics to work: more housing, public safety, good public schools...and getting there just takes winning a few elections.

Hi, my name is Steven Buss Bacio. I was a software engineer for over ten years at Amazon, Counsyl, and Google. I've been involved in San Francisco politics for over eight years, and part of GrowSF since early 2021. I've run for office and served on two nonprofit Boards, and I'm particularly passionate about housing, public transit, and public schools.

I love San Francisco. I'm not from here, I didn't grow up in California, and I don't have any family on the West Coast — but San Francisco feels like home. I believe that anyone who wants to live here should be able to, and that means building more housing, keeping the city safe and clean, and creating the nation's best schools and transit system.

I joined GrowSF because our vision for San Francisco is vibrant, welcoming, prosperous, and growing. GrowSF rejects the politics of scarcity and fear. We will help make San Francisco into the truly open and welcoming city it is destined to be.

Hi, my name is Tyler Law. I've led communications and paid media strategy on campaigns across the country. I am currently a partner at Thematic Campaigns and the head of our west coast practice.

Most recently, I was the general consultant for Mayor Lurie's historic upset campaign, managed the paid media for Supervisor Bilal Mahmood and was a media consultant for Senator Adam Schiff. Over the past two years I have been inspired daily by San Franciscans who rejected cynicism and rallied behind a vision for a city that not only works but thrives.

I have witnessed GrowSF's positive impact from the outside and now I'm excited to partner with them to build an enduring movement for commonsense.

Hi, my name is David Broockman. I first visited San Francisco when I was 8 years old, and told my parents then that I wanted to move to San Francisco when I grew up. I was lucky enough to make that dream a reality and move here after college for graduate school. I have lived here ever since, and am currently a professor of political science at UC Berkeley*.

In San Francisco, I’ve been most involved with housing advocacy. In 2021, I launched a “NIMBY Report” chronicling Dean Preston’s Housing Graveyard, and subsequently helped advocate for crucial programs that made their way into San Francisco’s 2022 Housing Element.

GrowSF has been an incredibly effective force for political change in our city. It’s inspiring to see a team so laser-focused on achieving results for our city, and as a San Franciscan I’m grateful for all the tangible positive impacts they’ve had.

*For identification purposes only.

Hi, my name is Saul. I'm a Northern California native, and growing up, I spent many weekends with my dad sailing to Pier 39. San Francisco always enchanted me, from the salty breeze that greeted us at the marina to the winding roads on Lombard Street. It's been my home for 15 years, and I've been lucky enough to make a career here as a journalist — and to report on a city that shaped me.

I began my career covering markets and business for Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal, moving later into legal affairs and local politics. For a time, I also blended reporting with lifestyle, writing a cocktail column for the SF Examiner. Now I am editor in chief of The Bold Italic, a GrowSF-owned online arts magazine with a storied archive of irreverent humor, essays, and artwork that depicts life in San Francisco.

In my copious free time, I am also writing GrowSF's newsletters, helping with social media, and wearing ballgowns to any fancy event in the city. I am inspired every day to work alongside a passionate team that wants to manifest the very best life for all of us in San Francisco.

Hi, my name is Leo. I was born on California St. I grew up believing that if you shook America, all the loose nails would end up in San Francisco. My father grew up here in the fifties, and I came to love his stories about an old San Francisco that was creative, reckless, and free. At GrowSF, I do policy research and produce our in house ads.

I graduated from college in 2024, and always felt pulled to a vision of government that delivered unfailingly on the basics. I believe our city needs to deliver a good baseline for everyone: healthy food for all, clean water, safe streets, excellent schools. These should be uncontroversial goals we abide by. GrowSF is a part of that picture, but it's only together as a city that we can accomplish this vision.

We're a small team, hard at work, to bring quality information about what's actually happening in San Francisco to the public. We believe in getting back to basics and delivering on a city that works. People think we're a team of twenty, but it's just four of us.

Hi, my name is Jan Chong. I've been working at various technology companies in the Bay Area as an engineer and engineering manager since 2007.

I moved to San Francisco in 2005, while I was still in school. Like so many people, I was drawn to SF's vibrant restaurants, nature and community, even as it came with roommates, extra jobs and a lot of moving to keep rent manageable. I'm now the proud parent of two girls that I'm raising here in San Francisco and I hope that they'll grow up loving their birth city as much as I've come to.

I joined GrowSF because I fervently believe that you shouldn't have to win the lottery to live and work in San Francisco. I'm pro-affordable housing and pro-public transportation (much to the chagrin of my children, who would much rather I drive them to school 😊) and I want to help make my beliefs a reality for our city.

Hi, my name is Ryan Brown. I'm an SF native who loves everything about the Bay Area.

My parents immigrated from the Philippines to San Francisco in 1983 to create a better life for me and my two brothers. I studied at St. Ignatius College Preparatory and San Francisco State University.

I'm proud to serve on the board of GrowSF to promote improving the city from within the tech community. I've always wanted to support and get more involved with the city that I've grown up with and continue to fall in love with every day.

I've spent the last decade working in the tech industry as a marketer and creative lead.