About Buy-In Community Planning
Our Mission
The mission of Buy-In Community Planning is to support the well-being of people whose homes and communities are threatened by natural hazards by assisting them in planning for and relocating to safer areas. Using the power of geospatial data and participatory planning, we help communities design voluntary relocation assistance programs that are transparent, equitable, and environmentally restorative to ensure that no household is left in harm's way.
Our Vision
Our vision is a world in which all people have access to safe and affordable housing and where human and natural systems can thrive together.
People
Kelly Leilani Main is the Executive Director and founder of Buy-In Community Planning, a national 501c3 organization providing equitable and accessible voluntary relocation services for communities on the frontlines of irreversible climate impacts and industrial pollution. Before founding Buy-In, Kelly worked as a planner, designer, and geospatial analyst at the intersection of climate adaptation planning and rights-driven relocation policy in contexts diverse as the Philippines, Turkey, Ghana, Uganda, Peru, Nepal, Lebanon, Palestine, and the US. Kelly has a Masters in City Planning from the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning and is currently a PhD student of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at UC Berkeley, where her research focuses on the intersection of managed retreat and wetland ecosystem restoration.
Kelly currently has previously served as a member of the Climigration Network Governance Council and chair of the Ecosystems & People Working Group, and was a founding member of the American Society of Adaptation Professionals Climate Migration and Managed Retreat interest group. Her work on climate-adaptive urban planning has been presented widely, including at the IPCC Conference on Cities (2018), International Conference on Building Resilience (2018), At What Point Managed Retreat? (2023, 2021, 2019), New Cities Higher Ground (2020), National Adaptation Forum (2022), MIT Design X Fast Forward Symposium (2021), and the Georgia People on the Move in a Changing Climate (PEMOCC) initiative for the Great Lakes Region (2022) and Western Region (2022). Her work has been published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences (2021), Enhancing Disaster Preparedness (Elsevier, 2020) the Journal of Architectural Education (2019), Planning Theory and Practice (2020), and Landscape Architecture Frontiers (2019, 2021).
Email: kelly@buy-in.org
Interns
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Jack Treanor
Housing & Economics Intern
2021-2022
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Victoria Woods
State Policy & End Use Intern
2021
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Shameika Hanson
Community Engagement Intern
2020
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Karissa Wenger
Communications Intern
2020-2021
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Richard Sollee
Software Engineer Intern
2021
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Emma Zehner
Flood Risk & Contamination Intern
2022-2023
Partners
The Climigration Network
The Climigration Network (CN) brings community leaders and practitioners together to generate equitable, just, community-led approaches to relocation for people most affected by the worsening impacts of climate change – those who are now finding it impossible to live safely in place.
Anthropocene Alliance
Anthropocene Alliance (A2) has more than 100 member-communities in 33 U.S. states and territories impacted by flooding, toxic waste, wildfires, and drought and heat — all compounded by reckless development and climate change. The goal of A2 is to help communities fight back. A2 does that by providing organizing support, scientific and technical guidance, and better access to foundation and government funding, and listening to frontline leaders on the path towards environmental justice.
Awards and Accelerators
MITdesignX is an academic program in the MIT School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P) dedicated to design innovation and entrepreneurship. The program empowers students, faculty and researchers to build new business ventures and forward-thinking solutions designed to address critical challenges facing the future of cities and the human environment.
The Esri Startup program is an exclusive global program that helps early stage startups build mapping technology and location intelligence into their products. Customers benefit from the agile, innovative, and forward-thinking approach that Startup partners provide.
Conservation X Labs is a technology and innovation company that creates solutions to stop the extinction crisis. The Con X Tech Prize builds an ecosystem of early-stage conservation technology solutions and supports bold ideas and grows interdisciplinary participation in conservation solutions with teams from around the world.
“I believe that our unique combination of grant-funded and paid consulting work has allowed Buy-In to expand its reach. We are building credibility as an organization providing human-centered and technical expertise on buyout program design, administration, and implementation. Our work with cities and states complements our research-informed thought leadership and our community-based approach to addressing the growing threat of climate displacement. I’m immensely proud of everyone who has supported Buy-In along the way. I hope you enjoy this update from our close out of 2022 and I look forward to sharing what’s next..”
-Kelly Leilani Main, Executive Director
“In the two years since we started, I am immensely proud to say I believe we are truly building a foundation for just and equitable assisted relocation programs across the country… Thank you to all of our partners, advisors, mentors, and funders, who are helping us build this bridge together! Read on to learn more about the challenge and our early steps to make a difference in this space.”
-Kelly Leilani Main, Executive Director