Chelsea Kirk

Chelsea Kirk works at the intersection of housing and climate policy in California. As the Director of Policy & Advocacy for Climate and the Built Environment at Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, she has led and won campaigns to improve rental habitability standards, end renovictions, and advance equitable building decarbonization.

Recognized statewide as an expert in equitable decarbonization, Chelsea brings tenant expertise into energy policy conversations. She has built lasting coalitions between environmental and housing movements, including the creation of the LA for Resilient and Healthy Homes coalition, believing that a climate-resilient, affordable future depends on their unification.

After the January 2025 LA wildfires destroyed thousands of homes, Chelsea founded Rent Brigade, a volunteer group that exposed widespread rent gouging through a crowd-sourced tracker. The effort received national media attention and led to concrete policy wins, including criminal investigations, stronger local protections, and a state bill to better safeguard those impacted by disasters.

Her research and writing are widely cited. Her most recent report, A Renters’ Right to Cooling (July 2025), calls for urgent action to protect tenants from extreme heat. Her op-eds appear in the Los Angeles Times, CalMatters, Shelterforce, and Capitol Weekly, and her work has been featured in NPR, LA Times, The Guardian, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, the San Francisco Chronicle, and more.

Chelsea is a Switzer Fellow and holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA. She also serves on California’s Disadvantaged Communities Advisory Group, advising state agencies on equitable clean energy programs.