Our Founders
ETHAN DEITCHER Head of Finance, fundraising, and public relations
ETHAN DEITCHER Head of Finance, fundraising, and public relations
ETHAN DEITCHER Head of Finance, fundraising, and public relations
Ethan is a high school senior from San Mateo. He is responsible for all business and legal operations for Pods For Change. In addition to Pods For Change, Ethan is an active housing policy intern for California State Senator Josh Becker and a former intern for interim housing developer DignityMoves.
ZARA MIRZA Head of outreach, construction, and curriculum
ETHAN DEITCHER Head of Finance, fundraising, and public relations
ETHAN DEITCHER Head of Finance, fundraising, and public relations
Zara is a high school senior from San Mateo. She is in charge of the physical pod-building process and the development of the camp curriculum. She also co-leads Nueva's Woodworking and tutors elementary school students in her area.
Design Carly Bodnick
ETHAN DEITCHER Head of Finance, fundraising, and public relations
Design Carly Bodnick
Carly is a high school senior from the San Francisco Bay Area. She took the idea for pods from woodworker Fred Sotcher and brought the idea to Nueva.
Our Pod Recipients
Anita - Our First Pod Recipient
Meeting Anita completely altered the course of Pods For Change forever. Despite living out of her car due to soaring housing costs, Anita worked diligently as a house cleaner, trying to make ends meet. However, her unstable housing situation made it impossible for her to manage both her work and her survival. Thus, when she received her pod, she told us she felt seen. These words inspired us to build more pods and help more people.
Cassandra
Cassandra was the first person from our pod waiting list ever to receive a pod. She had been searching for work but cited her lack of a comfortable and secure place to sleep as a major inhibitor.
Michael
Michael has been unhoused for decades, moving all across the country in search of some form of stable housing. He is the drummer for St. Andrew's Missionary Baptist Church in Oakland.
Tiffany
Tiffany, who is Cassandra's sister, received one of the pods created by our 2024 summer camps. She is currently working on getting her associate's degree at a local community college.
Timothy
Timothy, a good friend of Michael, also received one of the pods created by our 2024 summer camps.
Summer Camp Cohorts
7th and 8th Grade Summer Camp
Our cohort of 13 7th and 8th graders that spent part of their summer building pods. They learned design engineering skills in the context of positively impacting their community.
5th and 6th Grade Summer Camp
Just a couple weeks later, we enlisted the help of 17 5th and 6th graders to build an additional pod.