Jack Woodruff

Rooted Housing Director

Jack Woodruff (he/him) is a social entrepreneur with a fifteen-year track record in education, housing, and finance. His work spans program design, policy change, real estate acquisition, and asset management – all in service of the education professionals who uphold our communities.

At the Oakland Fund, Jack leads Rooted’s Affordable Housing Marketplace and related partnerships, aligning housing providers and educators to create shared value. He directs Rooted’s housing acquisition campaign to advance the Oakland Fund’s goal of becoming the nation’s first educator-focused affordable housing developer. He also helped draft and pass AB 1021, California legislation enabling workforce housing on school-district surplus land, unlocking new development opportunities for educators.

Jack began his career with three years in Peace Corps Ecuador, finishing as a trainer. He then served as Executive Director of Aspire Education, a 20-employee Oakland nonprofit focused on tutoring and early literacy, where he tripled organizational revenue over three years and expanded summer programming to deepen mission impact. He later worked in asset management and compliance at the real estate fintechs Unison and Landed. Landed focuses on down-payment assistance for educators buying homes.

Jack holds an MBA and an Interdisciplinary Certificate in Real Estate from UC Berkeley, and a BA in History from Bard College. He lives in his hometown of Oakland, and outside of work serves as Board Chair for Aspire Education, enjoys the outdoors, and works to overcome his fear of singing in public.