Big Bet: Help under-resourced communities in California build essential infrastructure, including housing, clean energy, and broadband, by equipping community organizations and providers with AI tooling and protocols that drive down the cost and time of complex planning, financing, and approval processes.
Project: Infrastructure Agent for Community Economic Transformation is building an Infrastructure Agent-to-Agent protocol that helps community organizations plan and deliver infrastructure projects more easily. Today, projects like affordable housing, clean energy, and broadband often stall because the process — permitting, financing, design, and coordination—is too complex and costly. This protocol enables emerging AI Agents to coordinate on behalf of community organizations to help local leaders navigate each step, connect with partners, and move projects forward. By reducing these barriers, the project aims to help more communities access the infrastructure they need to improve living conditions, expand opportunity, and shape their own economic future.
Rachel Halfaker is working at the intersection of finance, artificial intelligence and infrastructure to change how essential community infrastructure gets deployed. Rachel is a Director at the Milken Institute, where she leads the 10,000 Communities Initiative focused on supporting housing, broadband, energy, and main street infrastructure across the U.S. Prior to this role, she worked in Deloitte’s Smart Cities practice and as the market launch lead for an urban mobility company. She holds a Masters in Urban Planning from Georgetown University and a B.S from the University of Florida.