With support from our Center, 13 students from the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) and the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) will spend the summer researching and working on a host of issues related to housing and community development.

Two Gramlich Fellows in Community and Economic Development will carry out research projects overseen by our Center and NeighborWorks® America:

• Aleks Czulak, a joint Master in Public Policy (MPP) and Master in Business Administration (MBA) student at HKS and MIT’s Sloan School of Management, will examine efforts to create healthy and equitable communities via partnerships that bring together community development organizations and health-care providers.
• Haewon Ma, a Master in Design Studies (MDes) student at GSD, will research efforts by community development organizations to increase opportunities for older residents to age in their communities with a particular focus on locations that have historically been home to many immigrants.

Seven GSD students will be Center-supported Community Service Fellows:

• Chadwick Bowlin, a joint Master in Landscape Architecture (MLA) and Master in Urban Planning (MUP) student, will work at Greater Grove Hall Main Streets in Boston on initiatives related to green infrastructure and development.
• Holly Hodge, a MUP student, will help the City of Boston’s Housing Innovation Lab  make it easier and cheaper to develop Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) by creating a compendium of pre-approved plans for ADUs and a prefabricated ADU manufacturing pipeline.
• Chandani Patel, an MLA student, will help the Cornell Legal Constructs Lab develop the National Zoning Atlas, an interactive online tool that will provide access to information on zoning laws across the US.
• Nur Shlapobersky, a MUP student, will work with CultureHouse, a nonprofit based in Somerville, MA on projects related to zoning, housing policy, and public spaces, including developing a community toolkit for advocacy and engagement related to a new state law requiring multifamily zoning in communities served by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA).
• Zachary Tesler, a MUP student, will work at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Community Planning and Development on projects related to the Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program, which provides communities with low-cost, long-term financing for economic and community development projects.
• Elizabeth Ulanova, an MLA student, will also work with CultureHouse on projects that try to transform  underutilized places into vibrant public spaces.
• Maggie Weese, a joint MUP and Master of Public Health student at GSD and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, will work at Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) on efforts to make trauma-informed care part of both the design of POAH’s projects and the services offered in those developments.

Three MPP students at HKS will be Center-supported Fellows in Housing and Community Development:

• Benjamin Daly will work in the Office of US Representative Seth Moulton (D-MA) where he will research proposed federal housing policies and track state and local housing initiatives and issues.
• Oliver Hamlet will work in the Office of Hawaii Governor Josh Green on the development of a new long-term housing strategy for the state that is being prepared under the direction of the governor’s Chief Housing Officer.
• Sravya Tadepalli will work at Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath) in Boston on state legislation and budget measures that would increase access to affordable housing.

Finally, one student will work for the Center as a summer student research assistant:

• Emily Orenstein, an MPP student, will work on the Center’s forthcoming Housing America’s Older Adults report, being prepared by our Housing an Aging Society Program.