Previous Summer Community Service Fellows

2023

Chadwick Bowlin

Master in Landscape Architecture and Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Chadwick worked at Greater Grove Hall Main Streets in Boston on initiatives related to green infrastructure and development.  

Holly Hodge

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Holly helped 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

Master of Landscape Architecture
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Chandani helped the Cornell Legal Constructs Lab develop the National Zoning Atlas, an interactive online tool with information on zoning laws across the US. 

Nur Shlapobersky

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Nur helped CultureHouse, a nonprofit based in Somerville, MA develop a community toolkit about a new law that requires multifamily zoning in communities served by the MBTA. 

Elizabeth Ulanova

Master of Landscape Architecture
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Elizabeth worked with CultureHouse, a nonprofit based in Somerville, MA, on projects that seek to transform underutilized urban spaces into vibrant public spaces. 

Maggie Weese

Master in Urban Planning & Master of Public Health
Harvard Graduate School of Design & Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Maggie helped Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) make trauma-informed care part of the design of its projects and the services offered in those developments.  

2022

Gabriel Barrett-Jackson

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Gabriel worked at Strategic Actions for a Just Economy in Los Angeles, California. 

Emily Hsee

Master in Architecture
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Emily worked at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. 

Matt Khinda

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Matt worked at Citizen's Institute on Rural Design in Washington, DC.

Grace Levin

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Grace worked the South Boston Neighborhood Development Corporation.

Taylor Mayes

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Taylor worked at the Center for Urban Pedagogy in Brooklyn. 

Amna Pervaiz

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Amna worked at Homeowners Rehab Inc., in Cambridge MA.

Aaron Smithson

Master in Urban Planning & Master in Architecture
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Aaron worked at the NYC Department of City Planning's Division of Zoning and Urban Design.

Gianina Yumul

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Gianina worked at Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) in Boston, MA.

Abdul-Razak Zachariah

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Abdul-Razak worked at the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development in New York City. 

Michael Zajakowski Uhll

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Michael worked at the New York City Housing Authority. 

2021

Emma Colley

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Emma worked with the Resiliency Planning Team in the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development's Office of Neighborhood Strategies.

Olivia Howard

Master in Architecture
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Olivia worked with MASS Design Group on a project to expand their work on Fringe Cities into a book scheduled to be published later this year.

Zoe Iacovino

Master in Urban Planning & Master in Public Policy
Harvard Graduate School of Design & Harvard Kennedy School

Zoe worked with Greater Grove Hall Main Streets and the Earthos Institute on the creation of a Green Zone for Boston’s Grove Hall neighborhood.

G Laster

Master in Landscape Architecture
Harvard Graduate School of Design

G worked as a Public Realm and Streetscape Design intern with ReBUILD Metro in Baltimore.

Jonathan Lee

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Jonathan helped the Cambridge Community Development Department’s Economic Development Division build a new state-funded economic recovery program for local businesses.

Shannon Slade

Master in Design Studies
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Shannon worked as a Planning and Development intern in the office of Boston City Councilor Elizabeth Breadon.

Arshaya Sood

Master in Design Studies
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Arshaya assisted with design, research, and planning tasks as well community engagement processes at the Kounkuey Design Initiative in Los Angeles.

Whytne Stevens

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Whytne worked on policy research and community engagement on several projects for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, a community development entity that is part of the St. Philip’s School and Community Center in Dallas.

2020

Clara Amenyo

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Clara worked on a neighborhood data portal for the Pratt Center for Community Development in Brooklyn.

Nupur Gurjar

Master in Design Engineering
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Nupur did research for the Greater Grove Hall Main Streets on creating a Green Innovation Zone in that neighborhood of Boston.

Cecley Hill

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Cecley helped Powerful Pathways, a public interest consultancy in Boston, research creative media tools and design thinking methods to facilitate social change.

Yidan Hu

Master in Design Studies
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Yidan did research for the Greater Grove Hall Main Streets on design strategies for that neighborhood and nearby Franklin Park.

Elena Ion

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Elena researched and wrote content for the National Housing Council’s COVID-19 Housing Resource Center, a comprehensive online resource for housing policymakers, practitioners, and advocates.

Asher Kaplan

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Asher worked with the City of Providence’s Department of Planning and Development on COVID-19 responses for the department’s “EveryHome in Providence” program.

Anne Lin

Master in Urban Planning and Master of Public Health
Harvard Graduate School of Design and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Anne worked at The Urban Institute to help implement the High Line Network Equitable Impacts Framework pilot project, bringing together individuals involved with a variety of infrastructure reuse projects to ensure the social, environmental, and economic benefits of the projects reach as many people as possible, especially longtime residents of neighboring communities. 

Lillian Mensah

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Lillian helped develop and maintain a COVID-19 small business policy and resource guide for the Emerald South Economic Collaborative in Chicago.

Kanchan Wali-Richardson

Master in Landscape Architecture
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Kanchan worked with the Kounkuey Design Initiative in Los Angeles on design issues for affordable housing, particularly a project primarily serving migrant farm workers in California’s Coachella Valley.

2019

Anna Carlsson

Master in Urban Planning and Juris Doctorate
Harvard Graduate School of Design & Harvard Law School

Anna Carlsson researched community land trusts as part of NeighborWorks® America's new Shared Equity Housing Initiative.

Erick Diaz

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Erick Diaz researched how policy-level tools can maximize affordable housing units at the California Housing Partnership.

Hangsoo Jeong

Master in Architecture
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Hangsoo Jeong worked with the Boston Planning & Development Agency on projects designed to enhance urban resilience.

Emily Klein

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Emily Klein worked at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Inclusionary Housing Unit on projects to better track, analyze, and communicate information related to the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program.

Kyle Miller

Master in Urban Planning and Master of Public Health
Harvard Graduate School of Design and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Kyle Miller worked with the Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness in Boston to research and conduct data analysis on state initiatives addressing youth homelessness.

Samantha Saona

Master in Design Studies, Urbanism, Landscape, Ecology
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Samantha Saona worked with the Urbanism and Infrastructure department of Corporación del Proyecto ENLACE in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on housing relocation for families affected by flooding, as well as the development of a new Infrastructural Master Plan for the Caño Martín Peña area.

Isaac Stein

Master in Landscape Architecture and Master in Design
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Isaac Stein worked with ReBuild Metro in Baltimore to study and analyze development potential for the Johnston Square neighborhood.

2018

Syed Ali

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Syed was part of the citywide community-based planning efforts carried out by the Neighborhood Planning Team at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Maura Barry-Garland

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Maura Barry-Garland worked on three affordable housing projects being carried out by the South Boston Neighborhood Development Corporation.

Gloria Chang

Master in Architecture and Master in Design Studies (Risk and Resilience Concentration)
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Gloria Chang worked at the U.S. Naval War College's Civilian-Military Humanitarian Response Program in Newport, Rhode Island.

Francisco Colom

Master in Design Studies (Critical Conservation Concentration)
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Francisco Colom worked at the MASS Design Group, a non-profit in Boston that aims to research, build, and advocate for architecture that promotes justice and human dignity.

Maria de la Luz Lobos Martinez

Master in Landscape Architecture
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Maria de la Luz Lobos Martinez worked with the Livable Streets Alliance and the Southwest Boston CDC on the Emerald Necklace Initiative, which aims to enhance connectivity and walkability and improve access to the Neponset River in Boston's Hyde Park and Roslindale neighborhoods.

Katie Gourley

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Katie Gourley worked at the Mayor's Internship Program in Philadelphia on Rebuild Philadelphia, a $500 million program to revitalize the city's neighborhood parks, recreation centers, playgrounds, and libraries.

Christin Hu

Master in Landscape Architecture
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Christin Hu worked as a designer at YouthBuild Boston, a non-profit that provides underserved young people with the support and credentials needed to successfully enter the building trades.

Emma Phillips

Master in Urban Planning

Emma Phillips helped design a new urban garden for the Garden School Foundation, which offers garden-based learning in outdoor living classrooms for underserved youth in Los Angeles.

Gabriel Ramos

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Gabriel Ramos worked at the Africatown Preservation & Development Association, a Seattle-based non-profit that is developing strategies for documenting and preserving the African American presence in that city's Central District and surrounding communities.

Juan Reynoso

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Juan Reynoso worked on housing-related issues in the Office of California Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D-San Diego).

Chandra Rouse

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Chandra Rouse worked as an Economic Development Intern with the South East Chicago Commission, a community-based organization focused on enhancing the quality of life in five of that city's neighborhoods.

2017

Matt Genova

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Matt Genova assisted with several projects around the implementation of nMotion, Nashville's, 25-year transportation plan.

Miriam Keller

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Miriam Keller assisted the National Low Income Housing Coalition in Washington, DC on efforts to educate federal lawmakers about housing needs and efforts to analyze and shape policy proposals.

Casey Peterson

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Casey Peterson worked at the New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) in the Waterfront & Open Space Division where she conducted an extensive analysis of New York City's current and future floodplain, taking stock of the various building typologies and land uses along the waterfront. This data will be used by DCP as the agency engages community boards across the city in the process of updating the zoning text for the floodplain. In conducting this research, she enhanced her skills in GIS and Excel and gained an appreciation for the rigor DCP applies to its research. During the course of the internship, Casey also assisted in producing graphic materials for community zoning workshops and for City of Water Day, an annual event hosted by the Waterfront Alliance.

Leah Pickett

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Leah Pickett worked at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development's (HPD) Division of Property Disposition and Finance. As an intern with the Director of Land Disposition, Leah worked on a disposition strategy for a portfolio of HPD owned properties. In particular, she researched the viability of the community land trust (CLT) model. She approached this question from a few different angles: working on underwriting models, researching CLT best practices and case studies around the United States, and helping to identify and address persistent strategic questions within HPD. Ultimately, she produced a memo on the "value add" of CLTs and supported the development of a CLT framework for the City of New York.

Claire Summers

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Claire Summers worked in Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development on a variety projects, including research and identification of potential locations for non-profit development of affordable housing.

Katherine Wolf

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Katherine Wolf worked with the Boston Planning & Development Agency on recent initiatives in the Glover’s Corner neighborhood of Dorchester. Kate worked with the Community Planning Team on the recent launch of the Glover's Corner Study Area, known as PLAN: Glover's Corner. She was tasked with designing and a community engagement activity for an upcoming public meeting, and creating a summary of "progress-to-date" to update residents on what had been accomplished in terms of the planning timeline. Kate also produced a white paper including precedent research on climate resiliency, specifically surface stormwater conveyance as public open space. This research was adapted to a slide presentation to be used at a fall community public meeting.

Jessica Yuan

Master in Architecture
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Jessica Yuan worked with the Construction Open Space group at Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development on several projects including updating research on housing typologies for affordable housing developments. She worked on a few projects, including several presentations for community meeetings, design reviews for ongoing projects, revisions of the department's prototype houses, and research and graphics for guidelines and policies. She aided in ongoing revisions to the department's Design Guidelines, and produced a final document which incorporates best practices for unit layouts and kitchens. Jessica also worked with a Housing Innovation Lab fellow, Riddhi Shah, on producing unit layout graphics for a proposed microunit policy. She collaborated on the design guidelines for the policy, basing them off of existing DND guidelines. She also helped with the Neighborhood Homes Initiative (NHI), which uses a set of prototype homes for infill development on city owned lots. Jessica contributed several revisions to these prototypes, as well as reviewed permit drawings for ongoing NHI projects. Her design work also included creating a preliminary site strategy for a large set of parcels in Mattapan, a project which was a collaboration with two interns from the Real Estate Management and Sales team.