Previous Summer Housing & Community Development Fellows

2023

Benjamin Daly

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Benjamin researched proposed federal housing policies and tracking state and local housing initiatives and issues for the Office of US Representative Seth Moulton (D-MA). 

Christine Tran

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Christine worked at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California on an effort to make the right to housing part of California’s state constitution.

2022

Lindsay Apperson

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Hawaii Governor's Initiative on Homelessness

Maddie Cann

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Colorado Department of Local Affairs' Division of Housing

Zoe Iacovino

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

Community Action Agency of Somerville

Girish Pendse

Master in Public Administration
Harvard Kennedy School

Chicago Mayor's Office of Economic and Neighborhood Development

Gilbert Placeres

Master in Public Policy and Juris Doctor
Harvard Kennedy School & Harvard Law School

Boston Mayor's Office of Housing, Division of Neighborhood Development

2021

Benjamin Demers

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

Benjamin worked in the San Francisco Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development on the creation of three cultural districts in the city: the Leather and LGBTQ Cultural District in the South of Market district, the Compton Transgender District in the Tenderloin, and the Castro Leather LGBTQ Cultural District in the Castro Cultural District.

Samantha Kahn

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Samantha interned at the Pine Street Inn in Boston where she organized a mayoral candidate forum focused on homelessness, helped with voter registration and outreach, created a dedicated revenue stream for homelessness services, and designed a needs assessment survey for Pine Street’s staff and clients.

William Sternlicht

Master in Public Policy & Master in Business Administration
Harvard Kennedy School & Harvard Business School

William interned with the Miami-Dade County Department of Public Housing and Community Development, working on large mixed-use developments that include affordable housing units.

Joseph Vogel

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Joseph was a fellow at Interfaith Works, where he helped to plan the expansion of an existing service center for people who are poor or experiencing homelessness and helped develop a new advocacy agenda focused on equitable economic recovery in the county.

2020

Geraud Bablon

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

Geraud did research for the City of Boston’s Housing Innovation Lab on strategies to aid the city’s older homeowners. 

Jerren Chang

Master in Public Policy and Master in Business Administration
Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School

Jerren worked on developing GenUnity, a civic leadership startup for youth in Boston.  

Grady Deacon

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Grady helped the Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance evaluate the state’s Rental Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program.

Sam Gilman

Master in Public Policy student and JD candidate
Harvard Kennedy School

Sam worked with the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project at The Community Firm, a Denver-based nonprofit.  

Sietse Goffard

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Sietse worked with the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) to help evaluate and expand the Expanding Choice in Housing Opportunities (ECHO) pilot program, which provides technical assistance and information to individuals who receive rental housing vouchers-from BHA.

Samuel Shaffer

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Samuel worked at the Basics Learning Network (BLN), a Cambridge-based nonprofit focused on early childhood education, primarily on an initiative to improve early education at family-based daycare centers in Massachusetts. 

Diana Tian

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Diana helped Enterprise Community Partners’ Opportunity Zone Fund make investments in inclusive housing developments located in federal Opportunity Zones. 

2019

Chichi Anyoku

Master in Public Policy and Master in Business Administration
Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School

Chichi Anyoku worked with the Real Estate Transaction Services division of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, assisting with managing, evaluating, and executing real estate development projects and transactions.

Sophie Dover

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Sophie Dover worked with Chrysalis, nonprofit in Los Angeles dedicated to creating pathways to self-sufficiency for homeless and low-income individuals, to provide strategic support on community engagement as well as on political and media strategy.

Reine Rambert

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Reine Rambert worked with Business and Professional People for the Public Interest, an independent public interest law and policy center in Chicago, on advancing innovative solutions to quality of life issues in the region.

2018

Erick Diaz

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Erick Diaz worked at the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC) on financial modeling and sensitivity analyses of funding plans for affordable housing projects.

Iueh Soh

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Iueh Soh worked at the Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics in Boston on projects related to community development and housing in the Chinatown neighborhood.

Camilla Taufic

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Camilla Taufic conducted research for Andoma, part of the French housing authority in Paris, on programs that can better support refugees.

2017

Daniel Black

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Daniel Black worked on the EveryHome Initiative, a community revitalization effort in Providence, Rhode Island, aimed at bringing blighted and abandoned properties back into use.

Peter Drivas

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Peter Drivas interned with the Office of NYC Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen. Deputy Mayor Glen's team is tasked with overseeing City policymaking and operations on areas ranging from affordability, to the built environment, to small business services and workforce development. The majority of his work focused on facets of the de Blasio administration's historic commitment to affordable housing. Peter produced memos and slide decks on topics including employer assisted housing, modular construction, neighborhood rezonings, and ferry service.

Kyle Ofori

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

Kyle Ofori worked with the Fitz Forward Revitalization team in Detroit as a liaison between the Fitzgerald community and a real estate development team leading a neighborhood revitalization project in the city. As part of his work with Century Forward, Kyle took part in a wide range of activities. The company was small which allowed the employees to share the responsibility for all aspects of the jobs, from managing properties to preparing a major project with the City of Detroit. During the fellowship, he did everything from delivering keys to a contractor to writing an article for Vice Impact. He watched and participated in discussions on a huge range of topics: financial literacy, renter displacement, public-private partnerships, and the Wonder Woman movie.

Grady Deacon

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Grady is helping the Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance evaluate the state’s Rental Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program.