Jackie Agostino | Abby Goldstein | Judy Pearring | Mark Melnik | Angela Caldwell | Sophia Diamantis | Eliza Jaquez | Emily Neal | Susanne Heeg | Charles Coffin | Crystal Myers | Abby McCabe | Richard Ting | Katherine Moloney | Gordana Rabrenovic | James Wang | Cory Fox | Stein Helmrich | Barbara Hamilton | David Wright | Richard Maloney | Terry Stone | Cynthia L. Baron | David Blackman | Jerold Kayden | Christopher Cassidy | David Langseth | Dennis J. Wright | Jeff Weir | Christina Pampoukidis | Jim Hlawek | Ari Bruening | Brittany Martin | Antoine Brewster | Jennifer Cabrera | Alicia Russell | Kristin DeSimone | Noelle Minter | Ashley Lanfer | Ken Forde | Ray Elman | Ryan Allen | Gretchen Weismann | Karen Hallman | Barbara Baran | Suzanne Teegarden | Richard LaRock Jr. | David Auerbach | Maggie Adams |Victor Forberger | Lisa Schneiderman | Derek Lindblom | Kimberly Hall | Boyce Slayman | Nicole Lindstrom | Daniel Keegan | Charles C. Euchner | Amy Dolphin

Jackie Agostino

Jackie Agostino was a Research Intern at CURP working on the Heart of the City database. Agostino graduated from Northeastern University in August 2007 with a B.A. in Political Science and a concentration in Public Policy and Administration, and minors in Sociology and Urban Studies. During her senior year at Northeastern, she also participated in the Hansard Society's study abroad program at the London School of Economics.

Originally from Upstate New York, Agostino left her hometown for a more urban environment in college. This led to her fascination with the Boston area and urban studies. She is currently attending graduate school at the University of Albany in New York.

In her spare time, Agostino enjoys spending as much time as possible outdoors. She loves walking around aimlessly in the city which always leads to new discoveries and adventures.

Abby Goldstein

Abby Goldstein was a Research Assistant at CURP, working with Don Walsh on the Massachusetts Manufacturing Study and with Alexandra Curley on the Maverick Garden HOPE VI Evaluation Survey.

Abby was inspired to begin her work at CURP after taking Barry Bluestone's Current Issues in Cities and Suburbs course in 2006. She has completed several political internships all over the country, including: the Kerry-Edwards Presidential campaign; Tom Daschle's Senate campaign in South Dakota; Congressman Barney Frank's Washington, DC office; and Senator Edward Kennedy's offices in Boston and Washington, DC. She most recently worked as the Deputy New England Finance Director of Senator Evan Bayh's short-lived Presidential campaign. In the winter of 2007, Abby also received the opportunity to travel to Cyprus on a faculty-led program on international conflict negotiation.

In her spare time, Abby enjoys exploring Boston and attending as many concerts and Red Sox games as possible. She is also an avid reader, chef, and fan of the television show LOST. Abby recently completed her undergraduate degree at Northeastern in Political Science and Urban Studies, and is looking forward to beginning her career.

Judy Pearring

Judy Pearring was a Work-Study Research Assistant at CURP working on numerous ongoing projects within the office.

Mark Melnik

Mark Melnik was a Research Associate at CURP, working with Barry Bluestone and Alan Clayton-Matthews on a project for the Boston Redevelopment Authority developing a computer-based research tool used to evaluate education, skills, and training requirements associated with various industries, and how they are linked with economic development in Boston.

Mark earned his bachelor’s degree from Youngstown State University in 2000 and his master’s degree from Northeastern University in 2002, both in sociology. Currently, he is a Ph.D. student in the Sociology Department at Northeastern. Mark’s primary areas of interest include urban sociology, political economy, and community analysis. While at Northeastern, Mark has served as a teaching assistant and an instructor in the Sociology Department. Over the last 3 years, he has taught Statistics, Research Methods, Senior Seminar in Urban Sociology, and Sport, Culture, and Society. Mark also worked as a research associate for David Soule, Joan Fitzgerald, and Barry Bluestone on the CURP’s report The Rebirth of Older Industrial Cities: Exciting Opportunities for Private Sector Investment.

Mark lives in Jamaica Plain with his wife Gina. In his spare time, he enjoys watching television, working out, and playing sports — primarily basketball and softball.

Angela Caldwell

Angela Caldwell was a Research Associate at CURP from 2005-2006, working primarily with David Soule on projects for the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, National Association of Regional Councils, and Massachusetts Municipal Association.

Angela received her master’s degree in Sociology from Northeastern University in the spring of 2005. Within sociology, her research interests lie in urban and community issues. While at Northeastern, Angela was a teaching assistant in her department and worked part-time as a research assistant at CURP. Prior to joining CURP full-time in 2005, Angela was also an intern at the Massachusetts Association for Community Development Corporations (MACDC) from July of 2004 to June of 2005. At MACDC, she worked on various projects from helping to coordinate an event during the Democratic National Convention to administering an online survey of members' activities in 2004.

Having moved to Boston from Illinois in August 2003 to begin graduate studies, Angela is relatively new to New England. In her free time, she enjoys taking weekend trips exploring the East Coast, visiting the many museums in and around the city of Boston, and "window shopping" along Newbury Street.

Sophia Diamantis

Sophia Diamantis was a research assistant at CURP during the spring of 2005 and 2006. Initially, she worked on both administrative and research duties. Later, Sophia assisted Stephanie Pollack and the Transportation Priorities Task Force, a group brought together by the Urban Land Institute Boston Council, to produce the report On the Right Track. Her research on transit agencies across the nation, and creation of a database of transit-oriented development in and around Boston, contributed to the final report.

Sophia graduated form Northeastern University in 2006 with a B.A. in International Affairs and Economics. Before working at CURP, she studied in Seville, Spain, where she took classes in Spanish and lived with a family. In between working at CURP, Sophia took on a co-op position at Wellington Management as a financial operations intern.

In her free time Sophia enjoys running; she ran the Boston Marathon in 2004 and 2006. She also enjoys skiing, playing basketball and field hockey, and traveling. Although the next chapter in her life is yet to be decided, she hopes to spend time in Greece with her family in the near future.

Eliza Jaquez

Eliza Jaquez is a work-study Research Assistant and Writer at CURP while studying at Northeastern University. She received her B.A. in History, as well as a double minor in Political Science and Secondary Education in 2006. Jaquez has aspirations to attend Stanford Law and become a lawyer, practicing in the field of urban policy and education.

Emily Neal

Emily Neal worked at CURP as a Research Assistant with David Soule on updating the Boston Renaissance Resource Toolkit.

Emily is originally from Utah and moved to Massachusetts in 1997 to attend Mount Holyoke College. In 2001, she graduated with a B.A. in Environmental Studies. She now attends Northeastern University, where she is pursuing her MPA as well as a Ph.D. in Public and Environmental Policy, while also working as a teaching assistant for the Department of Political Science. Before attending graduate school, Emily was an environmental consultant for Boston-based firm Sleeman, Hanley, & DiNitto where she worked with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the Housatonic River Project.

Emily enjoys books by Edith Wharton and Tom Robbins, Star Trek tribute bands, and being outside.

Susanne Heeg

Susanne Heeg was a visiting scholar at CURP, on leave from the University of Hamburg, where she is an assistant professor (Wissenschaftliche Assistentin) teaching economic and urban geography at the Institute of Geography.

At CURP, Susanne engaged in research about the relationship between urban renewal and economic development concerning large urban development projects on inner-city redevelopment sites. The case studies of her comparative research include the South Boston Waterfront and the waterfront at the Westhafen in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

CURP offered her a forum for discussing and advancing her research, as well as relating it to similar projects underway at the Center, such as The Rebirth of Older Industrial Cities.

Her areas of research and interest are urban geography, politico-territorial rescaling and regionalization in Western Europe and the political economy of real estate investments and the built environment. For publications (in German) click here.

Susanne received her Ph.D. in Political Sciences at the European University of Frankfurt (Oder) in 2000, where she also taught as a junior lecturer (Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin) and she earned her master’s degree (Diplom) in Sociology at the University of Frankfurt/Main in 1992.

Charles Coffin

Charles Coffin was the Junior Research Associate at CURP from 2004-2005 working with David Soule on projects for the Lincoln Land Institute, National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, and N.A.R.C.

Charles graduated cum laude from Northeastern University in 2004 with a B.S. in Political Science. While at Northeastern he earned a minor in Urban Studies, one of the first students to do so. Before coming to CURP, Charles worked as a paralegal in Boston and was committed to law school in the fall. However, due to a change of interests he decided to work for CURP. Charles attended the University of California, Los Angeles School of Urban Planning following his time at CURP, taking a leave of absence from his master’s education to pursue a position with a leading Office REIT in Manhattan, SL Green. Charles currently is working on redevelopment projects of two prime office properties in mid-town Manhattan, 100 Park Avenue and 521 5th Avenue, along with various other projects throughout their portfolio.

In his free time Charles enjoys golfing, snowboarding, and going to the beach.

Crystal Myers

Crystal Myers was a research assistant at CURP from 2003 to 2005. The majority of her time at the Center was spent working on the Heart of the City project with Sarah Heim, Hope VI evaluation with Alex Curley, and the 2004 Housing Report Card with Bonnie Heudorfer. Crystal has thoroughly appreciated her time at CURP because the position allowed her the opportunity to explore her interests in urban policies.

Throughout her years at Northeastern, Crystal worked to keep involved in the processes of state and local government. She has worked in the Massachusetts State Senate as a summer intern, took on a co-op with the New England Convenience Store Association, and once back in classes, she participated in an honors research project assisting the Boston City Council. In the beginning of her senior year she spent a semester studying abroad in England.

Following her graduation from Northeastern University in 2005, she began the pursuit of a master's degree in Community Planning at the University of Maryland.

Abby McCabe

Abby McCabe was a research intern at CURP working with Sarah Heim on the Heart of the City Project.

Abby graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2004 with a B.S. in Environmental Design and Sociology, and went on to receive a certificate in Public Policy at the McCormack Graduate School at UMass Boston in the Women in Politics Program. She is now continuing her education at Virginia Commonwealth University where she is working towards a master's degree in Urban Planning.

Richard Ting

Richard Ting worked with David Soule in 2005 primarily doing research on public education financing. His time at CURP allowed him to explore his interests in local government financing and economic development issues.

Richard graduated with a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2005. He has a Sc.B. in Biochemistry from Brown University (2000), and an S.M. in Toxicology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2001). Before attending law school, Richard served as an AmeriCorps*VISTA doing neighborhood planning and economic development work in Spokane, Washington. In the summer of 2004, he received a public interest fellowship to conduct research for the Allegheny Conference on Community Development in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The research involved industrial development organizations and tax base sharing. Upon graduating from law school, Richard returned to his hometown of Pittsburgh, PA to practice law. In Pittsburgh, he hopes to stay involved with urban and regional policy issues.

Katherine Moloney

Katherine (Kate) Moloney joined CURP in February 2005 as a Research Assistant, bringing with her experience and interest in the field of affordable multi-family rental housing. Moloney most recently was working on the Greater Boston Housing Report Card.

Prior to joining CURP, Moloney was an Associate at Housing Partners, Inc. (HPI), from April 2002 to October 2004. At HPI she conducted due diligence and underwriting for the development of mortgage restructuring plans for project-based Section 8 properties in HUD’s Mark-to-Market program. Moloney also served as Assistant to the President of the National Housing Trust in Washington, D.C. (October 2000 to August 2001), where she supported the office and executive director, assisted in the submission of grant and loan proposals and reports to foundations and HUD, and assisted in the management of a predevelopment loan fund that supports the activities of nonprofits.

She earned a B.A. in Sociology from the College of the Holy Cross (2000), where she was also a member of the women’s varsity rowing team. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Sociology from Northeastern University.

Moloney lives in Sharon with her husband Steven Gagne.

Gordana Rabrenovic is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Northeastern University and worked with CURP to plan the 2002 Urban Affairs Association conference, which CURP hosted. Rabrenovic teaches organizational, urban and community, and family courses at NU. Her research interests are oriented toward comparative, cross-cultural social analysis in the areas of urban sociology, social stratification, and voluntary and nonprofit organizations. She is currently studying the restructuring of the public sector using examples of Boston University's management of the Chelsea public school system and the new Charter School policy. Her book Community Builders: Neighborhood Mobilization and the Politics of Urban Change was published in 1996.

Cory Fox

Cory Fox was an intern at CURP working with Sarah Heim on updating the CURP website and adding commentary.

Cory entered his senior year at Wheaton College (Massachusetts) in Fall 2004 where he is pursuing a BA in Economics and English studies.

Prior to coming to CURP Cory served as an intern at Portland Magazine in Portland, Maine. When he isn't working, Cory spends his time making money to pay back the bills he accumulated last semester while abroad in Australia.

Stein Helmrich

Stein Helmrich was a research associate at CURP working with Barry Bluestone on the Boston Renaissance Resource Kit. He began Law School at the University of Connecticut in Fall 2004.

Stein received his BS in History and Political Science from Northeastern University in 2003. While at Northeastern he worked at the University Archives and Special Collections, the Boston Athenaeum, and was actively involved in local politics. Previous to Northeastern, he spent a year abroad traveling under the guise of trying to find himself. He plans to return to school in the next two years to pursue and degree in law and public service. Stein is a orginally from the town of Guilford, CT, and has been an avid soccer player his whole life.

Barbara Hamilton

Barbara Hamilton was a researcher affiliated with the Center for Urban and Regional Policy.

Hamilton served as a member of an international research team established to analyze the different methods used to develop unemployment statistics in 10 Western market nations. That study, "Understanding Unemployment and Working Time: A Cross-Country Comparative Study," resulted in major conferences in Truro (1998), Boston, Massachusetts (1999), and Bellagio, Italy (1999). The study establishes a framework for the development of economic, industrial, and social policies. By understanding different measurements for unemployment, the project' s scholars hope to develop better assessments of the actual experiences of people at all levels of the economic systems and how well they are integrated into labor markets. The report eventually will be expanded to include more countries and provide a broad examination of how policymakers, academics, media, employers understand and use unemployment data.

In a related project, Hamilton analyzed relations between the unemployment rate and other indicators of economic capacity, performance, and hardship. She also worked on a "data availability" project to make specialized survey data available in a user-friendly format for people and organizations that do not possess the technical skills or time necessary to manipulate complex statistical software and databases.

Hamilton received her M.S. in Economic Policy and Planning from Northeastern University in 1996. She received her M.S. in Public Policy in 1999 from the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she is currently completing her Ph.D. in Public Policy. Her areas of interest include labor policy, environmental policy, quantitative modeling, and general economic policy.

Before becoming affiliated with the Center for Urban and Regional Policy, she worked with Barry Bluestone at the University of Massachusetts since 1997 on one of his recent books, Greater Boston in Transition: Race and Ethnicity in a Renaissance Region. During that period, she also worked on a variety of economic, statistical and quantitative modeling projects in her private consulting practice, Hamilton Analytics, and she taught environmental law at a local community college. Before 1997, she worked in an analytical support capacity for a number of years for the senior partner at one of the larger law firms in Boston. Her responsibilities there also included extensive database programming/design, management and trouble-shooting.

She lives in Holbrook, Massachusetts with her husband Mitchell and their two cats, Austin and Chum.

David Wright

David Wright served as a senior fellow at CURP. His primary role was as community liason for the World Class Housing Collaborative. In this role, he assisted the WCHC as it reached out to community-based organizations in an effort to bring community health and social services to the families of the new housing the WCHC helped to bring on-line.

Additionally, David assisted with the Technology Opportunities Project Fellowship and the MassAgenda website. This project is designed to help community-based organizations develop their capacity for advocacy using technology.

Born and raised in Roxbury, David is a native Bostonian. A product of Boston public schools, he is a graduate of both the Boston Latin School and Harvard College, with honors. In 1990, he graduated from Harvard Law and spent his first year after law school clerking for The Honorable David S. Nelson, the first African American Federal Court Justice in the Federal District of Massachusetts. For the next six years he worked as a litigation associate at the law firm of Brown Rudnick Freed and Gesmer.

In 1997, he became a senior litigation associate at the firm of Hanify & King, PC. While working for these two law firms, David served as chairman of the Board for Lena Park CDC. Leading Lena Park through a major transition - an organization crisis, resulting bankruptcy, and a complete reorganization of the agency - taught him about the challenges faced by community-based organizations throughout Boston and helped prepare him for the next phase of his life. After Lena Park's successful transition, David joined the African American Federation of Greater Boston, Inc., as its president in 1999.

Since taking the reigns at the Federation, the membership has grown from a collaboration of 22 community-based organizations to more than 35. These non-profits provide a full range of services to the inner-city communities of Boston. The Federation's mission statement is "To be agencies of Excellence, collaborating in service to our communities."

David is a licensed minister at the Abundant Life Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He also serves on the boards of several community-based organizations and as trustee of Farrington Memorial Trust.

Richard Maloney

Richard Maloney is currently pursuing a doctorate in Law, Policy, and Society at Northeastern University where his research interests focus on cultural policy and the role of the arts in urban economic development. He has served as a research associate at CURP where he worked on urban housing issues.

Maloney studied classical piano for seven years before switching to guitar at age 14. He attended Bates College and Berklee College of Music, where he studied early European history and Jazz guitar respectively. He then studied Renaissance and Baroque lute with Douglas Freundlich at the Longy School of Music and completed a degree in Arts Administration at Boston University.

Maloney has performed with the Harvard University Baroque Chamber Orchestra, Boston University Opera Institute, Revels, Renaissonics, Concordia Consort, and Mille Corde, an ensemble he co-founded. A recent concert review in the Boston Globe states "lutenist Richard Maloney proved to be an excellent scholar, artist, and gentleman all at once. This last one is a nod to how quiet, discreet, yet imaginative his playing could be."

He taught music at the Beaver Country Day School in Brookline, MA and served as the graduate academic advisor at the New England Conservatory of Music. In the arts administration field, he worked for the Boston Early Music Festival and served as general manager of the internationally renowned early music ensemble, the Boston Camerata. Currently, Maloney is assistant director and assistant professor of the Arts Administration department at Boston University. He is also president of the Board of Directors of the Society for Historically Informed Performance (SoHIP). In addition, for several years he was a tennis teaching professional and coached the Babson and Regis College tennis teams.

Terry Stone is a graduate of Allegheny College (B.A., 1987), and the New England School of Law (J.D., 1991). He is currently a doctoral candidate in the Law, Policy and Society program at Northeastern University, and is working on a dissertation in the field of labor-management relations. He was involved in CURP's Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services research project and assisted Joan Fitzgerald with the development of Northeatern's Urban Studies program. Over the past several years, Terry has conducted research in law, public policy, and industrial relations, looking at topics ranging from property rights, environmental law, tobacco policymaking, local government, and labor-management cooperation. He has worked as a judicial clerk for the Connecticut Superior Court, and as a research associate for the Urban Harbors Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Terry lives in Newton, Massachusetts with his wife, Amy Kropke, and their one year-old boy, Kiernan.

Pasqualino Colombaro

Pasqualino Colombaro served as the Project Coordinator for CURP's research project "Understanding Unemployment and Working Time. A Cross Country Comparative Study," involving ten countries in North America and Europe, funded by the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations. He is also a field representative and organizer of Local 509 of the Service Employees International Union, where he works on collective bargaining, public funding, privatization, education and training, community outreach, labor-management mediation, and government restructuring for Massachusetts' public and private human service workers. Colombaro also serves as coordinator and international liaison for the Center for International Social Studies in Rome. Previously, Colombaro served as the international liaison and representative for the Instituto Europo Studi Sociali in Rome and Brussels (September 1993-January 1998); the chair of the New Priorities Committee of Massachusetts Jobs with Justice (May 1992 to present); workshop presenter and researcher for the Public Sector Regional Federations of Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro (September 1989 to January 1990); the union vice president of the SEIU LOCAL 509 (January 1980 to June 1987); a social worker at the Massachusetts Department of Social Services (July 1979 to December 1986). Colombaro holds an M.A. in sociology from Boston University (1978), where he was a teaching fellow from January 1976 to December 1987. He also holds a B.A. in sociology from the University of Massaachusetts at Boston (1975).

Cynthia L. Baron

Cynthia L. Baron was part of the team from Northeastern University and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston working to create museum of New England economic history. Baron also worked on the development of a web site for the museum, which would take the museum "beyond the walls" of the Fed's 10,000-square-foot museum to reach a broad public with programs for economic literacy.

David Blackman

Jerold Kayden

Jerold Kayden is a professor of urban planning at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design and a co-author of CURP's Cambridge Housing linkage study. For the Cambridge project, Kayden acted as CURP's expert on the legal issues surrounding linkage programs. Kayden published Privately Owned Public Space: The New York Experience in 2000.

Christopher Cassidy

Christopher Cassidy (ccassidy@coe.neu.edu) has served as Director of Industrial Liaison and Research Development for Northeastern's College of Engineering since July 1997. He is an active member of the Urban Outreach Council and has worked with the education planning committee for the Roxbury-based Veteran's Benefits Clearinghouse. As Northeastern's industrial liaison, Cassidy is responsible for developing research sponsorships and related technology-transfer collaborations between the faculty, researchers, and corporations. Prior to joining the College of Engineering, Cassidy spent 12 years as Director of Corporate and Continuing Education at Northeastern. He developed and delivered programs for industry with an emphasis on Information Technology and Engineering. Before joining Northeastern in 1985, Chris worked in technical education management, marketing management, and sales with Data General Computer Company and Honeywell Information Systems. He has also managed IBM and HP computer departments for the Town of Brookline, and the Keefe Vocational Technical School in Framingham, MA. Cassidy was awarded a B.S. in Industrial Engineering (1964) and an M.S. in Engineering Management (1970) degree from Northeastern University. He has 30 years experience as a senior lecturer in Management Information Systems and Advanced PC Software undergraduate courses.

David Langseth

Dennis Wright

Jeff Weir

Jeff Weir worked with Bonnie Heudorfer on the Weston Housing Survey and the Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2003.

Jeff was born in Wichita, Kansas. When he was 12, his family moved to a small farming town of 1500 people, called Halstead, KS. Jeff received his BA in History from Friends University (2002) in Wichitia, KS.

During his undergrad years, he worked as a pharmacy technician for Damm (pronounced Damn) Pharmacies. During the summers, he followed the band Phish around the country. Hence, he has been to every mainland state within the last four years.

Jeff also did a two-week Public Policy tour of terrorism in Washington, DC and attended the Universidad De La Salle Cancun for a month in the summer of 2002 for a Spanish immersion course. During that time he and two friends initiated and operated a support group for GLBT young adults called, IMPACT. Wichita lacked a support network, or resource, for gay and lesbian young adults, so Jeff and his friends decided to create one, and it is still in existence today.

Jeff moved to Boston in the summer of 2002 to begin his Master's of Public Administration at Northeastern University. He will graduate this spring. He has completed two internships, one with Rep. Anne Paulsen at the State House, and the other with the Town Administrator's office of the Town of Belmont, MA. He plans to apply to various PhD programs this fall in hope of pursuing a Doctorate with the intention of entering the collegiate education system.

Jeff has no intention of leaving Boston. "I absolutely love it here," he says.

Christina Pampoukidis

Christina Pampoukidis was a research assistant who worked on both administrative and research duties at CURP.

During her time at CURP, she was a junior attending Northeastern University pursuing a B.S. in Political Science and minor in Business Administration. As Christina progressed academically in college she became more aware of her passion for politics, society, and the law. Her recent Co-op at the Boston Bar Association expanded her knowledge, confidence, and interest in the legal profession. The ability to interact daily with diverse people looking for legal assistance only made her more determined that her future role will be to serve others as a lawyer or public official.

If not studying or working, Christina finds the time to be a part of the NAACP at Northeastern University. She keeps fresh on current issues and events in the political arena both locally and internationally. Lastly, she loves to watch all kinds of comedies, especially the social mishaps on Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Jim Hlawek

Jim Hlawek was a research associate at CURP, working with David Soule on a project studying the impact of the Massachusetts property tax system on sprawl. Jim is a second-year student at Harvard Law School, and he plans to graduate in 2005. At Harvard, Jim is an editor on the Harvard Law Review.

Prior to starting at Harvard, Jim worked as a consultant and an auditor at Arthur Andersen in Chicago for eight years. He also obtained his MBA from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. He is a Certified Public Accountant who received his BS in Accounting from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois.

Jim and his wife Dee live in Braintree, and they plan on remaining in the Boston area after his graduation. Jim enjoys watching or playing just about any sport, and he has adopted the Pats and Sox as his favorite teams.

Ari Bruening

Ari Bruening was a research associate at CURP, where he worked with David Soule on a project studying the impact of property tax law on sprawl. A second- year law student at Harvard and an editor for the Harvard Law Review, Ari plans to graduate in 2005. After graduation, he plans to return with his wife and daughter to Utah to pursue a career in land use law and urban planning.

Before coming to Harvard, Ari received a B.A. in philosophy from Brigham Young University and served a two-year LDS mission in the Philippines. At BYU, he was an editor for the undergraduate philosophy journal and published articles regarding divine foreknowledge and Mormon theology. During his speech at graduation, he quoted extensively from Dr. Seuss.

In his rare free time, Ari can be found (when not spending time with his family) playing basketball, hiking, or cross-country skiing.

Antoine Brewster

Antoine Brewster was a work study student at CURP, where he helped the Center with administrative duties. Antoine is music industry major at Northeastern.

A life-long native of Boston, Antoine graduated from the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science in a class of 296 students. While there he was involved in such extracurricular programs as percussion ensemble, the stock market club, and being a photographer for the school yearbook. In his spare time, Antoine enjoys listening to music and making music.

Jennifer Cabrera

Jennifer Cabrera was a research associate at CURP, working with David Soule on the Urban Initiative Project. She has completed her first year at Harvard Law School and plans to graduate in 2005. At Harvard, she is an editor for the Environmental Law Review. Having an interest in property law, especially as it pertains to urban policy and economic development, she enjoyed the opportunity to focus on the research and policy elements (as opposed to the legal elements) of urban growth at CURP.

Jennifer is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a BA in English and Philosophy. While in Austin, in addition to editing a literary magazine she started with several friends, she worked with the Political Asylum Project of Austin, a legal services group helping Central Texas immigrants. Jennifer also enjoys music (lately, she particularly likes roots reggae), early 20th century art and literature, cooking, gardening, hiking, and travel.

Alicia Russell

Alicia Russell directs and has led the development of Northeastern's Educational Technology Center, which opened in 1998 to help faculty make effective use of technology in teaching. At CURP, Russell was working with a diverse team to develop strategies for the new museum of economic history at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. As director of the EdTech Center, Ms. Russell brokers partnerships and fosters collaboration among university departments, publishing companies hardware and software vendors, local, regional, national and international organizations such as Educause and New Media Centers. She served on the 1997 Educom national program committee and currently serves on many university committees concerned with technology. Ms. Russell oversees the EdTech Center's grant-funded partnerships with departments and colleges, and coordinates the NU Tech Expo, an annual showcase of technology developed by NU faculty, students, and staff. Ms. Russell holds a BA in English and an MA in Education from the University of Kansas. Prior to her work for Information Services, she taught English for ten years in the US and Japan. She can be reached at arussell@lynx.neu.edu.

Kristin DeSimone

Kristin DeSimone was a Research Associate at CURP working with Barbara Hamilton on the Boston Renaissance Resource Kit.

Kristin received her B.S. from the University of Vermont with a degree in Community Development and Applied Economics, with a concentration in Business Development. She was a financial analyst at Women Helping Battered Women in Burlington, Vermont. Kristin was also a portfolio accountant at State Street Corporation and was responsible for nine Nonprofit Organizations/Endowments; including two universities. She is attending Suffolk University's Sawyer School of Management for her Master's of Public Administration with a concentration in Non-Profit Management. In her spare time, Kristin enjoys writing, photography, painting, printmaking, film and sculpture.

Noelle Minter

Noelle Minter was a work study student at CURP, helping Ashley Lanfer and Sarah Heim complete the Heart of the City project and working on developing content for the CURP Web site. She joined the CURP staff in March 2003.

Originally hailing from the Bronx, N.Y., Noelle graduated from the George School, a boarding school in Newtown, Penn., in 2002. She is currently a freshman at Northeastern, planning to major in sociology with a minor in urban studies. This summer, Noelle will participate in a rigorous internship program at Goldman Sachs in New York City.

Noelle enjoys listening to music, exploring the city of Boston with her friends, and volunteering with young people and senior citizens.

Ashley Lanfer

Ashley G. Lanfer came to CURP from the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, where she managed the Heart of the City project. "Heart of the City" refers to the urban and natural spaces at the geographic center of the city of Boston. The project, which is now based at CURP, provides a comprehensive, web-based storehouse of information about the places, organizations, and issues that comprise Boston's inner city and explores connections between public health, environmental issues, physical planning, transportation, and education.

Previous to her work on Heart of the City, Ashley received a Master's degree in environmental science from Yale University. Her graduate work centered on the relationship between people and protected areas in the U.S. and in Africa. She also managed a grass-roots environmental organization in northern Kenya and has researched and written three land use handbooks for communities in southern and eastern Africa. Ashley graduated from Dartmouth College in 1997 with a B.A. in Environmental Studies and English. She is currently the campaign manager for the Greenspace Alliance in Boston.

Ryan Allen

Ryan Allen was a research associate at CURP. He worked on the Regional Housing Report Card project and co-coordinated the Cambridge Linkage Study.

Ryan is currently pursuing his PhD at MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning, where he also received a master's degree concentrated on affordable housing and land use law. Prior to coming to CURP, he worked for the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the U.S. Department of Labor. He was also a research associate for the Urban Institute in Washington, DC where he conducted research on justice policy and public management. Ryan holds a B.A. in Economics (1997) from the College of William and Mary.

Gretchen Weismann

Gretchen Weismann was a senior research associate at CURP, primarily working with the World Class Housing Collaborative. She is also a PhD student in urban planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Weismann was the project manager of A New Housing Paradigm for Greater Boston, a major study of housing that identified a full range of strategic policies that can be used to address the housing crisis in Greater Boston. This project, funded by Fleet Bank and coordinated by the Planning Office for Urban Affairs at the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, culminated in a major conference in September 2000 and generated extensive coverage of the housing crisis in Greater Boston.

In addition to the Archdiocese housing project, Weismann served as project manager for the TeleCom City Housing Impact Study and as a case study director for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Project, focusing on joint labor-management practices at the Children' s Health East Hospitals in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

She also works as a consultant to public housing authorities on the development of portfolio asset management strategies. Her previous work focused on expanding affordable housing opportunties as a case manager for the homeless at the Pine Street Inn, and Long Island Shelter, as a housing advocate for low-income populations at Jamaica Plain Legal Services, and Habitat for Humanity, and more recently as an intern and volunteer on policy issues related to low-income housing tax credits and people with disabilities at Citizens' Housing and Planning Association.

Weismann holds a B.A. from Macalester College in St. Paul (1992) and an M.P.A. from Northeastern University (1999), where her research centered on urban social policy and state and local government. Weismann is a lifelong resident of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston.

Karen Hallman

Karen Hallman was a work-study student at CURP. She researched various urban projects in other cities and states for staff members' individual projects. She was particularly helpful to Associate Director Joan Fitzgerald in her research for her forthcoming book Moving up in the New Economy. Karen's permanent home is in Douglassville, Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia. She is an English and Education major and is also pursuing a minor in journalism.

Barbara Baran

Barbara Baran has over twenty years experience in the field of workforce development, first as a academic and then as a practitioner. At CURP, she and Suzanne Teegarden were Co-Directors of Workforce Strategies Collaborative (WSC) and partners in a consultancy, Workforce Learning Strategies.

Workforce Strategies Collaborative is dedicated to helping policy-makers, labor, community and business leaders develop strategies to ensure decent work and income for individuals and regions. WSC' s partners include federal and state agencies, labor organizations, trade associations, nonprofits, community colleges, advocacy groups, policy organizations, Workforce Investment Boards, and One-Stop Career Centers. The experience of the WSC principals is unusual in its span; they have been senior policymakers and administrators, research academics, and grassroots activists.

Just before coming to Northeastern, Barbara Baran served as Vice President for Workforce Development of the Corporation for Business, Work, and Learning (CBWL), a quasi-public corporation in Massachusetts that worked at the intersection of workforce and economic development. CBWL also attempted to link an active research and demonstration function to the administration of mainline workforce development programs. CBWL was formed in 1996, through the merger of two previous quasi-public organizations: the Industrial Services Program and the Bay State Skills Corporation. Prior to the merger, Baran was Deputy Director of the Industrial Services Program.

CBWL (and its predecessor organizations) was widely recognized nationally, and even internationally, as a leader in the field of workforce development. As such, Baran participated in numerous state and national policy development teams.

As Vice President for Workforce Development of CBWL, Baran had responsibility for eight departments and an $80 million budget. Diverse programming included: a consulting service for small to mid-sized firms to help them meet their workforce development needs; oversight and technical assistance to a network of publicly-funded outplacement centers; a team of performance-focused psychologists; a staff training and development institute for workforce development professionals throughout New England; entrepreneurial training programs to help small business start-ups, and responsibility for Massachusetts' Job Training Partnership Act and Welfare to Work programs.

Prior to coming to Massachusetts, Baran spent a decade at the University of California at Berkeley. In 1986, she received a Ph.D. in city and regional planning. During her tenure at Berkeley, Baran worked with the Berkeley Roundtable in the International Economy (BRIE). There she directed studies funded by the Carnegie Foundation and the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment examining the impacts of global competition and new technologies on the skill requirements of American industry. Her own research focused on white collar industries, such as insurance and banking.

Baran also spent a decade working in advocacy and community-based organizations in San Francisco.

Suzanne Teegarden

Suzanne Teegarden has over fifteen years of experience leading diverse, complex public organizations dedicated to workforce and economic development. She and Barbara Baran were Co-Directors for Workforce Strategies Collaborative (WSC) at CURP and Partners in the Workforce Learning Strategies consultancy.

Workforce Strategies Collaborative is dedicated to helping policy-makers, labor, community and business leaders develop strategies to ensure decent work and income for individuals and regions. The partners include federal and state agencies, labor organizations, trade associations, non-profits, community colleges, advocacy groups, policy organizations, Workforce Investment Boards, and One-Stop Career Centers. The experience of the WSC principals is unusual in its span; they have been senior policymakers and administrators, research academics, and grassroots activists.

Previously Teegarden was the President of the Corporation for Business, Work, and Learning (CBWL). She was also the Executive Director of the Industrial Services Program, one of CBWL' s two predecessor organizations. CBWL is a Massachusetts' quasi-public corporation chartered to provide policy and program leadership in workforce and economic development. Besides administering the major training programs for the Commonwealth, CBWL also provided research, demonstration, and technical assistance designed to improve the effectiveness of workforce development systems. Additionally, CBWL provided economic development programs including a loan fund, a manufacturing networks program and industrial extension services. The ISP was an organization dedicated to assisting workers and firms respond to economic restructuring.

Teegarden has also provided policy guidance on an international and national level. In 1990 Teegarden served as a member of a delegation created by the Department of Labor to provide technical assistance on employment and training to Hungary. She has also participated in study missions to Italy, Denmark, and England.

In 1993 Teegarden served as a member of the Vice President' s National Performance Review heading up the Team on One Stop Career Centers. She has participated in the development of innovative demonstration programs, such as the Partnership for a Smarter Workforce, a national collaboration designed to test new strategies for stimulating private investment in workforce training. She currently serves on the advisory board for the Manufacturing Industries Careers Alliance that seeks to develop effective School to Career programs for employer associations.

Prior to her work in Massachusetts, Ms. Teegarden was a member of the Plant Closing Research Project at the University of California at Berkeley. She has a masters' degree in regional planning. Her graduate work addressed the question of how changes in technology and the competitive environment have affected the skill requirements of firms. Her undergraduate degree is in English from the University of Kansas.

In addition, Teegarden worked for more than a decade in labor and community-based organizations in San Francisco.

Richard LaRock Jr.

Rocky, a nickname he has not been able to shake since birth, was a research associate at CURP, where he worked on the Boston Renaissance Resource Kit.

Rocky is also a graduate of Northeastern University's Department of Economics Master's program where his academic interests included development economics and economic history. Aside from academics, Rocky's other interests include: athletics (he is expected to win gold if bowling ever makes it to the Olympics), reading, writing awful poetry, moonlit walks on the beach, cooking international cuisine, being rejected by women, and puppies. Originally from Hudson, NH, where he coincidently still resides, Rocky earned his B.S. in economics from Northeastern (2001) despite the stresses of commuting.

David Auerbach

David Auerbach worked at CURP during the summer of 2002, trying to learn more about both urban policy and the city of Boston, where he moved to recently. He is currently entering his senior year at Yale. He is an American Studies major concentrating in History and Urban Studies.

David is a sports nut. He loves playing soccer, squash and touch football. He religiously follows baseball and, right now, the World Cup. Having spent ten years in England, he has soccer running in his blood. In addition, David likes traveling, reading and just hanging out with his friends.

After college, David hopes to drive across the country and then participate in the Teach For America program, which would give him a master's degree in education. Alternative plans include the US Peace Corps or attending graduate school to study Public Policy.

Maggie Adams

Maggie Adams served as the Managing Editor of CURP's website for the first two and a half years of its operation. In addition to developing the initial content and clarifying the mission of the site, she led the website's redesign and reorganization that debuted in the fall of 2001. Maggie also undertook the launch of MassAgenda with the Urban Law and Public Policy Institute, helping to formulate CURP's role in the community-based project.

Maggie is currently studying community and regional planning at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where she hopes to continue writing about urban and community issues.

Maggie holds a B.A. from Northeastern University in journalism and political science. Before joining CURP, she did housing and gang-related research for U.S. Senator John F. Kerry. Besides the CURP website, her writing has appeared in The Boston Globe and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's Communities and Banking journal.

Maggie can now be reached at maggiemaeadams@msn.com.

Victor Forberger

Victor Forberger served as the Case Study Manager of CURP's Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services research project. He is a doctoral candidate in Northeastern's Law, Policy, and Society program.

Victor is currently finishing his dissertation at Northeastern and continues to work with City Life/Vida Urbana, conduct a small solo practice in law, and serve on the editorial committee of The Labor Page, a Boston newspaper for workers. Victor has also worked as an ESL instructor and served as an organizer for a statewide health care reform campaign. He holds B.A. from Carnegie-Mellon University and a law degree from Northeastern. He also holds an M.A. in American History from the University of Florida at Gainesville, where he specialized in twentieth century labor history.

Victor can currently be reached at vforberg@lynx.dac.neu.edu.

Lisa Schneiderman

Lisa Schneiderman was an intern at CURP who wrote for the CURP website.

Lisa is now pursuing a master's in European Politics and Policy at the London School of Economics. She graduated from Tufts University (2001) with a degree in chemistry and a minor in history.

Lisa can now be reached at lisa_schneiderman@yahoo.com.

Derek Lindblom

Derek Lindblom was a Research Associate at CURP, primarily focused on creating development material for the Center, including a booklet review of CURP's first two years, the development of which is still underway.

Derek is currently a junior at Harvard University where he is a social studies concentrator with research interests ranging from urban studies to supranational governance. He previously worked on the research team of Senator Hillary Clinton and did consumer advocacy work for New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

Derek can now be reached at lindblom@fas.harvard.edu.

Kimberly Hall

Kimberly Hall served as CURP's technical editor, updating and editing the CURP website while a doctoral student in Northeastern University's Law, Policy and Society program.

Kimberly is now an instructional designer at Emerson College, working with faculty to effectively use the Internet for teaching. Before working at Emerson, she was an instructional designer at Northeastern University and an educational technologist and teacher of English as a Second Language at San Diego State University. She earned her M.A. in Educational Technology (1998) and M.A. in History (1993) at San Diego State University. Her historical research focused on women in World War II San Diego. In Educational Technology her research and projects have ranged from integrating online activities in various history courses to measuring the effectiveness of online communication at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine to designing educational multimedia for the National Park Service. Hall has also done volunteer work for the San Diego County Family Courts, San Diego office of the ACLU, Pacific Southwest Women's Studies Association, and has taught ESL in the San Diego County Jails as well as in Japan. She earned her B.A. in History at UMass Lowell, where she focused on urban and social history.

Kimberly can now be reached at Kimberly_Hall@emerson.edu.

Boyce Slayman

Boyce Slayman served as a Senior Fellow at CURP as well as at Northeastern's Urban Law & Public Policy Institute. At CURP, Slayman was an advisor to the World Class Housing Collaborative.

Boyce is now Vice President of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, a new national organization of black leaders for school choice based in Washington, D.C.

Before coming to Northeastern, Slayman was the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, a statewide association of community-based organizations that deliver a wide variety of educational, health and social services. As its registered lobbyist, he was the industry's official spokesman. Slayman has also been a political consultant for a diverse array of public officials and political parties. He has advised presidential candidates Paul Tsongas and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, as well as former Congressmen J. Joseph Moakley and Joseph P. Kennedy, II. His work has taken him to Northern Ireland, Southern Africa and many Caribbean countries. Boyce holds a B.S. in Management from UMass Boston, where he is a candidate for a Master's Degree in Public Affairs

Boyce can now be reached at b.slayman@worldnet.att.net.

Nicole Lindstrom

Nicole Lindstrom was a Senior Research Associate at the Center for Urban and Regional Policy and involved in two major housing projects: the Cambridge Linkage Study and the TeleCom City Housing Impact Study.

Nicole is currently an assistant professor in International Relations and Political Science at Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.

Prior to joining CURP, Nicole worked as a consultant to public housing authorities and community development agencies in the Boston metropolitan area, as well as in New Haven, Connecticut and New York City. She consulted for The World Bank's Europe and Central Asia Human Development Sector Unit on several studies related to Roma education and social service initiatives in Eastern Europe. As a research fellow at Cornell University, Lindstrom coordinated a nation-wide study on the threat of plant closings and unionization after the passage of NAFTA. In 1995 she co-founded a refugee support organization for Bosnian refugees in southern Hungary and has done extensive work and research in the former Yugoslavia over the past decade. Lindstrom is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and International Studies from Macalester College in St. Paul.

Nicole can now be reached at lindstromn@ceu.hu.

Daniel Keegan

Daniel Keegan was the City Editor for the CURP Web site during the first six months of 2001. He reported on urban policy events in the Greater Boston area and happenings within CURP itself.

Daniel can now be reached at neumirage@yahoo.com.

Charles C. Euchner

Charles C. Euchner served as the first Associate Director of the Center for Urban and Regional Policy from 1999-2000. Under his direction, the CURP Web site was developed and the World Class Housing Collaborative was born, the first product of which was A New Paradigm for Housing in Greater Boston, the housing report prepared in partnership with The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.

Before coming to CURP, Charlie was the Project Manager for Boston 400, the long-term planning initiative for the City of Boston. He taught political science at the College of the Holy Cross and is the author of Extraordinary Politics: How Protest and Dissent Are Changing American Democracy and Playing the Field: Why Sports Teams Move and Cities Fight to Keep Them. Charlie received his Ph.D. in political science at the Johns Hopkins University and his B.A. from Vanderbilt University.

Charlie can now be reached at (617) 496-3155 or at Charles_Euchner@harvard.edu. The Rappaport Institute's web site is located at www.ksg.harvard.edu/rappaport.

Amy Dolphin

Amy Dolphin was the first full-time administrative secretary for the Center for Urban and Regional Policy from 1999-2000. She was responsible for establishing all of the administrative functions of CURP, instilling a smooth operation that lasts today.

Amy can now be reached at amydolphin@email.com.