Daniela is a Juris Doctorate candidate at UCLA School of Law where she is enrolled in the Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy and the Critical Race Studies Specialization.  At UCLA, she participates in the Skid Row Housing Clinic and serves on the board of the UCLA Chapter of the American Constitution Society. 

During her 1L summer, Daniela served as the public policy intern at Inner City Law Center where she worked on removing regulatory obstacles to creating and accessing Permanent Supportive Housing in addition to other housing and homelessness issues facing Los Angeles.  Before attending law school, Daniela worked as a Community Development Associate for LISC NYC focusing on low income housing tax credit projects.  She holds a BA in Sociology from Boston University. 

At CHPC, Daniela was involved in various research projects on such topics as over-mortgaged multi-family homes and NYC zoning ordinances.

"My experience at CHPC allowed me to work at the intersection of housing, government, and the private sector.  It allowed me to fully delve into important issues affecting all New Yorkers and address these matters through a variety of means and perspectives including hands on meetings, legal research, and policy analysis.   My work at CHPC not only furthered my understanding of the inner workings of New York City’s housing policy and programs, but also provided a unique opportunity to participate in these processes in a very substantial way."  

Kasimir holds a Masters in Real Estate from the University of Groningen. During his Masters, he focused on affordable housing. He also studied at the Eötvös Loránd University where he conducted a research project on neighbourhood dynamics in Budapest and aimed to advice the local governments how to improve local neighbourhoods.  Currently, he is enrolled in the Spatial Planning Masters program at the University of Groningen. Before joining CHPC Kasimir was an intern at DHV a global engineering and consultancy company.

At CHPC, Kasimir conducting a research project on green housing; specifically how to best incentivize landlords to retrofit the existing rental stock. To reach this goal he studying Best Practice, especially from Western Europe, on how sustainble feature can make the most cost savings and the most environmental impact and how financial programs have been designed to transform existing housing.

Alnisha is a candidate for a Masters of Urban Planning at Wagner School of Public Service.  She obtained her undergraduate degree from New York University in Metropolitan Studies.  Most recently, Alnisha served as a housing policy intern at the Manhattan Borough President’s Office.  She researched a variety of housing issues, including overleveraged multifamily buildings. She previously worked in Local Initiative Support Corporation’s economic development department, where she facilitated a national capacity-building community development conference.

While working at CHPC, Alnisha used her specialist quantitative skills to develop a model that examines gentrifying change in NYC. In the future, she would like to work toward developing recommendations that increase access to affordable housing. 

“My time at CHPC has been invaluable in helping me gain an objective point of view that I will carry with me throughout my public service career.  I’ve learned that the most effective housing policies are not spearheaded by a moral imperative to provide housing for the needy, but are entrenched in fiscally responsible objectives.”

Prior to joining CHPC, she was an associate at Cohen & Perfetto LLP, a New York law firm specializing in commercial real estate.  She holds a J.D. from Boston University School of Law, where she served as Articles Editor for BUSL’s Public Interest Law Journal, and a B.A. in political science from New College of Florida.  Stefanie’s interests include zoning, land use, urban design and affordable housing development.

At CHPC, Stefanie worked with the Zoning Committee in addressing and commenting on zoning initiatives in New York City.  She also assisted in research and writing on a variety of topics, including New York City’s tax lien securitization and third party transfer program. 

She now works for Slater & Beckerman LLP.

Kercena Dozier, Ginsberg Fellow, Fall/Winter 2009

Kercena received a Juris Doctorate from American University Washington College of Law as well as a Masters in Business Administration with a Concentration in Real Estate from American University Kogod School of Business. Kercena’s passion is affordable housing and community and economic development. 

Kercena has four years work experience in the affordable housing and community development sector; during that time, she has worked with various organizations in a legal and/or business capacity.  In Spring 2008, Kercena first worked in NYC as a legal intern with NY Local Initiatives Support Corporation assisting the Assistant General Counsel/Chief Legal Officer in the day-to-day legal management of the organization’s affordable housing projects. 

At CHPC, Kercena assisted in the research, writing, and statistical analysis of NYC’s tax lien securitization and third party transfer program.  

"The Ginsberg Fellowship provided me a plethora of opportunities that other young people starting out in their careers do not get; most notably, it provided me a seat at the table with industry heads as they formulated innovative, comprehensive solutions to extremely challenging issues.  Being a part of those discussions has changed the way I view, approach, and assess problems for the better."

Hannah joined CHPC in May 2009 as a Visiting Fellow from Germany. She received a B.A. in Architecture and is currently enrolled in the “European Urban Studies” Master’s program at the Bauhaus University in Weimar. She has experience in urban planning research; community based planning and visualizing planning and urban design issues. Hannah has worked in various architectural firms and her main interest centers on improving the collaboration and communication between the fields of urban planning, public policy and architectural design. In Summer 2008, Hannah first worked in New York City as an intern at the Pratt Center for Community Development.

At CHPC, Hannah conducted a detailed neighborhood profile for our new gentrification study. At the same time, she worked for her master’s thesis on the correlation of gentrification and displacement.

Sulin holds a B.A. in Gender Studies and English Literature from the University of Chicago; she also spent a year studying philosophy at the University of Paris X - Nanterre. She is now studying for a Masters in Urban Planning at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. Before joining CHPC, she worked at a major New York law firm, conducting securities precedent research and maintaining a database of securities offerings. 

Sulin's main interests include affordable housing, sustainability, and urban design. She conducted a multitude of research projects at CHPC, on topics that included: the history of single room occupancy housing in NYC; global design examples of single person housing units; rent stabilization; gentrification; and issues surrounding overleveraged multi-family buildings. She gained strong skills in data analysis, mapping, and design.

Carol Clark is CHPC's Winter/Spring 2009 Ginsberg Senior Practitioner Fellow.  She is the principal researcher for a study entitled Reinventing Neighborhood Preservation.  It aims to identify and advance planning tools to help protect the integrity of New York's older residential neighborhoods while facilitating appropriate development.

To launch the project, Carol is on leave from her position at New York City's Department of Housing Preservation and Development where she has served as Assistant Commissioner for Local Legislative Affairs since 2002.  During a professional career that spans over three decades in New York City, she has held leadership roles in both the non-profit and governmental sectors.  Her expertise is in planning, land use and preservation issues.  Having worked for such entities as the American Institute of Architects, New York City's Department of City Planning and its Public Development Corporation, and the New York Landmarks Conservancy, she is uniquely qualified to lead this project.

An Advisory Committee which will provide guidance is in formation.  Among the project's funders are the National Trust for Historic Preservation's John E. Streb Preservation Fund for New York and the New York Community Trust.

Carol is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation where she is affiliated with the Historic Preservation and Urban Planning programs.  She has also taught at New York University and Pratt Institute.

Saadia has worked in affordable housing in the UK for five years for a number of developers and managers, mainly in a policy role.  She has a Masters in Public Policy and Management from Birkbeck College at the University of London. Her interests center around tenant rights and community development. 

At CHPC, Saadia was able to build on her knowledge of affordable housing and community development in London, and receive intensive training about New York City. She conducted research in the archives on various topics relevant to current issues, carried out research on housing space standards and the history of SROs, supported staff on grant applications and other fundraising material, attended a multitude of presentations and forums and created content for the website.

Saadia recently accepted a position as Policy Manager for Ascham Homes, an 'Arms Length Management Organization' working with public housing authorities in East London and Essex.

Andrea was born and raised in Detroit where she developed an interest in urban issues and politics. She attended the University of Michigan where she majored in Sociology and began to hone her academic study based on social research and Urban Planning.

Andrea became a Ginsberg Fellow in early 2008 to reinforce her graduate work at Wagner School of Public Service at NYU in Urban Planning. She worked on a variety of projects to support CHPC full-time staff, including looking at the role of Public Housing and issues surrounding green housing construction and retrofitting. She completed her Masters in Summer 2009.

Silvett has Masters degrees in Urban Planning and Public Health from Columbia University. She has worked as a planner at Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice (YMPJ), a community-based organization in the South Bronx, where she managed the South Bronx Waterfront Brownfield Opportunity Area program in addition to other community planning projects.   Silvett's interests are in community development, social and environmental justice, and planning for healthy communities.

At CHPC, Silvett researched new potential models for the production of public housing and helped coordinate a roundtable of affordable housing experts across the country. 

After graduating and completing her Fellowship at CHPC, Silvett was selected to work as the Parks Advocacy Coordinator at the New York Immigration Coalition. In this exciting endeavor, she coordinates the organization's efforts to fuel immigrant-led community development and overall park improvements. 

Denali K. Dasgupta was the Spring/Summer 2007 Ginsberg Fellow and was later promoted to part-time Research Analyst at CHPC. She holds a B.A. in Linguistics from Yale University and completed her Masters of Urban Planning from New York University's Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service while also working at CHPC.

At CHPC, Denali was an integral member of staff, collaborating on all high-level projects that the organization undertook. Most especially, Denali worked on an analysis of New York City's demographics in relation to its housing market that formed the backbone of the new CHPC workplan for 2008-2009. She also worked on "Public Housing in the 21st Century" and projects on single person households, illegal conversions, and gentrification.

In addition, Denali strove to improve the way that CHPC marketed and showcased its research and analysis. She recommended, set-up and trained staff on new software and programs that had a great impact on the way that work was presented.

Denali main interest is in examining the ways that research-based inquiry can yield useful and applicable policy. In this way, following her time at CHPC, Denali was made a Policy Analyst for the New York City Comptroller's Office, working on issues of housing, planning, economic development, and public health.