We are excited to welcome the 2022-2023 ANHD/Morgan Stanley Community Development Graduate Fellows!

Now in its 11th year, the Fellowship is a program that supports the training and development of emerging community development leaders while also building the capacity of community development organizations. Each year, ANHD pairs nine students from highly respected graduate school programs with ANHD member community development corporations (CDCs) to work on a community-based project.

This year’s Fellows will spend the next 10 months working on projects focused on a range of issues, including housing preservation and development, community land trusts, cooperative conversions, building sustainability and energy efficiency, anti-displacement, economic development, and small business support and organizing throughout NYC. 

They bring a fervent and sincere willingness to uplift the field of community development through their commitment to our member organizations and allies. We’re thrilled to be working with them and are excited for all their work ahead.

Ashley Dominguez (she/her)

Parsons School of Design at The New School

Host Organization: Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation (CHLDC)

Ashley is a Design and Urban Ecologies M.S. candidate at Parsons in New York City. Much of Ashley’s research has been around housing, affordable housing, and infrastructure for sustainable and people centered design. As a native New Yorker Ashley is enthralled to uplift the surrounding communities with her work at Cypress Hills.

Carlos Miranda Pereyra (he/him)

Columbia University, GSAPP

Host Organization: Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation (NMIC)

Carlos Miranda Pereyra is a Master of Urban Planning student at Columbia University GSAPP with a concentration in urban analytics and the built environment. As a DACAmented immigrant raised in rural South Carolina surrounded by Latin-American immigrant workers, Carlos is an advocate for accessibility to resources and social services, especially among low-income communities of color. He is excited to work with Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation (NMIC) this year where he will support tenants in three Upper Manhattan apartment buildings as they navigate the process into becoming a housing cooperative.

Hilary Ho (she/her)

Columbia University, GSAPP

Host Organization: Hope Community, Inc.

Hilary Ho is a Master of Urban Planning student at Columbia University GSAPP, focusing on Urban Analytics and Community & Economic Development. Hilary is particularly interested in how urban infrastructure and environmental sustainability projects can better lead to equitable community development outcomes. Her previous planning experiences include climate resilience spatial analysis, public space operations, and affordable housing research and advocacy. Hilary is excited to work with Hope Community, Inc to integrate sustainable technologies into their affordable housing developments in order to meet citywide sustainable building goals.

Jonathan Francisco Bonilla (he/him)

Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University

Host Organization: Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDco)

Jonathan Francisco Bonilla is a Master of City and Regional Planning student at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. He is driven by creating equitable outcomes and sustainable socio-economic development to make a positive impact in communities. Through his research and fieldwork in cities across Guatemala, South Africa, and Denmark, he learned about the struggles for the right to the city and the need to empower marginalized and underrepresented groups to determine their futures. These experiences anchored his interest in addressing racial justice, climate resilience, community-wealth building, and economic democracy. Jonathan is grateful to serve as a fellow in WHEDco’s Community Development Department and eager to support small businesses and local residents of the Bronx in achieving economic and community well-being.

Karen Yao (she/her)

NYU Wagner

Host Organization: Fifth Avenue Committee, Inc.

Karen is a Master of Urban Planning student at NYU Wagner. Her interest in cities and housing stems from her experience growing up moving between the greater Seattle area, Shanghai, and Beijing. Before studying at Wagner, Karen was a state and local government consultant in New York and worked for clients in public housing, transportation, disaster recovery, and insurance. This past summer, she interned at ANHD and conducted an analysis of vacant storefronts, edited ANHD’s annual State of Banking Report, and developed an updated version of ANHD’s Displacement Alert Project (DAP) Map. She is excited to learn affordable housing development firsthand at Fifth Avenue Committee through this fellowship.

Matthew Shore (he/him)

Columbia University, GSAPP

Host Organization: Cooper Square Community Development Committee, Inc.

Matthew Shore is eager to bring his lived experience and professional experience to a field that lacks BIPOC planners that actually come from disadvantaged communities of color. Hailing from the Bronx, he is committed to transformative embedded planning that aims to uplift the underrepresented voices of the communities that he comes from. He brings to the fellowship years of experience working for community-based organizations and groups, including the North Brooklyn Open Space Equity Coalition, where he worked as a Policy Fellow for longstanding nonprofits such as El Puente, Newtown Creek Alliance, and North Brooklyn Neighbors to kickstart an open space planning and policy platform that aims to fight for equitable open spaces in the underserved areas of Brooklyn CB1. He also brings experience with New York's policy and political landscape having worked for the State Assembly where he focused on environmental and cities-related legislation. Matthew is excited to work with Cooper Square Committee to assist in its organizing and community outreach efforts regarding local small businesses, environmental justice issues, its community land trust, and public space activation and open streets in the Lower East Side area.

Rousol Aribi (she/her)

Columbia University, GSAPP

Host Organization: RiseBoro Community Partnership

Rousol Aribi is a dual Master’s candidate in Urban Planning and Real Estate Development at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) at Columbia University. Her graduate studies are focused on the intersection of development and planning with an emphasis on climate sustainability and urban analytics. During her time as a Morgan Stanley fellow, she hopes to apply her skills and knowledge in creating meaningful development with the RiseBoro Community Partnership.

Sabina Sethi Unni (she/her)

Columbia University, GSAPP

Host Organization: We Stay / Nos Quedamos

Sabina Sethi Unni is an organizer, researcher, artist, and second year graduate student at Columbia University’s urban planning program learning about how to transform public spaces for reparative environmental justice. She has worked in municipal policy around land use and housing, community engagement and project management around DOT open streets, and organizing for local progressive women running for office to change their neighborhoods block-by-block. She has spent her time at school understanding what makes community planning visionary, versus what makes community planning exclusive, hierarchical, and bureaucratic, particularly in the face of climate change and disasters. She spends all her (free) time on public (engagement) theater, and is the co-founder and co-artistic director of Fresh Lime Soda Productions, a contemporary South Asian theater ensemble. She is honored to work with Nos Quedamos on their Community Land Trust.

Shoshana Levy (she/her)

Pratt Institute

Host Organization: Ascendant Neighborhood Development

Shoshana Levy is a dual degree student at the Pratt Institute in the Master of City and Regional Planning and Master of Real Estate Practice programs, with a strong interest in affordable housing preservation and development. Her work focuses on combining material development with the development of communities in order to create truly equitable and resilient economic development. Shoshana is excited to deepen her understanding of housing justice in Harlem, and to support Ascendant’s efforts to provide adequate, dignified, and deeply affordable housing to New Yorkers.