Lena Afridi
Former Director of Policy
Former Director of Policy
Lena Afridi was ANHD’s Director of Policy. Born in Karachi and raised in Queens, Lena is committed to fighting for good jobs and safe and affordable housing for low wealth communities of color and immigrant communities. At ANHD, Lena helps implement policies that address economic and racial inequity in New York City through research, data analysis, and advocacy. Lena has worked across movements for over a decade, and connects issues of race, labor, and city planning. She was a 2016 Urban Design Forum Forefront Fellow and a 2017 Next City Vanguard Fellow. Lena holds a BA from Mount Holyoke College and a Master of Regional Planning Degree from Cornell University. In her spare time, Lena can be found writing or powerlifting.
Lena's Blogs
Blog
January 30, 2018
New York is experiencing growing pains. It’s quickly changing and neighborhoods with strong identities and histories are melding into the same glass-towered landscape that reigns throughout the City, rendering them unrecognizable.
Blog
December 14, 2017
The Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development (ANHD) and United for Small Business NYC (USBNYC) applaud City Council on the release of their 2017 report, Planning for Retail Diversity: Supporting NYC’s Neighborhood Businesses. The report provides a timely and broad analysis of issues faced by independent retailers across the five boroughs and offers a robust template of policy solutions and recommendations to address these problems
Blog
November 22, 2017
It’s that time of year again, with late November bringing the start of the most lucrative time of year for many businesses of all sizes. In an effort to bring some of these economic windfalls to local communities and main streets, Small Business Saturday has become a national phenomenon.
News Clip
October 10, 2017