Sessions
Building in Small Communities
10:15 AM - 11:30 AM Thu
Jenifer brings 20 years of experience in community development and creation of affordable housing.
Jenifer began her career in community development in Boston at the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC) where she started as a volunteer, completed an internship during graduate school, and returned as a Project Manager. While there, she developed homes for first-time homebuyers and worked with tenants to convert a mixed-income rental project to mixed-income condominiums.
Jenifer then moved to New York City and served as a Senior Project Manager at the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB) where she managed the rehabilitation and conversion to shared-equity cooperative of over 400 units in 30 residential buildings across New York City.
Jenifer currently resides in Buffalo, New York. Before joining MMDA, she served as Director of Planning and Community Development for People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH Buffalo) and their development arm, the Buffalo Neighborhood Stabilization Company (BNSC). In this capacity, she led PUSH’s efforts to develop high quality, sustainable affordable housing and community spaces and work with residents of Buffalo’s West Side to create an implementable vision for their neighborhood. Jenifer successfully increased PUSH Buffalo’s housing portfolio by creating over 150 units in 7 different projects with over $50 million in investment.
During her time at PUSH, Jenifer also facilitated community planning initiatives, oversaw the organization’s Property Management and Maintenance department, created and oversaw the organization’s stormwater management and eco landscaping social enterprise initiative, including creation of over 25 green infrastructure installations on PUSH properties and carrying out over $2 million in contracts with the Buffalo Sewer Authority and other entities
Jenifer holds a Master of City Planning degree with a focus on Housing and Community Economic Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an undergraduate degree in History and Medieval Studies from Wesleyan University.
Jenifer lives in the Oxford Square neighborhood of Buffalo where she is a member and former President of the Oxford Square Block Club and serves on the Board of Buffalo Art Studios.