I am trained as a social scientist and urban planner, working to bridge the fields of sustainable development, land use, and infrastructure to improve life in urban communities.
As the Director of Research at the Chinatown Community Development Center in San Francisco, I lead community-led research projects in which the research questions, methods, and analysis are driven for and by the people most impacted by this research.
I work best in interdisciplinary teams that challenge me to operate and think outside of any single disciplinary silo. Current projects include:
Developing an assessment and dashboard tool to measure resident impact during our sustainable rehabilitation projects, to create beautiful and healthy buildings that address the health and wellbeing of the people who call this their home while addressing environmental and operational benefits;
Understanding the impact of place-based community development and in particular affordable housing on the social and economic mobility of residents, as well as collective community wealth (with a focus on non-profit affordable housing developers in the San Francisco Bay Area and California);
Creating a commercial storefront vision and implementation strategy to understand how we can best utilize the ground floor of our properties and create neighborhood-serving businesses in the post-pandemic climate
My previous roles include Director of Community Engaged Learning in the Program on Urban Studies at Stanford University, where I developed and taught project-based classes where students collaborate with non-profit organizations and government agencies on sustainability projects. In 2014, I co-founded the Stanford Human Cities Initiative as a platform to encourage cross-disciplinary approaches to tackle urban challenges. I previously worked as a Senior Planner in San Francisco, leading transportation and land use planning efforts.
In addition to my full-time job, I am pursuing a DPhil in Sustainable Urban Development at the University of Oxford, funded by the Clarendon Scholarship, to understand how marginalized communities respond to sustainable urban infrastructure projects. I received a B.A with honors in Urban Studies, an M.A. in Sociology from Stanford University, and a Master’s in City Planning from the University of California at Berkeley. My service to the profession includes serving on the San Francisco Planning Commission from 2020-2022. I am also a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and a LEED Accredited Professional.