
Join the MassINC Policy Center and Urban Edge on Wednesday, February 12th, to discuss how Boston and other Massachusetts cities can plan for vibrant urban neighborhoods with schools at the center. This meeting will bring leaders from education, housing, and community development together to talk about how they bridge gaps and collaborate to make for more successful students and stronger, more resilient neighborhoods.
We will explore a new School-Centered Neighborhood Development Playbook prepared by the MassINC Policy Center and the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and hear from Carol Naughton, the CEO of Purpose Built Communities and one of the leading practitioners in the country in developing mixed-income neighborhoods where children can thrive.
Featured speakers:
Carol Naughton – CEO, Purpose Built Communities
Carol Naughton is the CEO of Purpose Built Communities Foundation. Purpose Built supports local leaders who are implementing resident-centered, holistic, and cross-sectoral neighborhood revitalization initiatives that create pathways to prosperity for all neighbors.
Previously, Carol served as the executive director of the East Lake Foundation, the nonprofit community quarterback organization shepherding the comprehensive revitalization of the neighborhood. Carol also served as general counsel and deputy executive director of The Housing Authority of the City of Atlanta where she was a key member of the team creating the legal and financial model to develop mixed-income housing. She started her career as a commercial real estate lawyer in private practice in Atlanta.
As a member of several Boards and Advisory Councils, Carol advocates for advancing racial equity and developing healthy communities across the country.
Nationally recognized as a leader in place-based partnerships and community development, Carol’s published works have been featured in the Huffington Post, TEDx Atlanta, and the Federal Reserve of San Francisco and Nonprofit Finance Fund’s book Investing in Results, among others.
Rob Watson – Executive Director, EdRedesign Lab, Harvard School of Education
Rob Watson is the inaugural Executive Director of the EdRedesign Lab and Lecturer on Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. At EdRedesign, Rob leads an interdisciplinary team who support communities across the U.S. to develop cradle-to-career systems of opportunity.
Additionally, Rob collaborated with leadership in his hometown of Poughkeepsie, NY to launch the Poughkeepsie Children’s Cabinet, a collective impact organization that develops the citywide cradle-to-career agenda for children, youth, and families. Rob is also a co-founder of the Poughkeepsie Service Accelerator (PSA), a place-based service year collaborative that aims to attract and retain local talent to pursue social impact careers in the Mid-Hudson Valley region of New York State.
Vanessa Calderón-Rosado – CEO, Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA)
Vanessa Calderón-Rosado, Ph.D., is the CEO of Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA), a community development corporation dedicated to empowering and engaging individuals and families to improve their lives through high-quality affordable housing, education, and arts programs.
In 2010, she became the first Latina ever to be appointed to the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. In 2014, she was appointed to the City of Boston’s Housing Task Force, where she contributed to shaping housing policies and promoting more equitable access to housing. Vanessa is a founding board member of the Margarita Muñiz Academy, the first dual-language innovation high school in Massachusetts and serves on the board of the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations (MACDC) amongst other impact-driven organizations throughout Massachusetts.
Kristin McSwain, Director, Mayor’s Office of Early Childhood, City of Boston
Kristin McSwain leads the Office of Early Childhood as Director and as a Senior Advisor to the Mayor. McSwain brings more than 10 years of experience as the Executive Director of the Boston Opportunity Agenda, working directly with families, educators, and public and private organizations across the Commonwealth to remove systemic barriers for underserved youth.
Prior to joining the Boston Opportunity Agenda, Kristin served as the Chief of Program Operations for the Corporation for National and Community Service, an independent federal agency. As Chief of Program Operations, she oversaw the day-to-day operations of the Corporation’s programs, including Senior Corps, Learn and Serve America, AmeriCorps NCCC, AmeriCorps VISTA, and AmeriCorps State and National. Kristin was appointed the Director of AmeriCorps State and National, the largest of the Corporation’s programs, in August of 2006 and named Chief of Program Operations in October of 2008.

About the School Centered Neighborhood Development Playbook
Neighborhood vitality and public school performance are closely linked, yet education improvement efforts are generally siloed from planning, housing, and community development. This disconnect has contributed to increasingly high levels of racial and economic segregation in public schools. This report outlines school-centered neighborhood development strategies and tactics that communities can deploy to build more mixed-income neighborhoods and schools.