Exploring Community Engagement with Hester Street: Building Community Control

Community control is a development strategy used by residents and nonprofit organizations to retain and grow community wealth, increase resilience, preserve community space and culture, build local power, and uplift the critical symbiotic relationship between government and community-based organizations. Join Hester Street as we explore ways to build community control through inclusive and meaningful engagement and participation. Discover strategies and methods for integrating community engagement into design and planning processes and understand why engagement leads to better outcomes and a more equitable, sustainable, and just built environment.

Speakers:
Kristen Chin, Director of Community + Economic Development, Hester Street
Allan Co, Senior Project Manager, Hester Street
Kim Ochilo, Senior Project Manager, Hester Street

About the Speakers:

Kristen Chin is an architect and community collaborator with experience working in community development, affordable housing, and disaster recovery. At Hester Street, she leads the organization’s community and economic development work centered around building community control. Prior to joining Hester Street, Chin served as an Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow in Boston, working to build resident power and advance affordable housing. She managed work that amplified residents’ understanding and ownership of their communities, leading a community-driven land acquisition process and the creation and execution of leadership training modules for Boston Housing Authority residents about design, real estate development, and community engagement. Chin has also worked at the Pratt Center for Community Development, managing resiliency and recovery programs after Superstorm Sandy and serving as a technical assistance provider around energy efficiency education and retrofits. In her work, she finds strength in partnering with community-based organizations, policymakers, and government agencies to equip those on the front lines with the resources, tools, and technical assistance to advocate for more equitable and just communities. Chin serves on the board of the Association for Community Design and is an Advisory Group Member for the AIA Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community. She holds a Master of Architecture from Parsons School of Design and an undergraduate degree from Brown University.

Allan Co is a licensed architect and community development professional with nearly fifteen years of deep experience in architecture and development. His career has centered on implementing and managing community-engaged design and urban development projects that focus on racial and economic inequality through affordable housing, public space, and community planning work. Co brings expertise in delivering high-quality projects, leveraging inclusive community engagement strategies to drive local buy-in while meeting financial, programming, and design goals by layering financial tools with best practices and innovation in architecture and construction management. Before joining Hester Street, Co served as Project Manager of Design and Construction at Breaking Ground, NYC’s eminent affordable housing developer and the country’s largest provider of supportive housing for the formerly homeless. In this role, he managed the construction and delivery of over 1000 completed and future units of affordable housing throughout the city, building partnerships with broad coalitions of stakeholders including design and construction teams, building management, service providers, community organizations, and end-users. From 2016 to 2018, Co was awarded an Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship for work in community engagement and affordable housing development and was named a 2020 Next City Vanguard. Co holds a Master of Science in Architecture History and Theory from the University of Washington and a Bachelor of Architecture from Rice University.

Kim Ochilo’s professional background is in community design processes, community building and organizing, and affordable housing development. Through his academic and professional projects, he has worked to support design and planning strategies for neighborhoods and cities across multiple economic thresholds. Ochilo researches the urban and architectural composition of cities and with community organizations, city agencies, public officials, and volunteer groups to champion projects aimed at creating more sustainable and resilient buildings, public spaces, and neighborhoods. Prior to joining Hester Street, he worked with Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven as an architectural assistant/project manager, working with their Design and Construction and Community Building and Organizing Departments to support the planning, design, and construction of residential and community-led projects. Ochilo completed his Master’s degree in Architecture with a focus on creative urban practices at the Glasgow School of Art.

This event is offered virtually; you will receive an email with a Zoom link to access the program.