John T. Dunlop Lecture: Kimberly Dowdell, “Diverse City: How Equitable Design and Development Will Shape Urban Futures”

How can real estate development and sustainable design be used to foster equitable and inclusive redevelopment in cities? That’s the challenge that has animated the career of Kimberly Dowdell MPA ’15, an architect, developer, and educator who is focused on leading projects that help contribute to the revitalization of cities like Detroit, and also preparing the next generation of urban change agents.

Dowdell, who will give the 19th Annual John T. Dunlop Lecture, presented by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, is a partner at Century Partners, an innovative real estate development firm in Detroit focused on equitable neighborhood revitalization, and a lecturer at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. She is also the new president of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA). In that position, she has outlined an ambitious agenda focused on helping to ensure that African-American architects—who make up less than two percent of the profession in a country that is 13 percent African-American—play a larger role in efforts to revitalize America’s cities.

In her lecture, Dowdell, who has designed or managed over $100 million in assets in her work as an architect, real estate project manager, government staffer and developer, will draw on her varied experiences to discuss steps needed to create neighborhoods in which all people feel safe and empowered to build a brighter urban future for generations to come.

For more information, please visit the Joint Center for Housing Studies’ webpage.

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