Nicholas Kelly is Chief of Innovation and Economic Opportunity at the Boston Housing Authority. His work and research aim to reimagine housing policy as a vehicle to promote economic mobility for low-income families. At the BHA, has overseen the creation of new programs aimed to promote economic growth, including homeownership, housing mobility, youth services, and workforce development. He also has led major innovations at the agency in technology and the housing choice voucher program. He received his PhD in Public Policy and Urban Planning from the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT and a Master in Public Affairs from Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. Nicholas previously worked at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, for Senators Charles Schumer and Elizabeth Warren, and at the National Economic Council.

In his research, Nicholas examines the efficacy of policies aimed to promote economic opportunity through housing, as well as the intersection of housing policy with technology and politics. He worked has been published in the Journal of the American Planning Association and Housing Policy Debate. He is also the co-editor of Furthering Fair Housing: Prospects for Racial Justice in America’s Neighborhoods, published by Temple University Press. In addition, Nicholas serves a lecturer at Northeastern University, where he teaches housing policy.