Students from Columbia GSAPP’s M.S. in Urban Planning and Master in Architecture programs are among the recipients of the prestigious 2021 Morgan Stanley Community Graduate Fellowship and the City of New York-sponsored 2020-2021 Community Planning Fellowship Program.

The Morgan Stanley Community Development Graduate Fellowship is focused on affordable housing, economic development, or community planning. The program pairs students with community development member organizations of the New York City-neighborhood based Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development (ANHD). The opportunity, which runs annually from September 2021 through June 2022, provides training, mentorship, and opportunities to meet leaders in New York City’s government, planning, and community development fields.

The NYC Community Planning Fellowship program aims to improve the capacity of community boards to undertake planning activities and to develop the next generation of planners, instilling in them an appreciation of local government and planning issues from the perspective of community boards. The program is supported by the Fund for the City of New York, which was established by the Ford Foundation, and is open to second-year graduate students in urban planning, architecture, urban design, historic preservation, and public policy studying at area schools including Columbia University. Fellows work 15 hours per week for an assigned Community Board, assisting them in finding solutions to quality of life issues of importance to local neighborhoods.


GSAPP Recipients of the 2021 Morgan Stanley Community Development Graduate Fellowship

• Eve Passman ‘22 MSUP
  Eve Passman is a second-year M.S. in Urban Planning program student at Columbia GSAPP. As a Morgan Stanley Community Development Fellow, Passman is hosted by the ANHD member organization West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing, Inc. (WSFSSH), where she is addressing issues such as New York City’s lack of affordable housing and access to resources. The fellowship announcement states “Drawing from her experiences in communications, community development, and nonprofit work, Eve is passionate about implementing community-driven solutions to address our city’s most urgent issues, including lack of affordable housing and access to resources.”

• Teonna Cooksey ‘24 MArch and MSUP
  Teonna Cooksey is a dual-degree student in the Master of Architecture and M.S. in Urban Planning programs at Columbia GSAPP. As a Morgan Stanley Community Development Fellow, Cooksey is being hosted by the ANHD member organization IMPACCT Brooklyn – Small Business Services & Economic Development. The fellowship announcement states that Cooksey’s work “merges techniques rooted in architecture, urban planning, and art disciplines to explore the intersection of housing, resiliency, community organizing, and health equity. Cooksey aims to dismantle the systemic perpetuation of displacement and create opportunities for ownership through her work.”
  
  

GSAPP Recipients of the 2020-2021 NYC Community Planning Fellowship

• Derek Brennan ‘22 MSUP
  Derek Brennan is a second-year student in the M.S. in Urban Planning program at Columbia GSAPP. He earned a B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology from Earlham College in Indiana in 2015. The fellowship announcement states that Brennan is “most interested in researching homelessness and housing security in the contexts of re-urbanization and gentrification. After graduating, Derek hopes to make an impact planning, policy-making, and community organizing for greater housing justice.”

• Sori Han ‘22 MSUP
  Sori Han is a second-year student in the M.S. in Urban Planning program at Columbia GSAPP. The fellowship announcement states that Han’s “experience as a recent summer intern at The Open Space Institute has allowed her to work on projects to increase access to green spaces for New York State’s marginalized communities. Sori hopes to pursue a career in creating inclusive environments and strategies, particularly for underserved communities.”

• Yuning Feng ‘21 MSUP and MPH
  Yuning Feng is a dual-degree student in the M.S. in Urban Planning at GSAPP and Master of Public Health program at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. The fellowship announcement states that Feng “plans to continue pursuing environmental planning, either with the city agencies or for private consulting firms, to ensure sustainable and equitable development practices are promoted, while empowering communities with information on environmental health.”