(Chicago)…..The Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC)
is pleased to welcome to its housing team two new members, whose work will
advance one of the Council’s core missions: expanding workforce housing options
in
Illinois.
Joanna Trotter has stepped
into a new position designed to help suburban leaders, developers, and
homebuilders tackle challenges related to the creation of workforce housing.
Cynthia Luna will coordinate MPC’s assistance to
Illinois
government agencies and partners – such as the Statewide Housing Action
Coalition and the Regional Employer-Assisted Collaboration for Housing – to
institutionalize and expand employer-assisted housing (EAH), which already has
enabled more than 300
Illinois
families to afford homes near their
jobs.
By providing technical
assistance and support to communities, Trotter will advance opportunities
consistent with the state’s first-ever comprehensive housing plan – linking
housing to jobs and transportation to enhance quality of life and save the state
money.
“The state’s first comprehensive
housing plan is
a living, breathing document that is working to align the efforts of
state departments, private sector partners, and local and federal governments to make
it easier for developers in Illinois to get the housing built and renovated
for the people who – and in the places where – it’s needed most,” said Robin
Snyderman, MPC housing director. “With Joanna on board, MPC will have more capacity
to identify specific solutions to the challenges that inevitably
arise.”
Prior to
joining MPC, Trotter worked at DevCorp North in Rogers Park,
helping
the
Chicago neighborhood revitalize its commercial districts while encouraging balanced growth
to meet current community needs. While earning her masters in urban planning
and public policy
at
the
University of California
Los Angeles, she worked
to advance affordable housing policy at PolicyLink and ran the City
of West
Hollywood’s
inclusionary housing program.
“Local governments, advocates, and
political leaders have put so much effort into developing groundbreaking
policies, and I’m excited to help them implement their visions on the ground,”
said Trotter, who joined MPC in late March. “I’m hopeful that my work will turn
up new ways for state and county agencies to bolster support for local housing
initiatives.”
Luna, who joined the
Council the first week of May, will
take
lessons learned from urban and suburban EAH programs to audiences statewide.
“Federal, state, and municipal leaders have backed
employer-assisted housing as a successful strategy for increasing workforce
housing options in Illinois because it is adaptable and makes good financial
sense for all of the partners,” said Luna. “I look forward
to
working with new partners to more firmly establish this program
statewide.”
Prior to joining MPC, Luna
was with Shorebank’s MetroEdge program, where she served business,
nonprofit and government clients, helping to facilitate their successful
investment in underserved markets through specialized analysis and
market information. While earning her
MBA
from
Loyola University , Luna
worked
for
Loyola
University’s
Family
Business
Center, where she was responsible for
program outreach and management, as well as business relations.
“Cynthia Luna’s business savvy and her
experience working with communities made her
an
excellent
fit for this position,” said Snyderman. “With the addition
of Cynthia, we’re even more
hopeful
that Illinois’
EAH program, which has become a nationwide model, will become commonplace
in communities and businesses
across
Illinois.”
Founded in 1934, MPC is a
nonprofit, nonpartisan group of business and civic leaders committed to serving
the public interest through the promotion and implementation of sensible
planning and development policies necessary for a world-class
Chicago
region. MPC
conducts policy analysis, outreach and advocacy in partnership with public
officials and community leaders to improve equity of opportunity and quality of
life throughout the metropolitan
Chicago
.
For more information, contact Mandy Burrell , MPC’s
communications associate, at 312.863.6018 or mburrell@metroplanning.org ; or Robin Snyderman, MPC housing
director, at 312.863.6007 or rsnyderman@metroplanning.org .