Karen Beck Pooley
Karen Beck Pooley received a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of City and Regional Planning in 2007. Her research focuses on neighborhood revitalization strategies, techniques for measuring housing market conditions, and the evolution of federal, state and local housing policy. The Fannie Mae Foundation recognized her dissertation, Effective Neighborhood Revitalization Strategies, with the agency’s Award for the Best Dissertation Addressing Housing and Community Development Issues. Karen has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Wellesley College and a Master of Urban Planning & Policy from New School University’s Milano Graduate School. Professionally, Karen currently serves as the Executive Director of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Allentown and an Associate at czb LLC, an urban planning and neighborhood development consulting firm. Previously, she was a Research Associate at the Institute for Children & Poverty, Deputy Director of the Third Party Transfer and Tax Lien Sale Unit for New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development.