Staff

yittazel@uic.edu; 312-996-6674

Mr. Zelalem has been with the UIC Voorhees Center since 1996 – first as Senior Planner, and as Co-Director since 2004. Prior to that, he worked as Director of Housing Policy Analysis at the Chicago Rehab Network. He also worked for over half a dozen years as Director of Property Development and Executive Director of several CDCs in Chicago. An expert in affordable housing finance and public housing, Yittayih has extensive experience in real estate development and housing finance and policy.  Yittayih was also professor of law at the Addis Ababa University Law School in Ethiopia and currently teaches development financing courses. Mr. Zelalem has law degrees from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia and the Yale Law School, as well as a Masters Degree in Urban Development.

Pronouns: He/him

schafer1@uic.edu

Maggie is a research specialist whose interests lie in housing, sustainable economic development, spatial planning, and communications. Prior to joining the Voorhees team as research assistant in 2021, Maggie worked in marketing and advertising as writer and project manager. She also worked briefly in residential real estate, which piqued her interests in placemaking and community development. Maggie received her Masters of Urban Planning and Policy (MUPP) from UIC in 2023 and her B.A.s in Sociology and English from the University of Madison-Wisconsin in 2013.

Pronouns: She/her

Heather D. Parish, executive director of the Albert Pick Jr. Fund, is joining the UIC Voorhees Center as the Janet L. Smith Practitioner in Residence, assuming the role for a one-year period between August 16, 2024, and August 16, 2025. Heather has dedicated her career to helping nonprofits that work with urban communities. Her work with the Albert Pick, Jr. Fund furthers social justice in Chicago’s under-resourced neighborhoods by providing grants to non-profits in civic activism, culture, education, health and human services. Heather is a founding board member for AMPT: Advancing Nonprofits, an initiative that provides capacity building for nonprofits on the South and West sides of Chicago. Heather holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, where she specialized in Housing, Community Development and Urban Economic Development.

Pronouns: She/her

cmcoste2@uic.edu

Claire is a Master of Urban Planning and Policy student at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She is interested in environmental planning, sustainability, affordable housing, and GIS. Prior to coming to UIC, Claire worked at the environmental nonprofit Delta Institute, in a role focused on research, mapping, and data analysis. She has also previously worked at a community development financial institution. Claire holds bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Environmental Studies from the University of Chicago and attained her LEED Green Associate credential in 2021.

Pronouns: She/her

Colin is a second year Master of Public Policy student with a focus in public health.  After growing up in Naperville, Illinois he went on to study political science at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, graduating in 2022. Before enrolling at CUPPA, he interned for the Jefferson Educational Society, a community think tank in Erie, Pennsylvania. Under the supervision of Dr. Allyson Holbrook, he recently conducted research on modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors for mood disorders. Colin’s main interest is exploring planning and policy levers which facilitate the health and prosperity of all community members.

Elizabeth is a Master of Urban Planning and Policy student at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Prior to UIC, she worked as a research analyst in the Urban Institute’s Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center. Elizabeth graduated from Macalester College with a BA in political science, a concentration in urban studies, and minors in statistics and psychology. Her research interests include housing justice, spatial planning, and neighborhood change.

Pronouns: She/her

icanov2@uic.edu

Ian is currently enrolled in the Master of Urban Planning & Policy and Master of Public Health – Community Health Sciences programs at UIC. He is interested in equitable redevelopment, transportation, health impact assessment, and using principles and data from community health to inform planning and policy. Ian has worked for several years as a community research coordinator with the Milwaukee office of the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute, and is also a community development/planning intern with the Village of Maywood. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2016, where he completed a thesis project on memory testing with the Learning & Transfer Lab.

Pronouns: He/him

Nooshin is a research assistant with an interest in economic development, transportation planning, and statistical and geospatial analytics, with a focus on socio-environmental considerations. She earned her Master of Urban Planning and Policy in 2023 and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at UIC. Her research centers on equitable access to opportunities and the influence of urban spatial structures and socio-economic factors on this access. She is passionate about applying data-driven insights to create more inclusive and sustainable urban environments.

Pronouns: She/her

saden2@uic.edu

Suban is a Master of Urban Planning and Policy student at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She recently finished an internship with the City of Minneapolis, where she created and researched maps using ArcGIS software, assisted with field research, and analyzed historical data records. Before coming to UIC, Suban graduated from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities with a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Geographic Information Systems. Her interests include transportation equity, affordable housing, and community development.

Pronouns: She/her

bologna3@uic.edu

Justin is a Master of Urban Planning and Policy student at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). His focus is on housing justice and equitable economic development. He is interested in how community interests can be upheld when urban space is increasingly controlled by global finance capital and corporate interests. Justin earned a B.A. with honors in Environmental & Urban Studies, Public Policy, and Geography from the University of Chicago in 2022. His previous role was an internship with the Metropolitan Planning Council and Civic Projects Architecture.

Pronouns: He/him

Joshua Drucker is an Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research interests center around processes of regional economic development and transformation. Recent research efforts include examining the role of industrial competition within regional economies, analyzing the contributions of anchor institutions to economic performance and resilience, and investigating innovation districts as an urban economic development strategy. With the Voorhees Center, Drucker has engaged in research and technical assistance projects for the Office of Economic Adjustment of the U.S. Department of Defense, the Economic Development Administration, and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Drucker has worked as an economic development consultant and researcher for the Technology Partnership Practice of the Battelle Memorial Institute, the North Carolina Department of Commerce, and the Southern Growth Policies Board.

Pronouns: He/him