OUR TEAM
Rebecca Yae | Director
Rebecca Yae is Director of the Housing Initiative at Penn. Her research focuses on emergency rental assistance, housing policy, racial equity, and alternative housing models and her work has been published in Housing Policy Debate. Most recently, as a Senior Research Analyst at the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), Rebecca led a team of researchers studying emergency rental assistance (ERA), including by creating the only comprehensive national database of ERA program features and spending. Her graduate capstone project, Self-Management Law, Now! Fostering Community-Owned, Permanently Affordable and Sustainable Housing in Brazil, supported social movements in Brazil in advocating for and enhancing a national legal framework for self-managed housing and collective property. The project won the 2021 Student Project Award from the American Planning Association. Prior to her housing-related work, Rebecca supported communities in identifying and addressing significant community health needs and evaluating health-related initiatives using qualitative and quantitative data.
 
Rebecca holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Arts in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley.
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Sarah Curry | Project Coordinator
Sarah Curry is a Project Coordinator at the Housing Initiative at Penn. She holds a Master of City Planning degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Auburn University and the Rural Studio. Her research interests primarily include affordable housing policy for urban and rural populations, the economics of home ownership, responsible design and sustainable construction, and a deep love of Philadelphia.
Matt Fowle, PhD | Director of Research
Matt Fowle is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Housing Initiative at Penn. His research investigates the role of structural racism in creating housing insecurity among households of color, the institutional drivers of mortality among people experiencing homelessness, and the policies to dismantle generational poverty and homelessness. Matt's dissertation investigated the causes, reproduction, and consequences of racial inequality in homelessness. He brings insights from public health, urban policy, and sociology to his work and conducts mixed methods research using innovative administrative, interview, and survey data. Prior to his doctoral studies, he worked in philanthropy, local government, and a nonprofit human rights organization. Matt is a co-founder of HomelessDeathsCount.org, a community research project to collect nationwide data on mortality among people experiencing homelessness. He received his PhD in Public Policy and Management from the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Washington. He also holds degrees in Politics and Law from the University of Chester and Evidence-Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation from the University of Oxford.
Chi-Hyun Kim | Research Associate
Chi-Hyun Kim is a Research Associate at the Housing Initiative at Penn. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at the University of Chicago. Previously, he served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member at the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania, before continuing as a data analyst at the same organization. His research interests lie in eviction prevention and other policies to foster housing stability, as well as broader efforts to ensure sustainable and equitable cities for all.
Cypress Marrs | Research Associate
Cypress Marrs is a Research Associate at the Housing Initiative at Penn (HIP). Cypress holds a MS in social policy with a certificate in data analytics from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy and Practice and a BA from the Division of Languages and Literature at Bard College.
Vincent J. Reina, PhD | Faculty Director
Dr. Reina, Founder of the Housing Initiative at Penn, is a Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design with a Secondary appointment as Professor of Real Estate at the Wharton School of Business. He is also the Editor in Chief of Housing Policy Debate. Dr. Reina's research focuses on urban economics, low-income housing policy, household mobility,  neighborhood change, and community and economic development.  His work has been recognized with several awards, including article of the year by the Journal of the American Planning Association, and the Association of Public Policy and Management’s Best Dissertation Award. He was also given the Rising Scholar Award by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning.

In 2022-2024, Dr. Reina served as the Senior Advisor for Housing and Urban Policy in the White House Domestic Policy Council, where he worked to address the nation’s housing affordability and supply challenges, affirmatively further fair housing, increase access to homeownership, and advance equitable development and community investment.

Dr. Reina is a Stoneleigh Foundation Fellow and a Senior Fellow at the Penn Leonard Davis Institute and the Penn Institute for Urban Research. He was previously a Visiting School at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, the Dean’s Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Nursing, and a Lincoln Institute for Land Policy Scholar.

Dr. Reina began his career as a Community Planning and Development Representative for the U.S. Department of Housing and Development and was then a project manager in its Division of Multifamily Housing. He also worked as a senior program officer at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, where he underwrote financing for affordable housing developments across the country, and completed a Coro fellowship.

HIP FELLOWS
Claudia Ashworth
Claudia Ashworth is a Master of City Planning student with a concentration in Housing, Community, and Economic Engagement. Prior to Penn, she worked for five years as Tenant Organizer in Central Brooklyn, mobilizing people living in Rent Stabilized, Section 8, and Market-Rate buildings to address issues related to predatory equity, chronic repair problems and both illegal destabilization and rent overcharges. She is interested in the expansion of existing housing policy to more completely protect renters in both New York and Philadelphia.
Ethan Harner
Ethan Harner is a Master of City Planning Student at the Weitzman School of Design focusing his studies on equitable and community-based housing and economic development solutions. Before graduate school he worked in community development research and affordable housing development. He has a BA in Geography from West Virginia University.
Wesley Nay
Wesley Nay is a Class of 2027 Master of City Planning student concentrating in Housing, Community, and Economic Development. Before he came to Penn, Wesley worked at the New York City Independent Budget Office conducting analyses on budget and policies in NYC.
Ixchel Ramirez
Ixchel Ramirez is a second-year Master of City Planning student at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design. She earned her BA in Political Science from Wellesley College. Prior to graduate school, Ixchel worked in People Operations at SPUR, gaining exposure to regional planning and housing issues. At HIP, Ixchel is eager to contribute to work that promotes equitable access to housing and informs inclusive housing policy.
Maggie Song
Maggie Song is a student at the University of Pennsylvania studying Design and Science, Technology, and Society studies interested in exploring the intersections of science, art, and culture through impactful and relevant design. At HIP, Maggie works on graphics, publication, and web layout.
Whether you're a policymaker, researcher, journalist, student, funder, or just someone who cares about housing - we would love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].