Christy Rogers
Christy Rogers, PhD
Director of Outreach
(614) 292-7012
rogers.441@osu.edu
Christy has a proven record of effective client collaboration, public policy advocacy, and community investment at the local and national levels. She was named an Opportunity Agenda Communications Fellow in 2011. She is currently engaged in the collaborative development of strategic advocacy plans with African American Leadership groups in the Twin Cities, Seattle, Portland and Des Moines. She has been managing an extensive, nationwide research and advocacy initiative on fair housing and credit in the wake of the foreclosure crisis (2008-2011). This work resulted in a successful nationwide conference, the seeding of a civil rights and fair housing coalition in Washington, D.C., and the forthcoming publication of an edited book.
Previously, she led a collaborative research partnership between Kirwan’s Opportunity Communities team and professors from the College of Social Work at The Ohio State University to better understand challenges to accessing work for low-income seniors. She managed the collaborative development of the “Shining the Light” advocacy and organizing framework with ISAIAH Minnesota (2010), which ultimately resulted in a 1,600-person faith summit with MN Governor-elect Mark Dayton. She also managed neighborhood revitalization research reports for a local community foundation, which guided the strategic selection of five target investment neighborhoods for the United Way HOME Impact Council, and contributed to the foundation’s decision to invest $5 million in Weinland Park, Columbus.
Christy volunteers at the United Way of Central Ohio as a member of the HOME Impact Council, and is a visiting lecturer at the Knowlton School of Architecture every fall. She has presented to the Ohio Planning Conference, the Race, Ethnicity and Place Conference, the Association of American Geographers, and the National Community Land Trust annual conference. Prior to joining Kirwan, she worked for five years in municipal planning and litigation support in Chicago. Christy has an undergraduate degree in English from Carleton College, a graduate degree in English from Ohio University, a professional degree in Landscape Architecture (MLA) from the Harvard Design School, and a PhD in Geography from The Ohio State University.
Research interests: equitable community development, housing policy, and poverty & inequality