Alumni
Our graduates comprise an extraordinary group of professionals, pursuing a wide variety of career paths. Alumni are currently serving in all levels of government in the U.S., as well as in numerous nonprofit organizations, citizen advocacy groups, international institutions and NGOs, and private firms. UEP alumni are widely recognized for their technical expertise and their commitment to values that embrace equity, justice, and sustainability.
Department faculty and administrative staff maintain contact with a wide alumni network through LinkedIn, which has proven to be invaluable to students seeking internships and jobs.
Jasmin Budhan
Program and Graduation Year: Master’s in Sustainability, 2021-2022
Current Position: Materials Analyst at Brightworks Sustainability
Research Areas: Sustainability, Energy, Climate Change
How do you use your UEP education on the job? Shortly after graduating, I accepted a position at Brightworks Sustainability in NYC as a Materials Analyst. Tufts prepared me well for my career at Brightworks. Brightworks is a sustainability consulting firm. We establish and implement innovative sustainability programs that bring climate leaders together, advance holistic sustainability, increase operational performance, address human health in buildings, achieve net zero carbon targets, and challenge the status quo in the pursuit of ambitious climate action. I feel very fortunate to be an alum of Tufts UEP!
Kris Carter
Program and Graduation Year: MA UEP, 2011
Current Position: Chief Possibility Officer, MassDOT
Research Areas: Transportation, Public Policy for Emerging Issues
How did UEP further your career? "UEP provided me with a launching pad into my professional career in public service. My course projects led to an internship, which turned into a fellowship, that turned into a career. Without my experience at UEP, my path likely would have not been as seamless or as fulfilling."
Maxwell Dorman
Program and Graduation Year: Master’s in Sustainability, 2020-2021
Current Position: Sustainability Scientist & Researcher at Power Shift Africa
Research Areas: Sustainability, Energy, Climate Change
How do you use your UEP education on the job? I chose to study sustainability because we live in a critical time where we have little choice but to shift our socioeconomic systems in a sustainable direction massively. The socio-ecological systems thinking, and the program evaluation classes were great. They taught me how NGOs function, which was helpful for my career.
Rachel Garshick Kleit
Program and Graduation Year: MA UEP, 1993
Current Position: Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs; Professor of City and Regional Planning, Ohio State University
Research Areas: Housing and Community Development
How do you use your UEP education on the job? "I have used what I have learned in Field Projects many, many times over my career, especially guidelines on group editing and writing, group dynamics, and work plans. Much of what we discussed in other classes about organizations and change has also been important in leading in my current organization, and I have used the financial management skills throughout my career."
Laura Jasinski
Program and Graduation Year: MA UEP, 2014
Current Position: Executive Director, Charles River Conservancy
Research Areas: Sustainability, Water
How did UEP further your career? "The UEP network in and around Boston is incredible. I know professionals in a wide variety of impactful non-profit, private, and government roles that are always willing to help and advise."
Nathalie Jean
Program and Graduation Year: MA UEP, 2009
Current Position: Executive Director, Brockton Redevelopment Authority
Research Areas: Affordable housing and community development
How did UEP further your career? UEP gave me the foundation to thrive in any environment, whether it be nonprofit management, municipal government or in my current position at a public policy and urban planning think tank.
Kimberly D. Lucas, PhD
Program and Graduation Year: UEP, 2007
Current Position: Professor of the Practice in Public Policy and Economic Justice, School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University, Consultant for Community Labor United Incorporated and Urban Institute
Research Areas: Early childhood policy, civic research and civic data, civic innovation
How did UEP further your career? I started UEP with a strong sense that I would study one thing in depth: early childhood policy. My fellow students, professors, and all of the other people I met over the course of my UEP education showed me how interconnected all policies are. That really stuck with me, and now I (alongside my good friends and colleagues) have produced local policy innovations focused on the intersection of early childhood and housing, early childhood and small business, and early childhood and data. UEP showed me that my policy area is your policy area--and yours is mine.
Christine Madore
Program and Graduation Year: MA UEP, 2015
Current Position: Senior Development Manager, MHP (Massachusetts Housing Partnership)
Research Areas: Sustainability, Housing and Community Development
How did UEP further your career? "The professional networks I was able to tap into while at UEP have helped me advance my career across sectors."
Jay Monty
Program and Graduation Year: MA UEP, 2011
Current Position: Director of Transportation and Mobility – City of Everett, Massachusetts
Research Areas: Transportation, Transit Oriented Development, Transit Policy, Active Mobility
How did UEP further your career? UEP helped transform my technical background as a Civil Engineer into an ability to turn transportation, development, and social policy goals into tangible and achievable projects. The curriculum taught me how to re-frame sustainability goals and objectives into actionable projects. UEP also opened the door to a large network of alumni and other planning and policy professionals who I continue to work with daily to advance these goals in the City of Everett and the region.
David Moore
Program and Graduation Year: MA UEP, 2004
Current Position: Transportation Human Factors, Division Chief, US Department of Transportation- Volpe Center
Research Areas: Transportation
How did UEP further your career? "Conversations with my fellow students and faculty reset my understanding of what people do for a living, that law school or business school and what lies beyond are not the only path. UEP coursework, Field Projects and my thesis helped me to become conversant in bodies of knowledge (climate change, water resources, social justice) and familiar enough with methods (strategic communications, program evaluation, GIS, watershed modeling) to talk employers into giving me a chance."
Alexandra Oliver-Davila
Program and Graduation Year: MPP 2013
Current Position: Executive Director, Sociedad Latina
Research Areas: Housing and Community Development, Youth Development
How did UEP further your career? "It helped me to have a better understanding of how policy affects community and that good policy includes the voices of those who it is meant to support."
Kristine Stratton
Program and Graduation Year: MA UEP, 2004
Current Position: President and CEO, National Recreation and Parks Association
Research Areas: Sustainability, Housing and Community Development, Food, Transportation, Water
How do you use your UEP education on the job? "UEP taught me to understand that all issues are intersectional and solutions must be developed in an intersectional and interdisciplinary way. It's why working at NRPA is so rewarding - our work is entirely aligned with this reality."
Ralph Willmer
Program and Graduation Year: MA UEP, 1986
Current Position: AICP Ethics Officer, American Planning Association
Research Areas: Housing and Community Development, Land Use, Open Space and Recreation
How do you use your UEP education on the job? "The introduction and exposure to a wide range of issues related to citizen participation, as well as tools and techniques for engaging the public, are still useful to me even though the field has evolved quite a bit."