LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR: THE PARADOX OF 2023-2024
Bish Sanyal Director, SPURS/Humphrey Program
What an unique academic year this has been! Starting in early fall – October 7, 2023, to be precise, the date when Hamas attacked Israel – this academic year unfolded with unexpected turmoil, the full impact of which is yet to be understood. The new Fellows had just arrived at MIT when the turmoil began. And as I write this note, the horror of war continues with the deaths of thousands of citizens of Gaza, which diverted the world’s attention from yet another raging conflict, the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, student protests at university campuses in the U.S., including at MIT, have spread like wildfire from coast to coast. The passion of student protests has yet to fully subside even as the academic year comes to a close with commencement ceremonies that are likely to be disrupted, I worry. This surprisingly bleak political backdrop could not be ignored by anyone, let alone the Fellows from around the world. Yet we carried on with our usual program activities, hoping that the hostilities would soon decline as the global community awakens to the wise advice attributed to Mahatma Gandhi during World War II: An eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind!
The paradox of the moment intrigues me. How did the global Fellows at MIT manage to achieve so much during a year of such turmoil? Not only did Fellows from nations on both sides of the conflict come together as a well-functioning group, they also played key roles in cultivating new and exciting relationships between MIT’s Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies (SPURS) and multiple partners, including the American Planning Association (APA), the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy (LILP) in Cambridge, Mass., and Roxbury Community College (RCC) in Boston. Serious engagements with these new partners did not come, however, at the
expense of usual program activities. The Fellows attended the weekly Humphrey seminars, audited multiple courses at MIT and Harvard, participated in professional affiliations, and self-organized regular social get-togethers even as the world outside seemed to be in flames. Nothing appeared to reduce the resiliency of the Fellows. On the contrary, to my astonishment the Fellows continued to bond and flourish as if that was the best defense against the growing external turmoil.
New Organizational Relationships Formed in 2023-2024
Let me elaborate, briefly, on the new activities of the year. At the invitation of the APA, the Fellows participated via Zoom in a workshop on affordable housing in the fall. Later, in the spring semester, some attended the APA’s annual conference, held this year in Minneapolis, where they presented to North American planners how the problem of housing affordability was being addressed in their nations. The chair of APA’s International Division, Jing Zhang, visited MIT and spoke at the SPURS weekly seminar on how North American cities are trying to address housing affordability. Thanks to Jing’s leadership and the enthusiasm of the Fellows, we are on our way to building a long-term relationship between the SPURS/Humphrey Program and the APA. The early signs are inspiring: last year the Vietnamese planners, led by Humphrey alum Mai Nguyen ‘22, initiated a formal relationship with APA; and recently Hussain Ziyath, a Humphrey ’23 alum from the Maldives who was inspired by the APA, created that nation’s first professional planning association.
Similarly, the relationship with the LILP was cultivated jointly. LILP hosted the SPURS/Humphrey Fellows along with Harvard’s Loeb Fellows at a gathering in the fall to generate new ideas for long-lasting partnerships. LILP provided a professional affiliation opportunity to a Humphrey Fellow, and many new ideas of tripartite relationships involving the three programs have emerged from continuing dialogues. I am confident that next year we will jointly engage in action research to address urban-land related issues globally.
The third relationship that flourished this year, despite the unusual circumstances, was with the RCC. The RCC leadership team, particularly Ruben Flores, an urban planner, approached our program to seek assistance with the campus’s master planning process.
Thanks to seven SPURS/Humphrey Fellows with strong backgrounds in urban design and master planning, we were involved over two semesters in crafting concrete design suggestions for RCC. The benefit was mutual. RCC received from the Fellows some fresh inputs for their design options. While the Fellows learned about RCC, a community college in a low-income community, by studying in depth the constraints, both financial and otherwise, that they had to consider before proposing new elements for the campus master plan.
Fellows Display a Spirit of Diplomacy and Resilience
What explains the paradox of why the Fellows could be resilient and creative in participating in new initiatives at a time of turmoil both on U.S. campuses and also globally? That is a question that requires evidence-based research, as academics usually suggest. Lacking such rigorous evidence, I can only speculate by drawing on my experience of leading the SPURS/Humphrey program for the past 20 years. Firstly, the spirit of the SPURS/ Humphrey program is diplomacy,
an idea that has proved its relevance over and over again. The Fellows understand this central ethos of the program, practice it in their daily interactions with each other, and their views are reinforced by invited speakers whose lectures embody this precious principle.
Secondly, conflicts of all kinds ranging from campus protests to urban violence to war between nations are not ignored in our deliberations. On the contrary, we encourage Fellows to understand the origins of conflicts and assess for themselves who benefits and who loses from such conflicts. Such discussions reinforce the appreciation of diplomacy as a more life-enhancing strategy than violence. And finally, I have to thank the U.S. State Department, the Institute of International Education, and the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship program for selecting wonderful Fellows from around the world. These Fellows do care deeply about their nations, but also yearn to be citizens of the world. They have boundless energy; they aspire to be leaders in their areas of expertise; and they do not lose any opportunity to engage in any new activity from which they can learn. With such Fellows in our program, we can withstand any adversity, may that be COVID, student uprising or regional wars. ■
Fellows get a unique view and insights into Boston at a visit to the Boston Planning and Development Agency.
The SPURS/Humphrey Program visited the Chinatown Community Land Trust for the first time to learn about their grassroots community-oriented work.
Attending conferences at DUSP and elsewhere enhanced fellows’ learning in the classroom.
We are sad to share the passing of Professor Ralph Gakenheimer on June 17, 2024. Ralph was Co-associate Director of SPURS with Karen Polenske in 1973-1974 and Director in 1995-1996. Professor Ralph Gakenheimer passed away on June 17, 2024 at the age of 89. He was Co-associate Director of SPURS with Karen Polenske in 1973-1974 and Director in 1995-1996. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering Science from Johns Hopkins and went on to get a Master’s Degree in Regional Planning from Cornell University and a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. After teaching for 7 years at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, he was offered a position in the department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT, where he had a career spanning more that 40 years. During that time he served as a World Bank advisor, and visiting professor at various universities, including The University of Paris XII, University of California Berkeley, and the Universidad de Los Andes (Bogota) as well as a visiting fellow at Balliol College, Oxford. He was also a Fulbright Scholar and chaired several committees, including The United Nations-appointed committee which oversaw comprehensive planning of the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
THE 2023-2024 SPURS/HUMPHREY SEMINAR
Fellows participated in 25 weekly sessions spanning the fall and spring semesters in the cornerstone component of the SPURS/Humphrey Program: the Monday seminar. The seminar achieves three primary objectives. It exposes Fellows to key topics and debates in American planning and international development, encouraging a critical perspective that cuts across ideological or political lines. It widens the professional networks of Fellows by introducing them to the work of academics and practitioners who join the seminar as guest lecturers. (This includes faculty and staff from MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) and other MIT departments and universities, as well as government leaders
and prominent professionals from Boston and beyond.) And, it invites Fellows to consider how examples and experiences from places throughout the world apply to their own countries and cities.
The seminar’s three objectives are interrelated and interdependent. One important throughline pervades: to learn through comparison even if the contexts, events or topics at hand appear different on the surface. Comparative learning is enhanced through a process of reflective practice, an intellectual idea and professional approach originating at DUSP that is now a core, defining feature of a DUSP education. Complementary to a reflective orientation is a spirit
Taking a break from the hectic start of the year, fellows enjoyed a fall tour of the DeCordova Sculpture Park in LIncoln, Mass. to explore the intersection of art, architecture and nature.
of mutual learning, with the seminar (and the program overall) drawing significant strength from Fellows’ diverse professional experiences. The seminar provides Fellows with the opportunity to begin a process of cooperative problem-solving which creates mindsets that, on the one hand, transcend national boundaries, while on the other hand, continue to maintain roots in the specifics of each of their local contexts.
SPURS Director Bish Sanyal kicked off the seminar in September with three sessions that traced the historical evolution of key ideas and moments in international development and American planning. While each seminar had its own topic, several overarching themes stood out: tackling climate and sustainability issues; harnessing technology, innovation, data and design in planning; reckoning with race and religion; and various lenses on planning in the American context, whether it be through housing, planning in small- and medium-sized towns, or advocacy planning. Highlights from the seminar include a two-session negotiation workshop with DUSP Professor Larry Susskind, and a group discussion with Hashim Sarkis, dean of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning. Other highlights include talks from James Kostaras, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity Greater Boston; Jing Zhang, chair of the APA International Division; and Oliver Sellers-Garcia, director of Green New Deal Boston.
During the final seminar session, Fellows reflected on their time at MIT and in the U.S., sharing what they had learned and how it will change their approach to planning and development once they return home. Seeking to end the seminar on a hopeful note, Bish also shared the introduction from his book project, “Hidden Successes” (based on the competition of the same name), as a means of urging Fellows to look for and cultivate pockets of success in their own organizations, cities and countries. They exist! Indeed, despite myriad constraints and challenges, planners across the U.S. and worldwide manage to marshal the limited resources at their disposal to effect progressive change. It is in this spirit that the seminar, and the SPURS/ Humphrey Program overall, hopes to inspire and equip Fellows with the skills, drive and outlook necessary to be effective, positive changemakers. ■
NEW YORK CITY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TRIP
On a rainy Wednesday afternoon in early March, the Fellows disembarked from a train at New York’s Pennsylvania Station, making their way to the nearby New Yorker Hotel to begin their professional development trip in New York City. A staple of the SPURS/Humphrey Program, the visit to NYC provides an opportunity for Fellows to understand the issues a large metropolitan American city faces and learn how they are being addressed. More broadly, the trip enhances Fellows’ understanding of American planning and international development by exposing them to a diverse set of organizational stakeholders whose work covers myriad issues from myriad perspectives. With that in mind, Fellows visited four organizations over the course of three days: a private consulting firm, a multilateral organization, a public-private industrial park, and a grassroots nongovernmental organization (NGO).
After checking in to the hotel and having a quick lunch, Fellows traveled downtown to the offices of HR&A Advisors, a global consulting firm that provides services in real estate, economic development, and program design and implementation. Three team members whose practice includes international projects provided an overview of the firms’ work before delving into specific project examples in master planning, transportation-oriented development, urban regeneration, and infrastructure development. A wide-ranging Q&A discussion followed the presentations, covering topics such as procedures for community engagement and choosing appropriate
Discussing solidarity economy initiatives with the staff of the New Economy Project. L-R: Salvador Herrera, Lawrence Siddhartha Benninger, Habib Alnedari, Tenzin Jamtsho, Carina Arvizu-Machado.
local partners, governance systems for public-private partnerships, land value capture, key factors for successful project implementation, and navigating complex legal and regulatory environments. Fellows had the night to themselves. Several went to dinner as a group. Others enjoyed that quintessential New York experience, a Broadway musical.
Thursday began with a visit to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). Four members of the Financing for Sustainable Development Office gave presentations on three important topics in contemporary planning and development: high-level cooperation
and coordination among development actors, infrastructure asset management, and global taxation governance. Each Fellow was generously gifted with a physical copy of a recent handbook authored by UNDESA, “Managing Infrastructure Assets for Sustainable Development: A Handbook for Local and National Governments.”
A quick ferry ride across the East River from Manhattan to Brooklyn brought the Fellows to the Brooklyn Navy Yard (BNY), a 300-acre waterfront industrial park that is home to 450-plus businesses and 11,000-plus employees. After a pizza lunch from a BNY food purveyor, Fellows had a wide-ranging and spirited Q&A with
Taking a tour and meeting with leadership of the Brooklyn Navy Yard waterfront development.
At the New Economy Project. L-R: SPURS Doctoral Assocate Jonars Spielberg, Ammar Yasar, Vivid Gwede.
members of the executive leadership team at the BNY Development Corporation, which serves as the real estate developer and property manager for BNY on behalf of its owner, the City of New York. Following the Q&A, Fellows went on a tour of the BNY grounds, led by Adam Friedman of Turnstile Tours. In the evening, Fellows dined together at a Turkish restaurant in nearby Fort Greene.
The trip ended on Friday morning with a visit to the colorful, poster-adorned offices of the New Economy Project (NEP), a local grassroots NGO whose mission “is to build an economy that works for all, based on cooperation, equity, social and racial justice, and ecological sustainability.” After a brief introduction by NEP’s executive director, staff presented two of the core NEP solidarity economy campaigns: one on the NYC Community Land Initiative and another on public banks. Both campaigns were presented as justice- and community-oriented alternatives to conventional private sector-led speculative activities in real estate and finance.
The visit ended officially with a group lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. Fellows had the afternoon to explore the city on their own before some headed back to Boston while others stayed for the weekend. Though a short trip, it afforded Fellows opportunities to learn more about planning and development, to experience one of the world’s most well-known cities and to create lasting memories with one another. ■
the Financing for Sustainable Development office spoke on infrastructure asset management, among other key development topics.
Taking a ferry from Manhattan to Brooklyn gave a unique view of the New York City waterfront.
CALL TO ACTION!
ADDRESSING URBAN VULNERABLE TERRITORIES IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
The experiences that brought us to the SPURS/Humphrey Fellowship were rooted in our public sector work within vulnerable territories in our respective countries and cities. Confronted with these realities, we saw an opportunity to leverage our time at MIT and, as Bish Sanyal says, “theorize from practice.” We aimed to build a bridge between academia and practical experience by engaging in discussions that are pivotal for our region.
As we believe in collaboration and networks, we decided to deliver a one-day workshop, called “Call to Action! Addressing Urban Vulnerable Territories in Latin America and the Caribbean,” at MIT in late January. The event was a collaborative effort aimed at tackling the pressing challenges of poverty, inequality, migration and climate change in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region.
Co-organized by LILP’s Program on Latin America and the Caribbean in partnership with MIT SPURS and with a grant from MIT’s Office of Experiential Learning, the initiative sought to establish a regional vision with the goal of building a community of practice.
The workshop aimed to address the multifaceted challenges of vulnerable territories in LAC, where 110 million people – one in every five individuals in the region – live in informal settlements (UN-Habitat, 2020). These areas face conditions of poverty and social exclusion, marked by
inadequate housing, poor public services and limited access to urban infrastructure and green spaces. Concurrently, the region hosts approximately 3 million migrants from other areas and about 11 million internal migrants (McAuliffe & Triandafyllidou, 2021). Through exploring innovative and integrated approaches, and drawing inspiration from four case studies, the workshop sought to pave the way for sustainable development and systemic change.
The real-world cases that inspired us showcased innovative approaches to addressing urban challenges: the Socio-Urban Integration Program in Buenos Aires led by María Migliore, the city’s former Minister of Human Development and Habitat; Mexico’s Urban Improvement Program spearheaded by Martha Peña Ordóñez, head of the Planning Unit of the Secretariat for Agrarian, Land and Urban Development (SEDATU); the Utopian Estrella project in Iztapalapa, Mexico City, led by Raúl Basulto, head of Public Works and Urban Development; and the Manzanas del Cuidado, championed by Maria-Mercedes Jaramillo, Bogota’s former Secretary of Planning.
The workshop was divided into two main parts. Part A consisted of presentations on the four cases, keynote addresses and a panel discussion around the challenges of poverty, inequality, migration and climate change in LAC’s informal settlements. Part B explored the intersection of
these challenges within informal settlements, encouraging the participants to discuss and imagine integrated strategies for effective solutions.
Our esteemed panel of speakers included more than 20 experts from LAC. Among them were former ministers, executive directors and professors from renowned institutions such as Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Yale University, The New School, Columbia University and others. Their insights, coupled with the participation of key figures such as Alexandra Haas, executive director of Oxfam Mexico; and Anaclaudia Rossbach, director of the LILP Latin America and Caribbean program, enriched our discussions profoundly.
The workshop brought together over 50 individuals from diverse backgrounds, spanning academia, government, non-profit organizations and more. It was a platform for dialogue, knowledge-sharing and collaborative problem-solving. The heart of the discussions revolved around generating collaborative ideas and solutions. Participants engaged in lively debates, shared best practices and explored ways to leverage interdisciplinary approaches for positive impact.
The workshop surpassed our expectations. We aimed to bridge interventions in informal settlements with city planning and the broader urban system, reimagining the relationship between nature and cities. Rethinking planning scales and alternative territorial governance, such as through elements like water, was at the forefront of our discussions. Looking back to move forward, we drew inspiration from the
SPURS partnered with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s Program on Latin America and the Caribbean to co-organize the workshop, with support from the MIT Office of Experiential Learning.
historical constitution of cities through migration, and past interventions in informal settlements.
The resounding commitment echoed among participants was a determination to forge a more equitable and sustainable future for our urban communities in LAC. We extend heartfelt gratitude to all who contributed to the workshop’s success, recognizing that their passion, insights and dedication are foundational for meaningful progress. We offer special thanks to the MIT LAC graduate students and the SPURS’ staff, who worked along with us in the prepara-
tion and delivery of this workshop. Let us continue this journey together, building bridges and creating lasting impact for the vulnerable territories of our region, forging new paths towards systemic change. ■
References:
McAuliffe, M., & Triandafyllidou, A. (Eds.). (2021). World Migration Report 2022 International Organization for Migration.
UN-Habitat. (2020). World Cities Report 2020: The Value of Sustainable Urbanization.
Attendees from academic, government, and non-profit institutions and agencies learned about and discussed innovative approaches to urban challenges through case presentations
SPURS/Humphrey Fellows Agustina Rodriguez Biasone (L) and Carina Arvizu Machado (R) led a team to plan and deliver the workshop, along with presenting on their experiences managing urban development programs.
on Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico.
PARTNERSHIP WITH ROXBURY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
“If it wasn’t for community activism, you’d be on a highway right now.”
This powerful statement, which is imprinted on an exterior wall of Roxbury Community College along busy Columbus Avenue in Boston, sparked a creative synergy within a group of Fellows in our cohort, which later evolved into a significant collaboration between SPURS and RCC. SPURS brings
together professionals from diverse backgrounds, discipline and expertise, united by their passion towards achieving inclusive and sustainable cities. This year, eight of us committed to offering RCC technical guidance to refine the campus master plan, as part of our community service, which aligns with the Hubert H. Humphrey Program’s dedication to elevating community colleges.
The collaboration was initiated with a presentation to our cohort at MIT by Ruben Flores, special projects manager in the RCC Office of the President, in which he outlined the development projects currently taking place on the campus. The presentation was followed by a campus site visit where we learned about the college’s programs and activities, and most importantly, about its history and evolution. RCC has an empowering backstory of collective community action, which led to the halt of the construction of the I-95 Interstate Highway in the 1970s and reclaimed the land to accommodate public space and mass transit. The RCC campus was constructed on the acquired land between 1972 and 1996, and it remains a source of great pride for the Roxbury community.
At the start of the academic year, Fellows toured the Roxbury Community College campus, led by Ruben Flores, Randy Foote, and Nasreen Latif, to better understand the campus’s activities, history, and evolution.
This narrative resonated deeply with us, stirring our ambition to extend Roxbury’s activist spirit through the master plan and revive the societal role of the RCC in achieving social and economic justice for its communities. Our group –SPURS Fellows Agustina Rodríguez Biasone, Francisco Vargas Chevez, Vivid Gwede, Adea Mekuli, Salvador Herrera Montes, Zhengxu Zhou and myself – volunteered to provide preliminary development guidelines for the RCC master plan within an overall development vision that would provide a coherent connection among all development projects on campus.
After gaining an initial understanding of the campus’s existing condition and ongoing development projects, we decided with Mr. Flores that a beneficial contribution would be for us to provide a multidisciplinary assessment of the master plan, identifying existing gaps, and proposing preliminary development guidelines, all to be included in a comprehensive report. We felt that the diversity of our backgrounds as architects, urban designers, urban planners, lawyers, sociologists and university professors would truly increase the value of our contributions to the master plan project.
The process was collaborative and included meetings with various stakeholders. We attended a community engagement workshop at RCC led and conducted by ICON Architecture, Inc., a local firm that is overseeing the adaptive reuse of Dudley House, an historic building on the RCC campus. This meeting was followed by a brainstorming session on the scope of our work with staff from ICON Architecture and RCC. As we aimed to incorporate our MIT learning, we also had advisory meetings with MIT faculty members,
including Kairos Shen, executive director of MIT’s Center for Real Estate and an associate professor of the practice, and Brent Ryan, vice provost for campus space planning and management and associate professor in DUSP. Professor Bish Sanyal supervised our work.
Although this project was an enriching experience, we must acknowledge that it entailed several challenges and limitations. One of the main challenges was our limited knowledge of Roxbury’s neighborhood and communities, and the amount of time required for us to grasp the site dynamics and review the projects, studies and efforts associated with it. In addition, the project’s temporal constraints curtailed our capacity for extensive participatory workshops, which are crucial in validating a community’s needs and aspirations.
We gained valuable knowledge and insights about the diversity of neighborhoods in Boston, the concept of community college, and some aspects related to planning processes, dynamics, and regulations in the U.S. in general, and Boston specifically. Despite the project limitations, we were able to provide a comprehensive assessment of the urban, socioeconomic, environmental and institutional aspects of the RCC campus. We proposed preliminary interventions that aim to maximize its use and provide social, economic and environmental justice for its communities. We are pleased to end this journey with a document that compiles the previous and ongoing collective efforts associated with RCC and presents a solid foundation to enable the development of a more grounded and impactful master plan design for the campus. ■
The transformation of the historic Dudley House into the Center for Economic and Social Justice was a key element informing the master plan development guidelines proposed by the SPURS/Humphrey fellows.
ALUMNI NOTES
Ambika Adhikari Humphrey ’87 (Nepal) has a new paper in Environmental Challenges V.13, Dec. 2023, “State of Urbanization in Nepal: The Official Definition and Reality.” Topics include the rural/urban conundrum, the rapid conversion of rural areas to urban areas, and multiplier effects contributing to job generation in urban areas.
Avner Malkov Humphrey ’87 (Israel) left the public sector after returning home and opened his own architecture office in 1990. He is currently in the process of retiring.
Richard Tomlinson SPURS ’87 (South Africa) said, “For most of my working life in South Africa, I was an urban policy consulta nt, while also facilitating multi-party negotiations. I have written as an academic, a consultant, a government official and an op-ed newspaper and online media contributor.” Now branching out into fiction, he self-published a novel available on Amazon, “First Violin” is set in Vienna during the tumultuous period of 1938 to 1945.
Sarah Cordero SPURS ’94 (Costa Rica) teaches economics at Texas Tech University’s satellite campus in San Jose, Costa Rica.
José Angel Velàsquez SPURS ’94 (Venezuela) re-
turned to Caracas in April 2023 after teaching in Guatemala. He is a professor at the Universidad Metropolitana, and an economic advisor and former dean at the Universidad Central de Venezuela.
Ananda Mohan Bhattarai Humphrey ’03 (Nepal), a justice on the Supreme Court of Nepal, visited MIT in February 2024 where he shared with the SPURS/ Humphrey Fellows his story going from studying law to shaping Nepal’s judiciary. His work on environmental and social justice, including landmark decisions, sparked discussions on the power of law to create positive change.
Alberto Blanco-Lara SPURS ’03 (Colombia) has used his SPURS background and DUSP master’s degree to contribute to building code research and development in Latin America. He calls the work “a much-needed resiliency imperative, due to the high seismicity of Latin America’s Pacific regions.”
After SPURS, Liang Wei SPURS ’04 (Fall ’03) (China) remained at Tsinghua University for another 10 years teaching in the School of Architecture and serving as deputy director of the Urban Planning and Design Institute. Leaving Tsinghua in 2014, he became vice president and chief planner
for Walton Design Consulting Engineering Co. Ltd, a privately owned company based in Beijing that focuses on architecture design and urban planning.
In 2023, Sanghoon Lee Humphrey ’05 (South Korea) became CEO at the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation (KICOX). Lee said, “KICOX is a government agency dedicated to the development and management of industrial complexes – real estate for factories.” Previously he worked with the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards.
Following 30 years with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, Heum Jeng Kang Humphrey ’06 (South Korea) now serves as an advisor to the CEO of the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property in Riyadh.
Driton Qehaja Humphrey ’07 (Kosovo) is a professor at the University of Prishtina and head of the Department of Economics. His professional and research interests include macroeconomics, economic growth, financial economics and investment. Starting in March 2023, he is also director of business strategy at 91 Life, a New York-based company dedicated to propelling the digital health revolution by integrating cutting-edge software technology with
advanced mathematical models.
Creating links across class years and countries, YoungRae Kim SPURS ’10 (South Korea) and three Mongolian Humphrey alumni – OyunErdene Altan-Ochir ’22, Sarnai Battulga ’20, and Bayarmaa Dariimaa ’13 – met in Ulaanbaator in December 2023. Kim and Altan-Ochir live in Ulaanbaator, and Battugla is based in Thailand while she completes a doctoral degree at the Asian Institute of Technology. Kim is a professor and director of Ulaanbaator’s Center for the Development of Korea and Mongolia at the University of Finance and Economics. “We decided to stay in touch regularly and share our mutual interests,” Kim said. “Every encounter has been enjoyable and enlightening.”
Sungmin Lim ’10 Humphrey (South Korea) has worked for his government since 2002. Now relocated to New York, he manages assets and develops new investment ideas for the South Korean Postal Service, which also provides banking and insurance services and holds approximately $20 billion of assets in the U.S.
In 2023, Maha Malaika Humphrey ’10 (Iraqi Kurdistan) finished graduate study at Loyola University with a certificate in sustainability
and environmental planning. She wrote, “Currently, I am a project manager at Delta Institute, a nonprofit organization that supports communities in the Midwest to find solutions for complex environmental, social and economic challenges.”
In collaboration with Hobart, Indiana, she is restoring a small tributary that empties into Lake Michigan. The project aims to improve overall water quality and remove phosphorus and nitrogen.
Bayarmaa Dariima Humphrey ’13 (Mongolia) attended the International Symposium for Asia Heritage Network, hosted by the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust and Nara Machizukuri Center. She teaches architecture part-time, most recently with a focus on community heritage.
Liliana Pimentel Humphrey ’13 (Brazil) works on the coordination of global climate policy for the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples.
“Our main task is to face the effects of climate change on their lands, territories and well-being,” Pimentel said.
Tabjeel Ashraf Humphrey ’16 (Pakistan) is a transportation specialist with more than 20 years’ experience working with the Government of Pakistan and the private sector. His expertise
A visit to the Oxfam America headquarters in downtown Boston was an opportunity to learn about programs and initiatives spanning global partnerships, aid effectiveness, extractive industries, and gender justice and inclusion.
Professional development, networking, and a site visit to the World Resources Institute’s Ross Center for Sustainable Cities were highlights of the 2023 Humphrey Global Leadership Forum.
ranges from policy-making to strategy to the operational level, with a specialty in logistics management and artificial intelligence. He is director of the National Highway Authority in Islamabad and teaches master’s level courses on project management and project risk management in different universities around the world.
Josefina Uijt den Bogaard SPURS ‘16 (Argentina) is project manager at ProSustentia, an environmental consultancy that works on carbon credit markets and climate change policies.
Eirik Trondsen SPURS ’16 (Norway/Kenya) works for the Art for Change Foundation, a global nonprofit that uses art and creativity to effect positive change. In East Africa, the group implements a program called Affirmative Art to help participants express their dreams, identify purpose and discover ways to achieve it. The Affirmative Art Camp brings professional artists from Europe, the U.S. and Africa together with young artists in Kenya for what Trondsen describes as “a unique celebration of creativity, collaborative learning and cultural exchange.”
Hebaallah Khalil Humphrey ’17 (Egypt) received the 2023 International Union of Architects top prize for Innovation in Architectural Education for Region V (Africa) for
her project, “Sustainable Community Design and Social Development: Activating Spaces within Green and Healthy Corridors.” The award description states, “Focusing on green and healthy urban corridors, the programme addresses actual projects that immerse students in real-world design challenges.” Khalil is a professor of sustainable urbanism at Cairo University in Giza, and an urban development consultant.
Nol Binakaj Humphrey ’18 (Kosovo) completed the International Course on the Conservation of Modern Heritage, organized by the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles. He described the course as “a unique blend of engaging lectures, insightful discussions, practical exercises, thrilling site visits and immersive field experiences. After nine weeks of online study, we spent two weeks in Los Angeles, where we visited its remarkable modernist architecture and put our newfound knowledge to the test.”
The online Asian Investor included Ujjwal Dahal Humphrey ’18 (Bhutan) in its list of Top 10 Sovereign Wealth Fund executives: “Bhutan’s de facto sovereign wealth fund Druk Holding and Investments (DHI) is an impressive example of a catalytic wealth fund – one that looks to protect wealth and promote national de-
velopment … Chief executive Ujjwal Deep Dahal is considered instrumental in bringing together DHI, Bhutan Foundation USA and MIT to launch a Super Fab Lab (fabrication laboratory) in Bhutan, which opened in 2022.”
Alka Palrecha Humphrey ’18 (India) successfully defended her dissertation, “Wastewater Rights and Claims: Institutional Dynamics between Rural and Urban,” at CEPT University in Ahmedabad. Palrecha said that as the amount of irrigation water decreases due to diversion and climate change, “wastewater reuse is recognized as a new addition to available water. Reuse policies promote newer uses such as in recreation or for greening cities. The existing users – farmers – are ignored in these policies.” Her thesis brings farmers to the attention of policymakers.
Jesus Monreal Humphrey ’19 (Mexico) cofounded a nonprofit municipal organization, Citizens Multidisciplinary Council. This group intends to analyze and ensure that new residential and commercial projects follow the Urban Development Law in Mexico that requires new projects to include a certain amount of public green space. “This project is attracting people from academia, chartered associations and from many different backgrounds to participate actively in the
urban development of the city,” Monreal said.
After a two-year break to receive a master in city planning degree from MIT, Vineet Abhishek Humphrey ’20 (India) returned home to become senior divisional commercial manager of Mumbai Central Division, Western Railway. He is responsible for overseeing passenger amenities, ticketing, non-fare revenues, freight and parcel loading, business development, capacity augmentation and revenue generation among multiple cities, and for ensuring the smooth movement of 3.5 million daily passengers.
In November 2023, Ayawavi Attisso Humphrey ’20 (Togo) started a new position as the project manager and lead engineer with the United Nations World Food Programme in Abuja, Nigeria. She said, “In Nigeria, people use generators that lead to high emissions of carbon dioxide. Therefore, we aim to run our facilities on 100 percent solar energy.”
Alejandra Gomez Gomez Humphrey ’20 (Colombia) started a new position as Program Technical Coordinator of the UNDP-USAID in Colombia.
Javed Khoso Humphrey ’20 (Pakistan) has entered the master of city planning and urban affairs degree program at Boston University.
Benarva Djenaba Browne Humphrey ’21 (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) has been sworn in as her country’s new Minister of Urban Development, Energy, Seaports Development, Seaports Administration, Grenadines Affairs and Local Government. During the ceremony, the governor general noted that Browne “joins the ranks of empowered women making strides in government, setting an example for the next generation of leaders as they take on traditionally male-dominated roles.”
Oyun-Erdene Altan-Ochir Humphrey ’22 (Mongolia) works as a national photovoltaic expert at the Ulaanbaatar Green Affordable Housing and Resilient Urban Renewal Project, a 10,000-unit residential project aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emission and pollution, and improve livability in the city. Local low electricity prices make it hard to promote rooftop solar PV system, Altan-Ochir said. She hopes solar will become more desirable with future changes in pricing as the energy market shifts from public to private.
Oleksandr Dovbnia Humprey ’22 (Ukraine) lives in Germany and works remotely for the World Bank.
Samir Khther Humphrey ’22 (Iraqi Kurdistan) joined KBR, an international engineering company, working
on a project to improve the oil and gas fields in Rumaila, Basra (Iraq). Last winter, he received a Humphrey professional development grant to participate in COP28, the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Dubai.
Mai Nguyen Humphrey ’22 (Vietnam) was included in a list of 50 Global Rising Stars in ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance), awarded by Women of the Future (UK) and supported by the Financial Times, CNBC and the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School. The citation celebrated female trailblazers aged 35 and under working in different aspects of ESG who have made a lasting and positive impact on their organizations, environment and wider society. Nguyen’s efforts in the financial and real estate sectors in Vietnam were called instrumental in driving progress towards a more sustainable future.
Jesualdo Arzuaga Humphrey ’23 (Colombia), a human rights lawyer and executive director of Fenalper, and David Luna SPURS ’19 (Colombia), a senator in Colombia’s Congress, are working together to support a proposed law to help human rights defenders, personeros, aid the country’s most vulnerable communities. Fenalper is a national organization that represents the interests of the personeros.
The Harvard Kennedy School “Student Policy Review” published an article written by Felipe Suárez Giri Humphrey ’23 (Uruguay), “Latin American Cities in the Age of AI: Navigating the Technological Revolution.”
Dafni Mora Humphrey ’23 (Panama) received the Dr. Ana Sanchez Urrutia Prize for Scientific Perseverance at a prominent conference in Panama, APANAC in September 2023. The award recognizes and promotes the scientific work of women with an emphasis on equity and inclusion. She is a professor of environment and energy at the Technological University of Panama, specializing in sustainability, strategic management and energy use in buildings.
As a program director for the World Bank, Imran Ali Sultan Humphrey ’23 (Pakistan) focuses on the bank’s Punjab Affordable Housing Program in Lahore. He said, “My focus is on private sector participation in affordable housing
through infrastructure investment support and the public sector delivery of alternate housing solutions to the poorest; strengthening institutions with critical roles in housing policy and programs; and promoting livability and sustainability of housing through climate resilient and energy efficient infrastructure investments.”
Hussain Ziyath Humphrey ’23 (Maldives) is a resilient housing analyst for the World Bank, as well as a part-time teacher at Maldives National University. In 2024 he led the launch of the Association of Maldivian Planners, in which he serves as the inaugural president, to provide an independent platform for the discussion of development issues affecting the public. He also manages his private practice at Charrette Studio (Charrettestudio.mv). The studio is surveying a site in the Maldives and will do an environmental impact assessment where MIT runs a project to “grow” islands by changing how waves and sand interact. ■
Fellows volunteered for a Build Day in Malden with Habitat for Humanity Greater Boston, seeing firsthand what it takes to provide housing solutions for individuals with low-to-moderate incomes.
