Jennifer Gilbert
Since her first post-college job at a Philadelphia homeless shelter, Jennifer Gilbert has worked to make more housing and make housing more accessible. Her 25+ years of experience have lent her the opportunity to “sit” at multiple seats around the housing table: developer, manager, funder, government, planning board member, grant-maker, technologist.
From 2018-2025, she founded and led Housing Navigator Massachusetts, Inc., taking a Tech for Good nonprofit from an idea to a nationally-recognized, free 24/7 affordable housing search tool with 35,000+ users each month. Under her leadership, Navigator debuted statewide and town-by-town Housing Supply Dashboards — a first for transparency about the Massachusetts affordable housing supply – that enable data-driven policy to identify gaps and increase housing production. Housing Navigator MA data is cited regularly in local press, planning meetings,research, and advocacy.
Prior to founding Housing Navigator MA, Jennifer was the initial Executive Director of the Kuehn Charitable Foundation launching its practice-based Kuehn Fellows program (now in its sixth round with 29 alumni Fellows). She further guided over $3 million in investments in affordable housing and historic preservation. Earlier in her career, she spent 15 years as development and strategy consultant with a national practice overseeing complex, mission-driven real estate development projects fostering the creation of 1000+ units of affordable housing, arts spaces, early education centers, and a health clinic in partnership with Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Jennifer holds an MCP from MIT, a JD from Northeastern University where she was a Skadden Fellow for Public Interest Law, and BA magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania. She stays involved in her local community through recent service on the City of Cambridge’s Charter Review Committee (2022-2024) and Alewife Zoning Advisory Group.
Josh Vogel
jvogel@chapa.org
(617) 862-0334
Josh Vogel joined CHAPA in 2025 as Program Associate. He contributes to CHAPA’s 40B Monitoring efforts, including the resale of affordable homes to first-time homebuyers, and CHAPA’s work on the CommonWealth Builder Program. Prior to joining CHAPA, he worked as a Practice Team Assistant at Cooley LLP. Josh is dedicated to expanding access to affordable housing and active transportation in Greater Boston and Massachusetts more broadly. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from Dartmouth College.
Advancing Fair Housing in Greater Boston, Massachusetts: Voices from the Field
Advancing Fair Housing in Greater Boston, Massachusetts: Voices from the Field
CHAPA’s Statement on One Hundred Compliant MBTA Communities
As of November 20, 2024, over 100 Massachusetts cities and towns have passed zoning districts to comply with the MBTA Communities Law. This innovative law aims to address Massachusetts’ housing shortage by allowing modest types of housing, like duplexes, triple-deckers, and low-rise apartment buildings, near transit. These newly approved multifamily zoning districts will bring us closer to the 200,000 homes that Massachusetts needs by 2030 to stabilize housing prices. Many communities took their commitment to housing one step further by using this new zoning to incorporate affordability as well.
“Communities across Massachusetts are overwhelmingly embracing the MBTA Communities Act. They understand that every municipality has a collective responsibility to ensure we are part of fostering a healthy and vibrant Commonwealth,” said Rachel Heller, Chief Executive Officer of the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA). “Massachusetts needs more homes that families, older adults, and the local workforce can afford, and these MBTA Communities are doing their part by allowing the creation of more of these types of homes.”
For decades, strict local zoning policies limited opportunities for people by preventing the construction of anything other than single-family homes on large lots. With land values skyrocketing, these policies create barriers that leave some people out of the housing market entirely. Through coalition building, broad outreach, and inclusive community engagement, these 100 MBTA Communities have taken meaningful action to address those barriers.
“The MBTA Communities Act is succeeding at the local level because municipal leaders know that more housing is crucial to the future success of the Commonwealth,” said Lily Linke, CHAPA’s MBTA Communities Engagement Senior Manager. “The vast majority of cities and towns are doing their part in allowing the homes that our residents need, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because they recognize that when our neighbors thrive, we all thrive.”
CHAPA’s MBTA Communities technical assistance program has supported 45 of these communities by educating residents about the law, consulting with local planners on community engagement, and supporting local pro-housing coalitions as they worked to pass new zoning. 90% of communities that participated in CHAPA’s program have approved an MBTA Communities District, compared to an 83% passage rate overall.
CHAPA congratulates the planners, advocates, elected officials, consultants, and everyone who helped make this milestone possible. We look forward to continuing our work across Massachusetts to encourage communities to embrace and adopt multi-family zoning.
When we say yes to more housing in our communities, we are closer to the Massachusetts we all want and deserve – where everyone has access to a safe, healthy, and affordable home in the community of their choice.