by Jenna Connolly | Jan 18, 2025 | Our Team
[email protected]
(617) 681-5437
After joining CHAPA in 2025 as the Executive Assistant to the CEO; Lousillia provides calendar management, facilitates internal, external, & Board communications, and performs other operational responsibilities essential to the organization’s administration. Now as an Executive Operations Manager, Lousillia additionally oversees CHAPA’s Membership Program and supports CHAPA’s COO in the organization’s personnel & fundraising efforts.
Lousillia is a Dorchester native who has experience working in Boston’s school system and has supported executives at both nonprofit and corporate organizations. She also is a proud advocate for affordable, fair housing, to create safe and inclusive environments for all. Lousillia also aims to give back to her community through different artistic initiatives to promote expression & art education. Outside of her role at CHAPA, Lousillia enjoys painting, spending time with loved ones, and reading.
by KRISTEN | Oct 22, 2024 | Our Team
[email protected]
(617) 631-8679
Jenna joined CHAPA in 2018 as Communications & Events Manager. As Director of Communications & Events, she is responsible for strategizing and implementing CHAPA’s communications and media plan and overseeing the Events & Logistics Manager.
Previously, she served as Resource Development & Communications Manager at Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation. She also completed two terms with AmeriCorps, including a year of building affordable homes in Austin, Texas for Habitat for Humanity.
She holds a Master of Public Administration with a concentration on Gender, Leadership, & Public Policy from UMass Boston and a certificate in PR Strategy from Cornell University. She is passionate about multimedia storytelling and enjoys creative writing and photography in her spare time.
Contact for: press inquiries, logo or ad needs
by KRISTEN | Oct 22, 2024 | Our Team
[email protected]
(617) 804-6558
Maritza joined CHAPA in 2011 and currently serves as Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Maritza oversees CHAPA’s organizational operations and strategy, including fundraising and philanthropic support efforts, financial management, human resources, Board of Directors engagement, strategic planning, and CHAPA’s membership program.
Over the course of her tenure at CHAPA, Maritza has held several leadership roles, including Director of Strategic Initiatives and Director of Programs. In these roles, she led a wide range of CHAPA’s program initiatives, including several grant programs, CHAPA’s 40B and CommonWealth Builder monitoring programs, the MassAccess Accessible Housing Registry, the My Mass Mortgage website, the Massachusetts Homeownership Collaborative, and CHAPA’s New England HUD Housing Counseling Network.
Prior to joining CHAPA, Maritza worked at New Ecology, Inc. as an Associate Green Building Consultant supporting high-performance affordable housing projects. Maritza holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Vermont and a Master’s degree in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University.
by KRISTEN | Oct 22, 2024 | Our Team
[email protected]
(617) 701-7498
David Gasser became CHAPA’s Programs Director in 2021, after joining the agency as a Program Manager in 2019. As Program Manager, he contributed to CHAPA’s Chapter 40B monitoring efforts, particularly managing the resale of affordable homes to first-time homebuyer households. Prior to joining CHAPA, David worked for seven years at the Oak Hill Community Development Corporation, first as a Foreclosure Prevention & Housing Specialist and then as the Director of Homeownership Programs. David is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University and earned a J.D. from Boston College Law School. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar.
by Jenna Connolly | Mar 3, 2025 | Our Team
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.
by KRISTEN | Oct 24, 2024 | Our Team
[email protected]
(617) 344-3885
Monica C. Keel returned to CHAPA in 2023 as the Municipal Engagement Program Associate after interning for the Municipal Engagement Initiative from 2020-2021. In her current role as Municipal Engagement Program Manager, Monica oversees CHAPA’s Making the Case Working Group and works with local pro housing coalitions and groups across the State to support and further their pro housing initiatives. She also conducts weekly office hours to discuss the Municipal Engagement Initiative as well as share community organizing tips, tricks, and lessons learned.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and French from Manhattanville College and a Master of Arts in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Brandeis University. She related her Master’s thesis to housing by creating a space for Black women to reflect on their experiences living in public housing developments in Boston in the 1970s-1980s. They remain passionate about creating equitable and accessible housing for all and maintaining space for those to share their thoughts on housing.
Monica was named one of GenUnity’s Changemaker Awardees of 2024.
