NLIHC is pleased to welcome Olivia Arena as a housing advocacy organizer on the field team.
Olivia spent the last four years conducting place-based social and economic policy research in the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization in Washington, DC. At Urban, Olivia’s research focused on equitable development and neighborhood change, food access, climate resilience, housing as a platform for service delivery, and the 2020 Census. She specialized in community-engaged research, conducting projects in communities across the country, and honed her network management skills as a staff member of the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership. Across each of these topics, Olivia recognized the importance of just housing policy and identified the urgency of building political will to protect and expand affordable housing options in this country. Prior to her work at Urban, Olivia graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations and global studies and urban studies.
Please join us in welcoming Olivia to the NLIHC team.