Nicholas Kelly

Nicholas Kelly is Director of Innovation and Research at the Boston Housing Authority and Lecturer at Northeastern University

Nicholas Kelly is Director of Innovation and Research at the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) where he oversees the agency’s initiatives to improve economic mobility for low-income residents. There, he has launched and managed key programs promoting economic mobility for BHA residents, including BHA’s First Home homeownership program, BHA’s housing mobility program, and BHA’s youth programming. He has advocated for millions in federal and local dollars to support these and other programs at the BHA. In addition, as a member of the BHA’s senior leadership team, Nicholas helps shape the agenda of agency and serve as a main liaison with external researchers.

Nicholas also serves as lecturer at Northeastern University in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, where he teaches the Housing Policy course for graduate students. In that course he provides students with an overview of the history, policy and practice of housing policy, and features a variety of guest speakers including local and national housing activists and government officials.

Nicholas received his PhD in Urban Studies and Planning from MIT in 2021, where he wrote his dissertation on the policy and politics of housing policy programs aimed to expand access to high opportunity neighborhoods in the United States. His research more broadly focuses on efforts to promote racial equality in housing policy. He is a nationally recognized expert on fair housing, having published several journal articles and an edited book, Furthering Fair Housing: Prospects for Racial Justice in America’s Neighborhoods, published by Temple University press in 2021. He serves as a consultant on fair housing issues to federal, state and local government agencies. His work has been featured in national news outlets, including the New York Times and Slate. He received his MPA from Princeton University in 2015, and a BA in Political Science from Columbia University in 2009.

Nicholas’s current work and research builds on years working in federal, state and local government. As a graduate student, Nicholas worked in New York City’s Department of Housing and Preservation and Development, as well as at the National Economic Council in the Obama Administration. Prior to graduate school, he served as Assistant Vice President for the New York City Economic Development Corporation, a communications advisor for Elizabeth for Senate, and Deputy Press Secretary for US Senator Charles Schumer. He currently lives in the South End neighborhood of Boston with his wife and daughter.