Tawkiyah Jordan
Tawkiyah is the senior director of housing and community strategy at Habitat for Humanity International.
Tawkiyah, a professional urban planner and self-described “city scientist,” is a fierce advocate, ally, political strategist, convener, negotiator, policy expert and translator of power brokers and community stakeholders.
Serving currently as Senior Director of Housing and Community Strategy at Habitat for Humanity International, Tawkiyah is an expert in housing, especially regarding long-term affordability models.
The heart of Tawkiyah's approach is to utilize her training, networks and skills to carry out work that increases civic engagement among people often overlooked in decisions that impact them and their families directly. She firmly believes that elevating the voices of marginalized communities is the best way to create long-lasting, equitable housing, environmental justice and lively public spaces solutions for urban areas.
A native New Yorker who spent much of her adolescence working in a Bronx youth center run by her mother, Tawkiyah studied urban planning in Michigan and worked as a planner in several locales before returning to the Bronx and applying for a job at Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice. There she coordinated the group's long-term community development projects: cleaning the Bronx River, revamping Starlight Park and connecting the waterfront greenway, re-envisioning the troubled Sheridan Expressway.
Please direct media inquiries for Tawkiyah Jordan to info@yourwinningmargins.com.
High-resolution headshot available for download here: Tawkiyah Jordan.
Relevant links
Governing: Opening Doors to Black Homeownership
Atlanta Civic Circle: Atlanta needs federal government to rein in Wall Street homebuyers
Morning Brew: Achieve the American dream (results may vary)
NBC News: How 3D printing can be the solution to the nation’s affordable housing crisis
NBC 12: Habitat for Humanity International launches initiative to close racial housing gap
DNAinfo: Advocate Turned City Planner Helps Reimagine the Sheridan Expressway
The Denver Channel: Habitat for Humanity dedicates first 3D-printed home to US family