September 14, 2022 |City of Lynn, MassDevelopment, News, State of MA

Gateway Cities welcome Transformation Fellow

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Fellows from MassDevelopment’s Transformative Development Initiative to Lead Partnerships Designed to Spur Economic Growth in 13 Gateway City Districts.

MassDevelopment today announced a cohort of 13 Transformative Development Initiative (TDI) Fellows who will work for three years in newly selected TDI districts in Attleboro, Barnstable (Hyannis), Fall River, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, New Bedford, Pittsfield, Revere, Springfield, Taunton, and Worcester.

TDI Fellows are MassDevelopment employees who provide on-the-ground economic development expertise and collaborative leadership in cities and help TDI partnerships utilize an arrangement of tools to catalyze development, such as technical assistance, grants to support local market development, arts and cultural infrastructure, collaborative workshops, placemaking, and more.

“MassDevelopment’s Transformative Development Initiative (TDI) takes a street-level approach to accelerating economic growth in Gateway Cities,” said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy, who serves as chair of MassDevelopment’s Board of Directors. “The Baker-Polito Administration is glad to see the agency expand this program to 13 cities and bring on an impressive cohort of economic development professionals who will help advance former industrial neighborhoods across the Commonwealth.”

In February 2022, the Baker-Polito Administration announced a historic expansion of TDI, a MassDevelopment program for Gateway Cities designed to accelerate economic growth within focused districts. The expansion more than doubled the size of the program and represents a $23.7 million investment in Gateway Cities over three years.

“This cohort of TDI Fellows is our largest yet; they’re a skilled and talented team of economic, community and planning development professionals who will be hard at work in their respective districts. The Baker-Polito Administration’s ongoing investment in Gateway Cities led by Secretary Kennealy reflects the success of the TDI program and graduated districts across the state, which could not have been possible without the collaborative work of residents, business owners, municipal leaders, and nonprofit partners.”

MassDevelopment President and CEO Dan Rivera.

TDI concentrates economic development activities, resources, and investments within designated neighborhood areas, known as “TDI districts,” for a term of three or more years. TDI districts are downtowns and commercial districts within Gateway Cities, where a targeted focus of place-based economic development leads to positive change over time. MassDevelopment has previously designated 16 TDI districts across the Commonwealth, including in cities not in the current cohort, such as Brockton, Chelsea, Chicopee, Fitchburg, Haverhill, and Peabody.

The TDI Fellows and their respective districts are:

Tristan Foley – TDI Fellow, Lynn

Tristan has a background in development law and has worked on land use, zoning, planning and construction cases, including affordable housing and mixed-use developments. In this role, he helped move development projects forward at all stages by resolving disputes among owners, government officials, and community residents.

Tristan worked in El Salvador during and after college, where he advanced community development projects and studied at the University of Central America. He also provided technical assistance to Spanish-speaking small business owners in eastern Massachusetts through the micro-finance nonprofit ACCION; in this role, he taught workshops and conducted outreach in Spanish and English in Boston and in Gateway Cities.

Tristan then took this experience to the Meheba Refugee Settlement in Zambia, living there for more than a year, where he started and ran a microfinance program and provided other technical assistance to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and its partners. Tristan has a bachelor’s degree in political science and Latin American studies from Fordham University and a Juris Doctorate from Columbia University School of Law.

• Jim McKeag – TDI South Cluster Lead Strategist, Fall River
• Ivette Olmeda – TDI Senior Fellow, Worcester
• Laura Christopher – TDI Fellow, Revere
• Tracy Barbosa – TDI Fellow, Attleboro
• Josilane Santos – TDI Fellow, Hyannis
• Kevin Moforte – TDI Fellow, Holyoke
• Josefa Arriagada Saieh – TDI Fellow, Lawrence
• Nate Robertson – TDI Fellow, Lowell
• Adelsa Mendes – TDI Fellow, New Bedford
• Julie Copoulos – TDI Fellow, Pittsfield
• Joshua Croke – TDI Fellow, Springfield
• Sharell Jacobs – TDI Fellow, Taunton

Please click here to READ BIOS FOR the other TDI Fellows.

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MassDevelopment, the state’s development finance agency and land bank, works with businesses, nonprofits, banks, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2022, MassDevelopment financed or managed 356 projects generating investment of more than $1.69 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are estimated to create or support 11,080 jobs and build or preserve 1,778 housing units.

The above press release was submitted to us by MassDevelopment.