Co-Founder, Director of Small Cities Fellows Program
Karen Beck Pooley is a Professor of Practice of Political Science, where she is a Co-Founder of the Small Cities Lab and directs the Small Cities and Community Fellows Program. She teaches courses on city planning, community and economic development, and housing policy. She also serves as the Director of Research and Analytics at czb LLC, an urban planning and neighborhood revitalization consulting firm. She was the Executive Director of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Allentown from 2007 to 2011 and, prior to that, a Deputy Director within New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Dr. Beck Pooley has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Wellesley College, a Master of Urban Planning & Policy from New School University’s Milano Graduate School, and a Ph.D. in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania.