2022-2023 Humphrey Fellows
Hannah Arcuschin Machado | hmachado@mit.edu | Brazil
Background: Vice President of the Brazilian Institute of Architects - Department of São Paolo, where she represents and advises on strategic decision-making. Previously Senior Program Manager for Vital Strategies Brasil, worked with Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Global Road Safety Initiative, and at the Department of Urban Planning of the City of São Paolo.
Area of Interest: Deepen knowledge of linkages between urban development, transportation, public health, and climate change, while exploring solutions to pressing issues in Brazilian cities. She is currently focused on how the Urban Planning field can influence public policies, programs, plans, and projects that mitigate GHG emissions and adapt cities to climate change.
Jesualdo Arzuaga Ramírez | jesualdo@mit.edu | Colombia
Background: Executive Director of Federación Nacional de Personerías de Colombia, responsible for planning, organization, and direction of operations and programs. A lawyer specializing in human rights and international humanitarian law with 17 years of experience in the public and private sectors (coordination and implementation of international cooperation projects, access to justice, human rights promotion and protection, and support for armed conflict victims).
Area of Interest: Aims to delve into aspects of human rights and technology to generate more inclusive cities in Colombia.
Davit Asanidze | davita@mit.edu | Georgia
Background: Freelance urban planner and lecturer at the University of Georgia who has led and managed large-scale projects in land use master planning, real estate, and universal urban design. Has consultancy experience with international donor organizations and financial institutions. Former design manager in the real estate industry and Head of the Urban Policy and Planning Division at Tbilisi City Hall, with experience in urban development and the public and private sectors as well as academia.
Area of Interest: Focused on the inclusive, fair-shared city concept and placemaking tools to promote the public good and balanced real estate development.
Ismail Chaib | ismailch@mit.edu | Algeria
Background: Urban planner in the Department of Urban Planning, City Hall of Ouargla, Algeria. Responsible for supervision of ongoing city projects and setting future urban planning strategies, with a focus on using new methods for space-making and city design such as space syntax. Also the founder of CH-tech, a company that produces new building products from local materials. As an architect and designer in architecture and city design offices, was in charge of designing various administrative buildings, then taught CAD at the University of Biskra, where he is currently a Ph.D. candidate.
Area of Interest: Explore the interactions between spatial configurations and user experience to find key factors that affect urban space production. focusing on mobility and mainly active mobility, with the belief that policy-making represented in technical elements such as zoning, building codes; and environmental constraints affect city planning.
Namory dit Boubacar Keita | nkeita@mit.edu | Mali
Background: Director of Planning and Operations Control at Malian Heritage Company of Water Supply, Bamako, and former Head of the Hydraulic Studies Department. Responsible for the development of master plans and control of the leasing contract in the water supply.
Area of Interest: Explore strategies for sustainable groundwater extraction and financing mechanisms for drinking water projects explore strategies for sustainable groundwater extraction and financing mechanisms for drinking water projects.
Marietta Le | marietle@mit.edu | Hungary
Background: Project Lead and Project Manager at BKK Centre for Budapest Transport, where she combines service design with public transport and helps residents plan journeys with the BudapestGO app. Previously founded and built the Municipality of Budapest’s Citizen Participation team, and launched the city’s largest participatory budgeting program while Senior Advisor to the Mayor of Budapest. Also founder of Hungary’s street-fixing online community Jarokelo.hu, and listed in Forbes Hungary’s “30 under 30” list in 2015.
Area of Interest: Explore how cities and their communities can better face the effects of climate change via participatory processes. Interested in joining the team working on Ukraine issues.
Dafni Yeniveth Mora | dmora@mit.edu | Panama
Background: Professor of Environment and Energy at the Technological University of Panama. As Goals Secretary at the Technological University of Panama was responsible for coordinating the institutional programs. Along with teaching and research, working on the implementation of the institutional development plan, managing institutional projects, and building energy use.
Area of Interest: Defining and implementing policies for sustainable university campuses.
Felipe Suárez Giri | fsuarezg@mit.edu | Uruguay
Background: Previously a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist with the Program for Informal Settlement Integration in Uruguay’s Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning, responsible for monitoring informal settlement projects and conducting reporting to the Inter-American Development Bank. Previously worked as a consultant for the Central Bank of Uruguay.
Area of Interest: Aims to deepen knowledge of evaluation techniques for investments in infrastructure, and to explore innovative financing mechanisms for sustainable development projects.
Imran Ali Sultan | sultan1@mit.edu | Pakistan
Background: Chief Operating Officer of The Urban Unit, Government of Punjab, Pakistan. Responsible for development of master, sectoral, and regional plans to harness the true potential of vastly urbanized Pakistan. Specializes in urban development and local governance, with over two decades of experience leading district administrations, municipal services companies, city development authorities, and international donor-sponsored programs in city making.
Area of Interest: Sustainable futures, and explore how to institutionalize sustainability through robust urban and regional planning for the development of cities in Pakistan and the Global South.
Karma Choden Tshering | karmact@mit.edu | Bhutan
Background: Senior Land Registrar in the Department of Land Administration and Management at Bhutan’s National Land Commission. Responsibilities include coordinating and formulating rules and regulations concerning land; land management and administration; and carrying out applied research to resolve practical land issues. Previously, conceptualized the first-ever participatory mapping of grazing pastures by highlanders using smartphones, and served as a member of Bhutan’s Eastern COVID-19 Task Force.
Area of Interest: Exploring sustainable urban and regional development approaches with a particular interest in the role land policy and land-based financing play in the development of equitable and fiscally healthy communities in developed and developing countries.
Jhapper Singh Vishokarma | jhappers@mit.edu | Nepal
Background: Under Secretary (Senior Divisional Engineer) at the Ministry of Urban Development in the Government of Nepal. Responsible for planning, design, and implementation of buildings, housing, and urban development-related works, including implementation of earthquake emergency housing reconstruction projects, retrofitting of heritage buildings, and other government building construction projects. Was a consultant for rural road projects funded by The World Bank and Asian Development Bank before joining civil service with responsibility for planning, design, and implementation of school infrastructure and earthquake reconstruction projects.
Area of Interest: Making plans, policies, and strategies in earthquake-resilient housing technologies and their effective implementation in earthquake-prone countries like Nepal.
Dianne Wakonyo | dwakonyo@mit.edu | Kenya
Background: Inclusive Development Specialist at Data4HumanRights, where she develops training materials for community data collectors and trains them in basic research, thereby enabling communities to apply data to advocacy and guide development beyond what external agencies set out. Previously worked in architecture and research to understand cities and find meaningful ways to improve them. Member of the Just City Working Group striving to improve Kenyan cities for all.
Area of Interest: Explore the ways in which spatial data and technology can foster more equitable cities.
Lin Yuan | linyuan@mit.edu | China
Background: Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at Tsinghua University where he teaches and conducts research on urban and rural ecological planning and the history and theory of human settlements in China. Previously was a Research Fellow in the Faculty of Architecture at Hong Kong University and a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Tsinghua University. Holds a B.D. from Tianjin University and a Ph.D. from Tsinghua University.
Area of Interest: Research and teaching on urban and rural planning and design, ecological planning, and future cities.
Hussain Ziyath | ziyath@mit.edu | Maldives
Background: Most recently was Chief Planning Officer at Housing Development Corporation, Maldives, where he worked on nationwide masterplans providing planning consultancy for new urban and regional developments. In his private capacity, he works as a planner with local government agencies and communities to produce local development plans through participatory planning. Holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Architectural Science from Curtin University and a Master of Arts in Urban Planning and Design from the University of Sheffield.
Area of Interest: How decentralized planning and governance can bring equitable access to services and sustainable urban development.