Tawkiyah Jordan

Urban Edge, the Boston-based national leader in community development rooted in Egleston and Jackson Squares, has appointed Tawkiyah Jordan as chief operating officer and senior vice president of strategy. Jordan brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in affordable housing and community development across municipal government and national housing organizations to her new role, where she will support the ongoing growth of the organization and provide srategic direction to its organizational priorities.

Jordan most recently was vice president of housing and community strategy at Habitat for Humanity International, where she directed national strategy and grew the division. During her tenure, she founded and scaled the organization’s first U.S. Innovation Hub with $5 million in catalytic investment. She also designed and executed the Advancing Black Homeownership Initiative, which mobilized more than $400 million in public and private capital to test low-barrier products and advance appraisal and underwriting reforms.

“Tawkiyah brings the vision and rigor to keep moving Urban Edge further in our ability to serve and contribute to our community,” said Emilio Dorcely, CEO of Urban Edge. “She has spent more than two decades building housing systems that put communities first. Her understanding of how equitable housing can promote thriving communities aligns perfectly with Urban Edge’s core values. We are thrilled to welcome her to the team.”

Earlier in her career, Jordan spent eight years at the New York City Department of City Planning as senior program director for Housing Plan Implementation. She was a primary contributor to Zoning for Quality and Affordability and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, the landmark policies that established New York City’s first permanent affordability requirements and supported thousands of affordable units. A 2025 Harvard Loeb Fellow and a nonresidential fellow at Harvard’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, Jordan holds a master of urban planning from the University of Michigan.

Operating from its heart in Egleston and Jackson squares — a vibrant, inclusive and culturally and economically diverse area of Boston — Urban Edge is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit corporation known for innovation and excellence. Public, private and nonprofit entities regularly turn to the organization for its advice, expertise and partnership in undertaking complex and transformative urban projects across the city and region.

“Urban Edge has spent decades proving what community-rooted development actually looks like, and that reputation is earned block by block,” said Jordan. “I am joining an organization that already knows its neighbors and its neighborhoods. My work is to strengthen the operating foundation underneath that, so the team can build more housing, serve more families and move on opportunity with confidence.”