The Urban and Regional Policy Program Selects Four U.S. and European Policymakers as 2015-16 Travel Fellows
WASHINGTON (July 21, 2015) – The German Marshall Fund of the United States’ Urban and Regional Policy Program is pleased to announce the selection of Natalie Bonnewit, Andrea Jonas, Michael Skipper, and Catherine Sabbah as 2015-16 Urban and Regional Policy Fellows. The four fellows will continue the program’s commitment to transatlantic research and practitioner-driven learning.
The Urban and Regional Fellowship Program, ongoing since 2007, has given research grants to more than 40 North American and European policy practitioners. The grants provide opportunities for practitioners and policymakers working on economic, environmental, and social challenges to meet with their counterparts across the Atlantic, and introduce practitioners to innovative strategies and the information, tools, and connections necessary to implement them.
“These four fellows were selected for their potential to directly apply or disseminate what they learn overseas, and we’re excited to begin working with them to do just that,” said Geraldine Gardner, director of GMF’s Urban and Regional Policy Program.
Natalie Bonnewit, principal with Bonnewit Development Services and specializing in affordable and supportive housing development, will study how affordable housing development can include services for marginalized populations. She will travel to Amsterdam and Copenhagen and apply her fellowship experience to her work with numerous governments, developers, service providers, and healthcare companies throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Andrea Jonas, planner for strategic urban development with the city of Cologne, Germany, will study integrated planning approaches in the United States that focus on socially and economically diverse populations. She will travel to Austin and San Francisco and will integrate her findings into a new strategic plan for Cologne.
Michael Skipper, executive director for the Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization in Nashville, Tennessee, will study European models of regional collaboration, including in Leeds, United Kingdom, and Antwerp, Belgium. His findings will feed into ongoing efforts to reform regional governance across the Nashville region to better meet the area’s policy challenges.
Catherine Sabbah, a staff writer and analyst with the business daily Les Echos in Paris, France, will study urban security in New York City and Chicago, focusing on how French cities could potentially use “smart city” solutions and big data to improve urban security.
To view a list of past fellows and their research projects, please visit the Urban and Regional Policy Fellowship page.
Major funding for the fellowship program is provided by Bank of America and the Compagnia di San Paolo.