Approximately 1.8 million people, or 27% of Massachusetts residents, live in the 26 Gateway Cities designated by the Commonwealth. True to the name, the Gateway Cities serve as gateways to the nation and to the economy, hosting 37% of the state's foreign-born residents, 44% of the state's population living in poverty, 47% of the state's population without a high school credential, and 51% of the state's linguistically isolated residents. With 34% of the Commonwealth's subsidized housing inventory, the Gateway Cities work in challenging conditions to provide quality housing across the economic spectrum.

Please join The Research Bureau, MassINC, and the City of Worcester as well as our Gateway City partners in a robust conversation about the critical role our urban centers play in the regional, and statewide, housing market. During the course of this half-day symposium, we have asked a series of distinguished panelists to explore the role of affordable housing in creating economic opportunity, innovations in market-rate housing development, and the impact of housing policies and programs on our Gateway Cities and current efforts to ensure that all communities are poised to accommodate the socially and culturally diverse character of the Commonwealth.

8:00AM - Welcome

• City Manager Edward M. Augustus, Jr.

• Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito

8:15AM - Keynote Address

• Chrystal Kornegay, Undersecretary, DHCD 

8:40AM - Affordable Housing within the Housing Continuum

•  Moderator: Brenda Clement, Executive Director, CHAPA

•  Peter Gagliardi, President & CEO, HAP Housing

•  Ray Mariano, Executive Director, Worcester Housing Authority

•  Marc Dohan, Executive Director, NewVue Communities 

9:40AM - Catalyzing a Market for the Middle Class

• Moderator: Michael Goodman, Executive Director of the Public Policy Center and Associate Professor of Public Policy, UMass-Dartmouth

• Anne Haynes, Director of Transformative Development, MassDevelopment

• Elyse Cherry, CEO, Boston Community Capital

• Gilbert Winn, CEO, Winn Development

10:40AM - Break

10:55AM - Ensuring Inclusive Communities in the Gateway Cities & Beyond

• Moderator: Jamie R. Williamson, Commissioner, MA Commission Against Discrimination

• Charley Francis, Director of Policy, MA Dept. of Housing and Community Development

• Genevieve Nadeau, Deputy Division Chief of the Civil Rights Division – MA Attorney General’s Office

• Joe Kriesberg, President, MA Association of Community Development Corporations

• Jeffrey M. Sussman, Program Compliance Branch Chief, US  Department of Housing and Urban Development

12:00PM - Closing Thoughts