Economic Development

City of New Haven City Plan Department

City Plan works to improve the well-being of all residents in New Haven by creating safe, equitable, healthful, economically vibrant and attractive places. Planners engage with residents, community leaders, and elected officials to guide the development of physical spaces and develop frameworks for the long-term sustainable growth and development of the city.

The Fellow will assist staff in both project and regulatory planning work relevant to the current issues in New Haven, such as long-term planning including the Vision 2035 Comprehensive Plan, sustainable growth, environmental concerns, regulatory and zoning work, active transportation, and historical conservation.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: newhavenct.gov/government/departments-divisions/city-plan


City of New Haven Economic Development Administration

The mission of the Office of Economic Development is to facilitate commercial development, attract quality businesses/investment, expand employment opportunity, and improve the City’s overall quality of life to create an equitable world-class city in which all residents who want a well-paying, career-oriented job can find one. 

The Fellow will assist with continued implementation of the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) COVID-recovery programs including economic development, housing and vocational/technical career pathways. Previous interns supported programming known as the “Summer Reset” and implementation of ARPA Phase 3 in Summer ‘22 which continued in Summer ‘23. Particular focus is on Black and Brown communities and other groups that have been impacted by systemic racism & other forms of discrimination.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: newhavenct.gov/government/departments-divisions/economic-development-administration


DataHaven

DataHaven’s mission is to empower people to create thriving communities by collecting and ensuring access to data on well-being, equity, and quality of life. Since 1992, DataHaven worked with many partners to develop reports, tools, and technical assistance programs that make information more useful to local communities.

The Fellow will support the work of DataHaven to enhance and share the Town Equity Reports and Community Wellbeing Index. These programs track indicators of economic and social well-being at the state and local level.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: ctdatahaven.org


Greater Dwight Development Corporation (GDDC)

GDDC is a grassroots community organization formed by seven women in 1994 due to the community’s desire to address the problems of drugs, gangs and crime on the streets in the neighborhood. GDDC’s mission is to enhance the socio-economic well-being of Dwight residents by creating and implementing the Neighborhood Plan; increasing access to educational and child-development activities; increasing access to job training; revitalizing housing by developing affordable housing; undertaking community beautification projects; and encouraging economic development by expanding existing business and attracting new businesses. 

The Fellow will help build the next phase of a 30-yr community development initiative.  In collaboration with GDDC’s community engagement coordinator and DCMT members, the Fellow will help organize and document a community conversation designed to consolidate the community-driven character of Dwight’s work, and to draw on past plans and accomplishments and data and survey results to facilitate discussion of current challenges. 

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: gddcnh.org


Greater New Haven Business and Professional Association

The Greater New Haven Business and Professional Association (GNHBPA) promotes and assists in the development of minority- and female-owned  small businesses in the New Haven area. GNHBPA provides technical training programs, networking, advocacy and economic resource referrals designed to strengthen its member businesses to broaden participation in the Greater New Haven economic infrastructure.

The Fellow will be involved in developing and coordinating the membership media and digital communications program.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: gnhbpa.org


New Haven Works

New Haven Works, a partnership between government, community, labor and the private sector, works to ensure that regional employers and businesses have access to a local talent pool and that qualified New Haven residents have access to good jobs. New Haven Works seeks to: build a talent pool for regional businesses by recruiting, preparing, and screening city of New Haven residents for available jobs in growth occupations; collaborate on career pathways in construction, healthcare and educational services to meet employer demand for a skilled workforce; create access to regional jobs for city residents by collaborating with employers to ensure that local residents successfully navigate pathways to employment.

The Fellow will provide program support to New Haven Works’ community engagement and recruitment, communications, and member services. Key deliverables will be recruitment of residents with interest in high-demand occupations, an informational event/career fair, a collection of member testimonials for social media/communications use, and engagement with members to confirm their retention of jobs.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: newhavenworkspipeline.org


Sanctuary Kitchen

Sanctuary Kitchen, a program of CitySeed, partners with immigrant and refugee chefs to build economic opportunity and authentic connections through food. The program enhances the culinary skills of refugees and immigrants in a supportive environment that honors story and diverse cultural traditions, fosters community and understanding, offers professional development, and generates economic success in the most delicious way possible.  This is done through refugee and immigrant-led cooking classes, supper clubs and other culinary events. Sanctuary Kitchen Catering, its social enterprise, provides authentic, multicultural catering and food products that support employment, professional training and integration of refugees and immigrants in Greater New Haven.

The Fellow will support the development, growth and implementation of Sanctuary Kitchen programming by planning and promoting culinary events featuring refugee and immigrant chefs, their cuisines and stories; promoting and supporting the growth of Sanctuary Kitchen products and sales;  and assisting in culinary training, job readiness, and job placement.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: sanctuarykitchen.org


Yale Urban Design Workshop (YUDW)

The Yale Urban Design Workshop (YUDW) is a community design center affiliated with the Yale School of Architecture. Since its founding in 1992, the YUDW has worked with communities across the state of Connecticut and around the world, providing planning and design assistance on projects ranging from comprehensive plans, economic development strategies and community visions to the design of public spaces, streetscapes, and individual community facilities. YUDW has collaborated with New Haven’s Dwight neighborhood since 1995, when it worked with the Dwight Central Management Team and Greater Dwight Development Corporation to develop the neighborhood’s first grass-roots based neighborhood plan. Since then, YUDW has worked with the neighborhood to successfully carry out many of the goals of the plan, with a huge impact on the quality of life of residents there. The ongoing Dwight relationship has been a keystone of the YUDW’s work in New Haven.

The YUDW has recently reaffirmed its commitment to work with our home community of New Haven, and has several ongoing initiatives around affordable housing, community health and wellness, and social and environmental equity. Among those is preparation of a new plan for the Dwight neighborhood. The fellow will work with faculty directors of the YUDW to begin that planning work, and may have the opportunity to work on other Dwight and New Haven projects.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: udw.architecture.yale.edu