Katherine Mella is a Program Director for Participatory Planning and Policy for the Just Urban Economies Program at the MIT Community Innovators Lab. Under JUE, she leads the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative’s planning and policy work alongside grassroots partners. In this role, Katherine focuses on two key areas: (1) community health, leveraging opportunities tied to local and national healthcare system transformation to address the social determinants of health; and (2) development without displacement, convening a core set of community partners across the Bronx to fight back against gentrification and displacement and fight for community-driven equitable development. Katherine earned her Bachelor’s degree from Brown University in Urban Studies and completed her Master’s in City Planning at MIT.