The LOEB Fellowship

Deborah Helaine Morris is an urban planner focussed on the nexus of climate change and social equity.

Most recently, as the former executive director of Resiliency Policy, Planning, and Acquisitions at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Morris created a new team for the development of policy and programs to lead aggressive climate change adaption and flood risk mitigation in affordable housing. This work includes the development of flood resiliency standards for new affordable housing in waterfront communities; long term community planning initiatives, including the creation and implementation of the Resilient Edgemere Community Plan; and the management of a $90 million property acquisition and buyout program as part of the city’s Build it Back program.

Morris had prior experience working in planning and economic development, both as a senior consultant for Appleseed and with the Alliance for Downtown New York. She received a Master’s in City Planning and Urban Design from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan. She was raised in Queens but currently calls Brooklyn home.

See Deborah’s Fall 2019 “Meet the Loeb” address here.