The Bloustein School’s Amara Thompkins (MCRP ’26) was one of nine graduate students selected as a 2025-26 Morgan Stanley Community Development Graduate Fellow.
Now in its 14th year, the Fellowship is a program that supports the training and development of emerging community development leaders while also building the capacity of community development organizations. It is hosted by the Associate for Neighborhood & Housing Development (ANHD). Each year, ANHD pairs nine students from highly respected graduate school programs with ANHD member community development corporations (CDCs) to work on a community-based project.
This year’s Fellows will spend the next 10 months working on projects focused on a range of issues, including affordable housing development and preservation, community land trusts, cooperative conversions, and commercial tenant and small business support and organizing. They bring a fervent and sincere willingness to uplift the field of community development through their commitment to member organizations and allies.
Amara is entering her second year as a Master’s student in City and Regional Planning at Bloustein. She focuses on Community Development and Housing, as well as Design and Development/Redevelopment and is pursuing a certificate in Real Estate Development and Redevelopment. She has worked on research projects focused on flood-risk communication in New Jersey, as well as the transfer of development rights for Grand Central Station. Over the summer, she served as an intern with the Supportive Housing Association of New Jersey through the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey’s Community Scholars Program, where she supported efforts to empower member organizations through resources, innovation, advocacy, and collaboration. Her interests include real estate redevelopment, cultural and historic preservation, and urban green-space design.