Consultant
Rasmia Kirmani-Frye, is an independent consultant focusing on urban problem solving, housing, movement building, governance design, non-profit management, narrative development, and strategic planning. Rasmia is currently a Senior Fellow at Hester Street working with the Ford Foundation on public housing reform. Hester Street is an urban planning, design and community engagement non-profit that believes that neighborhoods are shaped by the people who live there.
In August 2022, Rasmia was appointed by the Mayor, and confirmed by the NYC City Council as Commissioner, NYC City Planning Commission, Department of City Planning. Until December 2018, Rasmia was Director at the Office of Public/Private Partnerships, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), appointed to the
Pronouns: She, Her, Hers
executive team in 2015. She developed and managed NYCHA’s strategic relationships with external cross-sector entities. While at NYCHA, Rasmia founded The Fund for Public Housing (now the Public Housing Community Fund) in 2016 where she served as its first president. The Fund for Public Housing invests in the well-being of public housing residents and their communities by collaborating with partners to re-imagine and improve the way public housing in NYC works.
Prior to that Rasmia served as director of The Brownsville Partnership, a community-based organization. She spearheaded the effort to build a collective impact neighborhood network working with community residents, many of whom live in public housing. Rasmia earned a Master of Science degree in Urban and Public Policy from The New School and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban Studies from the College of Wooster in Ohio. She is Vice Chair of the New York Foundation; Chair, Center for Justice Innovation (formerly Center for Court Innovation); and Chair of the Youth Design Center (formerly Made in Brownsville, Inc). In 2018, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation named Rasmia a Sterling Network Fellow, New York City leaders from government, non-profit, and business sectors working together to tackle the challenge of increasing economic mobility across the five boroughs.
“I am a board member of Green City Force because I believe in public housing as essential to the city’s success. I also believe in environmental justice and equity, and I believe in young people, their vision and potential. Green City Force understands how important public housing is to New York City. Green City Force values and celebrates the expertise and potential of young people who live in public housing – young people who, through environmental justice and job training and by building farms across the city at NYCHA developments, are investing in themselves and their communities.”
Pronouns: She, Her, Hers
