Ms. Colleen Dawicki

Director of the Urban Initiative at UMass-Dartmouth

• B.A., Public and Private Sector Organizations, Brown University (2006)
• Public Policy Fellow, Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at the Harvard Kennedy School (2011)
• Master’s of Public Policy, UMass Dartmouth (2012)

Since joining the Urban Initiative in 2010, Colleen has provided community partners with technical assistance, program evaluations, public outreach and engagement, and applied research in the areas of education, transportation, and community development.

Recent projects Dawicki has managed or contributed to include a program evaluation of dropout prevention efforts in Springfield, MA public schools; a study of public transit needs and perceptions in New Bedford; a study on collaborative opportunities for school districts and higher education in Berkshire County; serving as evaluator for a HOPE VI (public housing) project in Taunton, MA. She has also been fostering closer ties to local communities by sharing information through a monthly newsletter and a blog on urban policy issues and their local application (www.urbaninitiative.wordpress.com).