Search ▸ Communication to the City Council
the resumes, cover letters, and questionnaires for the following City Manager Finalists: Iram Farooq, Cheryl Fisher, Yi-An Huang, and Norman Khumalo
As a result of this work, Cambridge is widely acknowledged as a leader in sustainability and affordable housing.
That said, there is much work that remains to be done in each of these areas and other significant priorities I am
very interested in addressing – parks and open space, progressive approach to policing and public safety,
evaluating municipal broadband, early childhood education, and maintaining sound fiscal management while
meeting the community’s needs. I am thrilled at the possibility of partnering with the City Council, staff, and
community stakeholders on these topics to leverage our collective impact to further our goals and create
models that other communities can replicate.
On a personal note, I am a first-generation immigrant. I came from India to study in Cambridge and the values
and spirit of this city resonated with me as no other place. I am proud to call Cambridge my home for over
twenty years. It has been a pleasure and an honor to have the opportunity to work on shaping my city and its
future. I am excited at the possibility of continuing to serve the Cambridge community over the coming years in
the even more meaningful role of City Manager. I welcome the constantly evolving challenges of the role and
the chance to guide and support the stellar City staff team in achieving positive transformation for Cambridge. I
thank you for your consideration and look forward to the next steps in this process.
Sincerely,
Iram Farooq
SELECTED HONORS &
AWARDS
Projects
Ivory Prize for Housing
Affordability – Top 25 – for the
Affordable Housing Overlay
Ivory Innovations
Donald E. Hunter Award for
Excellence in Economic
Development for the Retail
Strategic Plan
American Planning Association
Downtown Achievement Award
for the Retail Strategic Plan
International Downtown
Association
America’s Best New Bike Lane
for Western Avenue
PeopleForBikes
Charter Award for Best Urban
Infill Plan for the Kendall Square
Planning Study
Congress for the New Urbanism
Comprehensive Planning Award
• Concord-Alewife Planning
Study
• Eastern Cambridge Planning
Study
American Planning Association-
MA
Governor’s Smart Growth
Innovation Award for the
Concord-Alewife Planning Study
Commonwealth of MA
Individual
Women of Color Leading Change
Cambridge YWCA
Aga Khan Scholar
Aga Khan Foundation
Foster collaboration
• Build and enhance relationships with peers from other City departments
and support joint projects
• Lead inter-departmental initiatives such as Envision Cambridge, Resilient
Cambridge, and Star Communities. Participate in initiatives led by other
departments such as the Cambridge Health Improvement Plan and Urban
Forestry Master Plan
• Build collaborative relationships with business associations, neighborhood
groups, and non-profit institutions to advance and amplify shared goals
• Work with state and regional agencies such as DHCD, DOER, MassDOT,
MBTA and MAPC to advocate for the interests of Cambridge and the
region
Strengthen community engagement
• Engage the broadest range of the community in all work. Currently utilizing
the Dept. of Human Services Program’s proven Community Engagement
Team model to build a CET at CDD to hear from communities we have
historically not been good at reaching
• Use non-traditional models of engagement to meet the community where
they are such as the CET focus group model and translation to foster
language justice
• Work with numerous boards and committees, ranging from standing
boards like the Planning Board to ad hoc committees like the BIPOC
Business Advisory Committee
Lead and manage multidisciplinary projects
• Lead and manage capital and multidisciplinary planning projects of varying
scale and complexity that address economic, environmental, and social
sustainability
• Create policies and strategies for future development that balance growth,
economic development, and creation of housing with development
impacts such as transportation while ensuring long-term sustainability and
community-building
• Manage and coordinate staff and consultant teams, budget and workflow,
stakeholder engagement and public participation
• Provide leadership in the development of actionable policy strategies. Co-
chaired the Climate Resilience Zoning Task Force, Getting to Net Zero Task
Force. Chaired the Green Building/Zoning Task Force, Kendall Square and
Central Square Advisory Committees. Oversaw the development of the
Affordable Housing Overlay, Cambridge Public Space Lab, Cambridge
Community Electricity program, Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance,
Retail Strategic Plan, and Circular Economy Plan
Collaborate with City Council and community stakeholders
• Advise the City Council, Planning Board, Affordable Housing Trust and
other ad hoc and standing committees short and long-term planning,
zoning amendments, policy tools and implementation strategies to address
a range of topics
• Work collaboratively to prioritize and advance policy goals of the Council,
Trust, and volunteer boards and committees
• Work effectively with community partners, developers, and institutions
• Engage residents and neighborhood groups, businesses and business
PROFESSIONAL
LEADERSHIP
Cambridge Compact for a
Sustainable Future
Executive Committee Chair,
2017-present
USGBC Education Steering
Committee
Member, 2010 – 2012
USGBC Board Nomination
Committee
Member, 2011
APA National Conference – Local
Programs Committee, Co-Chair
Planners Guide Committee,
Co-Chair, 2011
Delegate Assembly – APA
Climate Change Policy Guide
Massachusetts Delegate, 2011
Greenbuild Program Committee,
2008 – 2011
APA MA-Chapter Board of
Directors, 2007 – 2011
LEED-NC Regionalization Task
Force
State Chair MA, 2008
USGBC-MA
Founding Director, 2007 – 2009
associations, developers, and institutions on a range of topics to ensure
well rounded, actionable, and implementable policy solutions with broad
support
Manage growth and development
• Work with residents, developers and institutions to plan for and manage
growth
• Manage the review of large development projects consistent with City
goals, policies, and regulations. Leverage development to create benefits
for the community such as publicly accessible open space, active ground
floors, and innovation space. Select projects of note include
redevelopment of the Volpe block, redevelopment in the MXD district, MIT
SoMA and NoMA, North Point/Cambridge Crossing, CambridgeSide,
Kendall Square/Cambridge Research Park, and Discovery Park
Franklin Regional Council of Governments
Land Use Planner
1997-1999
Delaware Division of Parks & Recreation
Parks Designer
1995-1997
Planning and Design Consultant
1994-1995
Clients: Trust for Public Land, City of Trenton NJ, and Open Space Institute NY
SELECTED SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS & PRESENTATIONS
A’22 American Institute of Architects National Conference on Architecture,
American Institute of Architects, 2022 (upcoming)
Women in Municipal Leadership: Representation for Shared Impact, Sasaki
Foundation, 2022
Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies, 2021
Urban Land institute, 2021, 2018, 2016
Mid-America Regional Council, 2020
Bisnow, 2020, 2016, 2015
Boston University Initiative on Cities Urban Seminar Series, 2019
Climate Change Resilience Roundtable with Congresswoman Katherine Clark,
2019
Boston Society of Architects Sustainability & Resilience Symposium, 2019
Asian American Women in Leadership, Cambridge Public Library, 2018
Net Positive Energy + Water Conference, Living Future Institute, 2015
Net Zero North American Leadership Summit, Net Zero Coalition, 2015
Power of Ideas, Boston Magazine, 2014
Livable Cities Forum, ICLEI, 2014
Southern New England American Planning Association Conference, 2014
EcoDistricts Summit, EcoDistricts, 2013
National Planning Conference, American Planning Association, 2011, 2001
Seminar on Building the Future, MA Technology Leadership Council, 2010
Guest speaker/critic at Harvard GSD, MIT, and Tufts University, multiple years
2. Tell us how you communicate with your governing body and its individual members (if applicable).
I am very proud of my positive working relationship with the Cambridge City Council. I prioritize keeping the
City Council’s goals front and center in my work and the work of my team. A principal job function of the City
Manager and their team is to work with the City Council as a body to implement their policies and goals. The
role of City Manager, and my current role as Assistant City Manager can, therefore, be most successful when
it rests upon a foundation of frequent and transparent communication, open dialog, partnership, and
mutual respect with City Council. I have had the privilege of working with the Cambridge City Council in the
following ways:
•
Advise the City Council as a body and individual councillors, as needed, on policy direction and
mechanisms to achieve policy goals e.g. the Affordable Housing Overlay, Mayor’s Task Force on Fare
Free Bus Working Group, and Resilient Zoning Task Force
•
support the work of council committees on topics of interest and key initiatives the committees are
pursuing related to the full range of topics within my portfolio -- zoning, housing, climate change
mitigation and resilience, economic development, support for small businesses, sustainable
transportation, long range planning, civic engagement
•
Create and implement plans and programs to advance City Council goals e.g. Envision Cambridge,
Resilient Cambridge, the Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance and proposed updates to include
emissions recreation of Homebridge
•
Frame department budget so that all work items undertaken are consistent with and responsive to
City Council goals
•
Through management of Planning Board process, oversee the university town gown reporting and
annual utility reporting
•
Through managing the Planning Board’s review of large development projects, ensure that growth
and development is consistent with adopted plans and design guidelines e.g. the Volpe site
redevelopment
3. Describe your leadership and management styles with employees - both management level and, if
applicable, union representatives.
People I know would describe me as a pragmatic visionary. I am fueled by the bold long-term vision to
create a livable, sustainable, equitable, resilient and just city. I am grounded by the pragmatic understanding
that the bolder the vision, the more important it is to bring along all the groups who will need to partner to
achieve that vision. To that end, I am a community-focused, collaborative consensus-builder. This is true
when looking outward at partner organizations, and equally true, internally, when leading and managing an
organization. My staff includes management and some union workers. While my interactions with union
representatives beyond CDD staff have typically occurred when there was an issue or concern, honest, open
communication grounded in a willingness to listen has been key to resolving any issues.
My leadership philosophy has been forged in adversity. I took charge of the Community Development
Department (CDD) in the aftermath of a trauma that profoundly impacted me and the whole department. I
had to dig deep to be the leader the department and the City needed me to be and guide the organization
through grief and to a place of healing, while continuing to deliver the services and programs that the
Cambridge community needed and expected. Today, I am an experienced leader with a successful track
record of managing change and creating organizational excellence. Over the years I have focused on building
morale, building operational capacity and support to enable staff to do their jobs better, and growing an
equitable and anti-racist organization.
Improve Organizational Effectiveness
•
Reimagined the department’s deputy director role into a Chief of Administration and Operations
•
Consolidated a suite of enterprise functions reporting to the Chief of Administration and Operations
by moving existing functions and creating some new ones
o Moved data an information management to the enterprise suite and expanded the team by
adding a data analyst
o Moved fiscal operations to the enterprise suite
o Created a new communications manager position
o Created a new business analyst position
•
Reorganized functions to separate community planning from zoning and review of development
projects to allow planning to occur without project-based concerns.
o Created a new Zoning and Development division
o Created a streamlined system for collaboration related to multidisciplinary review of
development projects
o Created a streamlined management and tracking system for small business grants
•
Increased staff capacity and increased budget across multiple divisions to support expanded
programs and initiatives and address City Council goals
•
Leveraged enterprise staff to develop systems that improve organizational effectiveness
o Created a system to eliminate paper timesheets while remaining compliant with Citywide
system
o Created a fiscal and contract tracking system to help project managers and fiscal staff
manage contracts in a shared location
o Worked with the IT Department to streamline management of CDD helpdesk request,
deployment of new equipment, and training
•
Continuously review and re-evaluate to determine if additional changes are needed
Build staff morale
•
Clarify the department’s mission and help each staff member see how their work fits into the
mission
•
Improved communication within the department. Increased all-staff meetings from annually to
quarterly with opportunities for town hall components as well as smaller group exercised to help
build relationships
•
Created a leadership team with regular meetings to support teambuilding, make programmatic silos
more permeable, and increase collaboration across disciplines
•
Supporting professional growth and autonomy of staff to develop new leaders and deploy their
creativity to better serve the community
•
Increased the department’s travel and training budget
•
Advocated for improved building safety
•
Building a culture where all opinions are valued, staff are allowed to try new ideas and take risks
within established bounds, and mistakes are learning opportunities
•
Building a culture of regular meetings with supervisors to ensure accountability, provide, and
receive feedback
•
Fostering a collegial, collaborative environment where the team is more important than the
individual and colleagues support each other, whenever needed
•
Creating feedback loops through conversations and anonymous surveys
Grow an inclusive and anti-racist organization
•
See response 4 below for details
4. Please explain how you have demonstrated commitment to, and include any accomplished records of,
anti-racism, equity, inclusion, and diversity in organizations that you have managed.
As the first person of color to ever reach the level of Assistant City Manager in Cambridge, I am very aware
that representation matters. At the Community development Department (CDD), I was the first and only
person of color to be part of the department’s leadership when I was promoted to Chief of Policy and
Planning in 2013. Since taking over as the Assistant City Manager, I have adjusted the department’s hiring
practices and priorities so that today, 50% of our senior leadership team is BIPOC/MENA and 30% of
department staff, overall, are BIPOC/MENA/AAPI individuals. The department has long had a good gender
balance. Female leadership of 50% in 2015 has now increased to 60%, with 12% LGBTQ representation
among leadership. My goal is to grow an anti-racist organization, both in internal interactions among staff
and in outward facing planning, policies, and program deliver. Since taking over as the Assistant City
Manager, I have:
•
Trained all staff on making connections, racial and cultural awareness and communication
•
Conducted a department-wide anonymous climate survey to gauge morale and identify staff issues
and concerns, particularly related to equity and inclusion
•
Created the Community Development Department’s Anti-Racism, Inclusion and Equity (ARIE)
initiative, with the mission to advance equity and end race-based disparities in government, both in
the workplace and in our community. ARIE has included learning for all staff and action learning
teams focused on internal practices, and equitable planning and program delivery are currently
underway. The process:
o Support staff and community in building capacity to implement anti-racism, equity, and
inclusion
o Develop, implement, and evaluate policies, practices, and key decisions to further anti-
racism, equity, and inclusion
o Engage underserved and underrepresented communities in decision-making, particularly
those with potential to be adversely affected by the results of decisions
•
Hired a Community Engagement Manager and now establishing a Community Engagement Team at
CDD with outreach workers to be recruited from American-born Black and linguistic minority
immigrant communities to deepen equitable community engagement and bring to the table those
who have been historically left out of having a voice in civic discourse and decision-making
•
Modified CDD job descriptions to introduce cultural competency requirements for all positions
•
Worked with the City’s Director of Equity and Inclusion to introduce more welcoming language and
strengthen the invitation to apply for diverse candidates
•
Developed questions related to cultural competency and social equity to be included in the
interviews for every position in the department
•
Serve on the City’s Recruitment, Hiring and Promotions (RHP) Steering Committee led by the
Department of Equity and Inclusion
•
Have volunteered CDD to be a pilot department working with the RHP consultants to operationalize
the review and improvement of job descriptions with an eye to expanding appeal to diverse
candidates and removing unnecessary barriers to entry
5. Briefly describe your experience with (1) environmental sustainability-climate change issues, (2) social
justice (3) alternative transportation efforts (4) affordable housing and (5) enhancement of the arts.
Under my leadership, CDD has advanced key strategies to address some of the topics that impact day to day
life and operations and also shape the city in the long term. These include the following.
Environmental Sustainability-Climate Change
•
Chaired the Cambridge Green Building/Zoning Task Force which, in 2010, created the City’s first
requirements for large new construction to meet LEED standards for green building. Also changed
zoning to facilitate renewable energy systems and removed impediments to improving energy
efficiency of existing buildings
•
Co-chaired the first Cambridge Getting to Net Zero Task Force, which created the Net Zero Action
Plan (NZAP), a roadmap to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from buildings by mid-century.
Recently completed the NZAP 5-year review with recommendations for improvements
•
Created the Cambridge Community Electricity program
•
Raised green building standards to higher levels, including net-zero emissions for municipal buildings
•
Introduced the first requirement for district energy assessment and steam capacity in the K2 plan
and subsequent rezonings in the district
•
Created programs such as Sunny Cambridge to help residents and businesses interested in
renewable energy systems to access resources and technical assistance
•
Enacted the Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance (BEUDO) and proposed amendments to
include accountability for emissions reduction
•
Completed the Resilient Cambridge Plan in partnership with the Departments of Public Works and
Public Health to address climate change vulnerabilities related to extreme heat, extreme
precipitation, and storm surge/sea level rise with time horizons of 2030 and 2070. Began
implementation
o Partnered with local neighborhood based non-profits to conduct resilience audits and set
the stage to improve community resilience
o Worked with neighboring communities to create watershed based partnerships with Charles
River and Mystic River communities
o Identified coastal flood pathways and potential interventions to block them and protect
108,000 residents and $60B of real estate value in twelve communities. Currently working
with regional partners to seek funding to advance work to the next level
Social Justice
•
Centered equity and inclusion as a cross-cutting lens through which we evaluated recommendations
for all disciplines in Envision Cambridge, our citywide plan
•
Incorporating an equity focus into the ongoing open space planning
•
Broadening community engagement to determine who is not at the table and making active efforts
to engage them. Using non-traditional formats to facilitate participation and meet people in safe
spaces such as focus groups with linguistic minorities e.g. Cherry St process
•
Creating a community engagement workbook with step-by-step guidance to facilitate equitable and
anti-racist community engagement
•
Presently reimagining engagement process with neighborhood groups to create mechanisms to
broaden who is comfortable participating in neighborhood planning discussions.
•
Significantly increased translation of material, offering key new documents and web pages in
multiple languages
•
Provided access to the first homebuyer lottery in recent years in multiple languages
•
Engage a diverse group of youth in climate focused projects through the Cambridge/EF Glocal
Challenge
•
Collaborate with the Department of Public Health on the Food and Fitness Policy Council. A
partnership project is to double SNAP at farmers’ markets
•
Working with neighborhood-based non-profits, Margaret Fuller House and Cambridge Community
Center to conduct resilience audits, develop resilience hubs and support community resilience
•
Developed the Affordable Housing Overlay zoning in part to facilitate the development of affordable
housing in all parts of the City and address some of the disparities and historic injustices embedded
in zoning. This provision is already bearing fruit with the recent agreement for HRI to purchase a
parcel in the Baldwin district from Lesley university
•
Have begun work to re-evaluate the City’s homeownership programs to see how they may be
modified to better align with the City’s values, and promote racial equity and socioeconomic justice
Sustainable transportation efforts
•
Manage the work of the Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Transit Committees
•
Completed the New Mobility Blueprint, and working on implementing the Neighborhood Electric
Vehicle Charging Pilot and expansion of the City’s Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) charging
network. The goal is to help meet existing demand and enable the City to evaluate aspects of EVSE
infrastructure networks and inform longer term strategies
•
Manage and enforce the Parking and Transportation Demand Management ordinance, which has
been transformative in reducing people driving alone for commute trips
•
As part of the K2C2 studies, proposed the first elimination of minimum parking requirements and
creation of maximum parking limits, with requirement for shared parking assessment. This has been
adopted in subsequent rezoning in the Kendall Sq area. Proposed broader deployment citywide
through Envision Cambridge. Presently supporting the City Council in eliminating minimum parking
requirements citywide
•
Manage the Blue Bikes program for the City
•
Run the internal staff transportation demand management
•
Run numerous bicycle trainings for all ages – elementary school students to seniors – to help them
safety move through the city on bicycle
Affordable Housing
•
Manage the inclusionary housing program
•
Completed Incentive Zoning Nexus Studies in 2015 and 2019. Supported the City Council in
increasing the incentive zoning (linkage) requirements mor than four-fold, from $4.58 in 2015 to
$21.02 at present
•
Completed the Inclusionary Zoning Study Supported the City Council in increasing the inclusionary
zoning requirement from a net 11.5% in 2017 to net 20%.
•
Worked with the City Manager to meet and exceed the City Council’s goal to double the funding to
the Cambridge Affordable Housing Trust from City sources to almost $38M in FY23.
•
Developed and supported the adoption of creative and innovative new policy strategies, such as the
Affordable Housing Overlay. Since the City Council’s adoption in 2020, the AHO has been acclaimed
as a national model and is nominated for the Ivory Prize.
•
Worked with partners at Homeowners Rehab Inc., Lesley University, and the Affordable Housing
Trust to reach agreement for HRI to acquire a site to develop affordable housing in the difficult to
access Baldwin neighborhood.
Enhancement of the Arts
•
Partner with Arts Council and the Cambridge Office of Tourism on the Tourism, Economic
Development and Arts (TEA) initiative
•
Partner with Arts Council on the vacant storefront creative design contest to activate the
streetscape and support artists
•
Allocate some Small Business Challenge Grants funding to support activation of business districts in
partnership with arts e.g. through popups like the Inman Incubator
•
Conducted the initial study on the Foundry to create the framework for the City’s partnership with
the CRA to create a community focused STEAM facility
•
Worked with City Council and developers to create zoning requirements for arts spaces welcoming
to the community. Two examples are the Volpe parcel and Biomed Realty’s 585 Third St
9. Describe any experience you have which substantiates your ability to create and maintain collaborative
partnerships and work productively with outside organizations (public and private).
My most impactful work that has yielded the greatest benefit for the Cambridge community has been
grounded in collaboration – with public, private, and institutional stakeholders. An example is the K2
Planning Study, which has been implemented over time through multiple rezonings. The Volpe block
rezoning, for example, was able to leverage redevelopment of the site to generate significant public benefit
for the Cambridge community. In discussions such as these, I am skilled at bringing diverse interests to the
table and helping facilitate consensus building in an open and transparent way. This creates the opportunity
to develop solutions that are built on our shared values, advance our goals, and have strong buy-in from all
stakeholders.
As noted in my application materials, I have built partnerships and strong working relationships with
Cambridge residents and neighborhood associations, businesses and business associations, educational and
other institutions, with City department leadership, elected officials, and state agencies, that enable me to
begin any collaboration from a place of trust. I have strong relationships with each of these stakeholder
groups in Cambridge and extensive experience in bringing them together to develop consensus solutions
that expand our collective impact. A recent example is my work as co-chair of the Cambridge Resilience
Zoning Task Force, which has recommended a suite of zoning changes, currently under development, to
make new development mor resilient to the long-range impacts of climate change. I believe that my
willingness to invite all opinions to the table and respectful and active listening with an open mind are
crucial starting points for any productive engagement.
Cambridge is widely acknowledged as a leader in municipal management, service delivery. and a broad
range of government endeavors. Yet, improvement is possible in each of these areas. As the scale of
problems we address escalates, such as the housing crisis and the climate crisis, the scale of intervention
needed to reach our shared goals is more significant than ever before. I believe that the key to accelerating
our impact is to foster even stronger communication, relationship, and trust between government,
institutions, residents, and business. In talking to each of these groups, it is clear that they share core values
and have common goals for Cambridge’s future. While each may have a different approach to achieving the
goals, there is much to be gained by working collaboratively, with all voices at the table so we can
understand and harness the strengths that each group brings to address these problems that are difficult, if
not impossible, to solve individually.
10. Please describe your economic development experience. Provide measurable results such as number and
type of business placements, number of jobs created/saved types of incentives used, etc.
Cambridge does not provide tax incentives as a mechanism to attract businesses to the City. We rely,
instead on stability, community assets, and high level of services, coupled with our significant anchors, our
institutions of research and higher learning. We do offer training and a number of programs to support
business, with focus on retail and small businesses, particularly women and minority owned businesses.
•
Fund training programs such as the Biomedical Career Training, Microenterprise workshops
•
Provide grants for Storefront Improvement Program including an architectural barriers removal
component. Also provide grants for Small Business Enhancement Program which funds interior
accessibility improvements and staff consultation
•
Created small biz liaison position to focus economic development attention supporting retail and
small, local businesses
•
Created and co-managed the City Manager’s Small Business Advisory Committee to best support
small businesses and business district during the COVID-19 pandemic.
•
Provided $4.8M in grants and loans, partnering with the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority, to
small businesses for relief and recovery from the pandemic. Over 70% of grant recipients were
women and minority owned businesses. Have begun disseminating an additional $5M from ARPA
funds to support small businesses.
•
Created a BIPOC Business Advisory Committee to advise on strengthening the city’s outreach
efforts, information-sharing, business programs and policies to better help local BIPOC-owned
businesses
•
Currently initiating a disparity study, working with the Purchasing Department to understand
disparity in City procurement, over time, from women, minority, and veteran-owned businesses.
The study is expected to serve as the foundation for creating a sheltered market
•
In FY22, helped 255 business owners and residents attended through small business workshops,
special business events, and startup, expansion, relocation, or business development assistance, 17
businesses through facade, signage and lighting, and storefront accessibility improvements, 16 small
businesses through the Small Business Enhancement Program and Retail Interior Accessibility
Program, and held 15 events and sessions to support local commercial districts
•
Supported the City Council in developing zoning and business permit policy to allow cannabis related
businesses to locate in Cambridge, with a focus on economic empowerment and social equity
applicants who represent communities disproportionately harmed in the war on drugs. Cambridge’s
first retail cannabis location opens in April 2022 with two more expected to open this summer
•
Market Cambridge as a location for business, maintain a supportive business climate, and
strengthen mutually beneficial partnerships with businesses and institutions. Attend BIO convention
to market Cambridge and the Life Sciences Corridor to businesses interested in (re)locating e.g.
Philips North America, who moved to Cambridge Crossing and in 2021, included 2000 jobs in
Cambridge
•
Work with the Purchasing Department and the State Office of Supplier Diversity to participate in and
organize vendor fairs, panels, and informational sessions to encourage local, minority, women, and
veteran-owned businesses to do business with the City
11. Are you currently employed?
Yes
12. What are your salary expectations?
I have a deep commitment to serving the City of Cambridge. I am comfortable with the scope of salary laid
out in the job description and look forward to having a more detailed discussion with the City Council, if I am
selected for the role.
13. Is the resume that you submitted accurate and current? If not, please explain any discrepancies.
Yes. My resume is current and accurate.
A clarification is that very early career information is deleted/consolidated on the resume to conserve space.
•
A year of experience in India working at DKS Consultants, a multidisciplinary architecture/landscape
architecture/planning firm is deleted.
•
Teaching assistantships at Harvard University while at graduate school are deleted
•
Early experience in the US post-graduation is consolidated into one category that combines an
internship at the Trust for Public Land with consulting work for the Open Space Institute, NY and the
City of Trenton, NJ
14. Do you hold any professional certifications? If so, please list.
ICMA-CM International City and County Managers Association (expected May, 2022)
AICP
American Institute of Certified Planners
LEED-AP
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
15. If selected as a finalist candidate for this position, we will conduct comprehensive background checks on
you. These will include educational degree verification; driving, civil and criminal court record checks; a
credit check; internet checks, Sex Offender Registry check and reference checks. Will we find anything
concerning you that you need to disclose and explain ahead of time?
No
16. Do you have any unusual personal consideration(s) that would need to be resolved before you could
accept this position? If so, please explain.
No
17. Have you ever been fired or resigned under pressure from a job? If so, please explain.
No
18. Have you ever sued an employer or been sued by an employer or employee? If so, please explain.
No