Working throughout graduate school, including a summer as a fellow with the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, Taylor comes to City Hall with expertise in urban sociology and experience engaging different communities in discussions about complex urban issues.

Taylor received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Boston University in 2019, after spending three years as an ethnographer in community meetings, local businesses, and the homes of Boston residents. A transplant from California, Taylor still enjoys telling the story of how her early years in Boston inspired her dissertation research about the ways in which middle class households with children navigate increasingly expensive urban landscapes.

She places great significance on personal stories and locates her own residential history in the broader context of the foreclosure crisis and racial inequities in homeownership. Taylor brings her curiosity about how people move through cities and a commitment to values of inclusion and equity to her role as the Director of the Mayor’s Housing Innovation Lab.

A strong believer in celebrating the multiple aspects of one’s identity, Taylor is also an avid ping pong player, connoisseur of donuts, and sci-fi/fantasy fan.