Bad land use policy affects us all.
Massachusetts suffers from a severe housing shortage driven by state and local land-use policies. This shortage impacts everyone, but is particularly negative for people with disabilities as it limits options for community living, drives up costs, stretches public resources thin, and exacerbates the workforce crisis.
Join Chris Canna, CIL’s VP of Real Estate Development and Jesse Kanson-Benanav, Abundant Housing MA’s Executive Director, to learn about how state and local land use policies impact housing options for people with disabilities and what ADDP members can do to drive change to benefit the people we serve.
Your Speakers
Chris Canna Vice President of Real Estate Development
With ten years’ experience in real estate, 17 in project management, and 39 in life, Chris enjoys finding new endeavors to sink his teeth into.
He hunts for suitable projects and subsequently oversees development from start to finish. A member of several professional organizations dedicated to real estate and urban planning, Chris networks with his contemporaries around the country and applies his connections and expertise in his daily work at CIL.
Chris is the Vice President of Real Estate Development - an integral part of the team responsible for sourcing relevant projects for development and managing the department. He obtained his Bachelors degree in Political Science from McGill University and his Masters degree in Urban Planning from University of Michigan. In his spare time, Chris enjoys playing basketball, trail running, and spending time in the kitchen - cooking and eating!
Jesse Kanson-Benanav, Executive Director of Abundant House MA (AMHA)
Jesse Kanson-Benanav is the Executive Director of Abundant Housing MA (AHMA), a statewide non-profit advocacy organization that works to build a Massachusetts for Everyone, without housing opportunities for all. Prior to stepping into the Executive Director role in early 2021, Jesse served as the founding Board President of AHMA which was incorporated in April, 2020.
Jesse is a nationally known figure in the Yes In My Back Yard (YIMBY) pro-housing movement, who brings robust experience in both housing and community organizing to the AHMA Executive Director role. He has nearly 20 years of experience in affordable housing, public policy, and community engagement. He was founder and longtime chairman of A Better Cambridge (ABC), a community-based education and advocacy group committed to creating more affordable and sustainable housing. In 2016, he was recognized by the Boston Globe Magazine as a “game changer” for his work with ABC and was the recipient of the Metro Housing’s Champions of Housing Rising Star Award in 2019.
Kanson-Benanav grew up in Saint Paul, MN and currently resides in Jamaica Plain. He received an undergraduate degree from Oberlin College and has a Master’s Degree in City Planning from the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Prior to AHMA jesse worked as a Senior Project Manager for real estate development at B'nai B'rith Housing and the Somerville Community Corporation, as well as a Regional Project Associate for The Community Builders and a public housing management consultant for Edgemere Consulting. He is also a board member of Just A Start, a community development corporation in Cambridge.
CIL’s mission is to create and sustain housing and other community resources that provide affordability, accessibility, and independence to those in need. Since 1979, CIL has helped over 8,000 families and we’ve invested over half a billion dollars in our communities.
Abundant Housing Massachusetts is a non-profit organization founded in 2020 to advocate for the creation of abundant housing for all and to develop and support a network of grassroots, pro-housing groups and activists across Massachusetts. AHMA is committed to fostering a movement that includes diverse voices, geography, and people with different lived experiences to help shape an inclusive statewide pro-housing network.