Urban Edge names Jordan chief operating officer and senior vice president, strategy

Boston, MA Urban Edge has welcomed Tawkiyah Jordan as its new chief operating officer and senior vice president, strategy. Jordan joins Urban Edge with more than 20 years of experience leading large-scale affordable housing and community development initiatives across city government and national housing organizations. She most recently served as vice president of housing and community strategy at Habitat for Humanity International, where she directed national housing and community development strategy. During her tenure, Jordan grew the division, founded and scaled the organization’s first U.S. Innovation Hub with $5 million in catalytic investment, and designed and executed the Advancing Black Homeownership Initiative, which mobilized more than $400 million in public and private capital to test low-barrier products and advance appraisal and underwriting reforms. 

In her new role, Jordan will support the ongoing growth of Urban Edge and provide strategic direction to the organizational priorities.

“Tawkiyah brings the vision and rigor to keep moving Urban Edge further in our ability to serve and contribute to our community,” said Emilio Dorcely, CEO of Urban Edge. “She has spent more than two decades building housing systems that put communities first. Her understanding of how equitable housing can promote thriving communities aligns perfectly with Urban Edge’s core values. We are thrilled to welcome her to the team.”

Earlier in her career, Jordan spent eight years at the New York City Department of City Planning as Senior Program Director for Housing Plan Implementation. She was a primary contributor to Zoning for Quality and Affordability and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, the policies that established New York City’s first permanent affordability requirements and supported thousands of affordable units. A 2025 Harvard Loeb Fellow and a non-residential fellow at Harvard’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, Jordan holds a Master of Urban Planning from the University of Michigan.

“Urban Edge has spent decades proving what community-rooted development actually looks like, and that reputation is earned block by block,” said Jordan. “I am joining an organization that already knows its neighbors and its neighborhoods. My work is to strengthen the operating foundation underneath that, so the team can build more housing, serve more families, and move on opportunity with confidence.”