Profile

Leah Grannum grew up in Fall River, MA and moved to Boston to attend Suffolk University in 2016. She was inspired to work in the community development field during her time as a graduate student at Northeastern University. She recalls,

“I didn't get the opportunity to go right into the job market after I graduated, so the next step was [finding] a graduate program. I really liked Northeastern's public policy program, and I had a focus in urban planning and community development and then just development work in general. That's what really drew me to wanting to work in in the community – learning more about community organizing and folks who were rallying around better housing options.”

Her passion for community development brought her to MassHousing three years ago, where she is currently working as the Program Specialist for their Strategic Community Investments (SCI) Division.

Leah discovered the Mel King Institute and CHAPA’s Community Development Mentoring Program a couple of years ago through some of her colleagues at MassHousing. They spoke highly of the program and explained that being matched with a seasoned community development professional and accessing their “wealth of knowledge was a great networking and relationship building opportunity” that helped them build up their professional development skills in several areas they wanted to improve in. After hearing about their positive professional development experiences, Leah knew she had to join the program the next time it was offered. She applied to be a mentee our 2025 Mentoring cohort last spring, and was paired with mentor Laura Christopher of MassDevelopment. Some of Leah’s goals as a mentee include building her network, expanding her outreach, and preparing for more challenging roles with increased responsibility. She explains, “I've had some years under my belt at MassHousing, [but now I’m] just trying to figure out what's next in terms of my career trajectory.”

Looking forward, Leah is excited to help revitalize and re-launch MassHousing’s Neighborhood Hub, a “technical assistance program that helps gateway cities come up with different types of project plans to spur housing creation within their respective cities and towns. We pair municipalities with consultants who have backgrounds in different types of areas including project management, data mapping, and conducting in-person interviews with community stakeholders. It's like a ‘housing doctor’ who comes in and works closely with the community to help them come up with a plan of action to implement in their municipality to build different types of housing throughout their neighborhoods. That's been really cool to dive into and I've been liking the work so far.”

When she’s not in the office, Leah enjoys traveling, learning about architecture, and spending time with her family and friends.