Healthy communities, community development, urban food systems, health equity, community-driven design/planning

Renee Roy Elias is a Lecturer in City and Regional Planning with 15 years of experience designing and implementing community-driven projects, translating research into action, and leading and working alongside cross-sector teams to improve the health and well-being of low-income communities in the U.S. She currently works as a strategy and research consultant for community development organizations in the Bay Area. Prior to that, she served as the Director of Research and Advisory Services at the Build Healthy Places Network based in San Francisco. There she led research on social determinants of health metrics and client projects to support partnerships between the community development, finance, and health sectors. Renee also worked extensively in community development with a focus on healthy food access in low-income communities and communities of color. This includes her work as an urban designer and planner at the Remaking Cities Institute and the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry (both at Carnegie Mellon University) where she developed design strategies for a reclaimed brownfield site and initiated an award-winning grocery store project in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. Renee formerly served as an adjunct faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University where she taught both undergraduate and graduate-level courses on urban food systems.

CYPLAN 280/GMS 201 - Doctoral Research and Writing Seminar

CYPLAN 290A - Workshop for Professional/Client Report and Thesis

CYPLAN 290F/GMS 201 - PhD Dissertation Writing Seminar

[IN]CITY Summer Institutes

Elias, R.R., Jutte, D.P., and Moore, A. (2019). “Exploring Consensus Across Sectors for Measuring the Social Determinants of Health.” Social Science and Medicine: Population Health. v7.

Elias, R.R. (2018). "Tools of the Trade: Measuring the Health-Related Returns of Community Development." Shelterforce. Winter Edition. 

Chapple, K. and Elias, R.R. (2018). “Analyzing Investment Flows in Comprehensive Community Revitalization: The Case of Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco.” Journal of Urban Affairs.

Elias, R.R., and Moore, A. (2017). “The Evolution and Future of the Healthy Communities Movement.” Community Development Investment Review. v12(1). P. 81-92.

Dailey, C., Elias, R.R., and Moore, A. (2016). “Summarizing the Landscape of Healthy Communities: An Environmental Scan of Demonstration Programs Working Towards Health Equity.” A Report for The Colorado Health Foundation by Build Healthy Places Network.