Cathy Kuhn joined the Metropolitan Housing Coalition in the fall of 2020. Cathy has been working in the homeless and housing field for over 20 years. Prior to joining MHC, Cathy was the Chief Strategy Officer at Families in Transition-New Horizons (FIT-NH), a large homeless and housing provider in New Hampshire, where she worked since 2006. In 2012, Cathy took on an additional role as the Director of the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness (NHCEH), a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding effective solutions to homelessness through research, education and advocacy.
Cathy holds a PhD in Sociology/Urban Studies from Michigan State University, a Master’s Degree in Resource Development and a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Studies. Both her Master’s Thesis and Dissertation were applied research projects aimed at enhancing delivery and outcomes of key federal housing programs. Her Master’s Thesis focused on improving the quality of life within Michigan’s public housing communities through the documentation and dissemination of the opinions of citizens living in these communities. Her dissertation involved a policy analysis of the Housing Choice Voucher Program, the country’s primary housing program for low income individuals and families. The research combined both quantitative and qualitative analyses to identify obstacles impeding the program’s success, as well as to provide potential solutions that may assist more people to move to high opportunity neighborhoods.
From 1997-1999, Cathy lived in Panama where she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer teaching environmental education in primary schools. Cathy is also an Adjunct Professor of Sociology, with experience teaching at numerous colleges and universities. In her free time, Cathy is an avid runner, having run 9 marathons, including 4 consecutive Boston Marathons, as well as dozens of half marathons in states across the country. When she’s not running, she enjoys reading and spending time with her husband Tommy, daughter Lily, dog Cooper and cat Ivy.
