DR.CATHERINE M. O'LEARY

Dr. Catherine M. O’Leary has worked in the fields of non-profit housing development, community organizing. Her research covers the fields of education, public policy, multiculturalism and feminism.

Dr. O’Leary completed her PhD in Political Science in 2000 at the New School University, where her dissertation explored the topic of "Culture as a Site of Structural Inequality: Identity, Politics and Institutions in Education Reform, New York City and Chicago, 1960-2000."

Dr. O’Leary holds an MA in Political Science from the University of Chicago, where she began graduate studies after working as a community organizer in the Bronx. In the Bronx she coordinated tenant associations and grassroots campaigns to improve city services and to promote affordable housing. The committee she staffed won improvements for city-owned buildings from the NYC housing department.

In the past 15 years, Dr. O’Leary has lived and worked in New York City and Chicago, interspersing her academic pursuits with community organizing activities and housing development work both in the Bronx and in the Woodlawn community in Chicago.

She has also worked as a consultant for different not-for-profit organizations and projects, and teaches courses in Social Policy, Education and Urban Politics. She has taught at Northwestern University and the Lang College of the New School.

Dr. O’Leary has recently taken the position of Development Coordinator at the University Neighborhood Housing Program, a nonprofit housing development organization in the Bronx.

Contact Info:
UNHP
2751 Grand Concourse
Bronx, NY 10468
(718)-933-3101