Elyse Oliver
Hometown:
Biddeford, ME & Baltimore, MD
Elyse is excited about forming deep relationships with residents and town representatives and demonstrating how community engagement can and should occur – as a central, guiding activity for pivotal planning efforts.
Elyse Oliver is a freelance strategist, designer, and planner for local communities and the public sector. Her work is rooted in the desire to make civic systems work better for communities of color, youth, older adults, and the planet. Core to her approach is the belief that those most impacted by a problem should take the lead in solving it.
Across her work, she helps government agencies, neighborhoods, and nonprofits chart new directions, define organizational priorities, and build inclusive, accessible communities. Prior to joining the Economic Recovery Corps, Elyse worked at Bennett Midland, a civic sector management consulting firm based in New York City. While there, she led program design, strategic planning, policy research, and operations engagements for non-profits, government agencies, and philanthropy. Past projects have ranged from facilitating the design of a scaling strategy for a community development nonprofit in Rwanda to coaching staff in mayor’s offices across the U.S. on developing new solutions to pressing local issues.
Elyse started her career working with community development corporations, public space nonprofits, and qualitative and quantitative researchers to advance community-based planning and engagement efforts, such as Main Street revitalizations and equitable development plans. She holds a B.A. in International Studies and Sociology from Johns Hopkins University and is currently pursuing a Master in City Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
ERC Project
Project Title:
Community Engagement to Guide Ecosystem Development
Host Community or Region:
Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont
Host Organization:
RCAP Solutions
This community engagement project led by RCAP Solutions will address challenges faced by rural communities in Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont regarding infrastructure development and economic sustainability. The project aims to shift the narrative in rural communities, identifying opportunities for local capacity growth, fostering thriving small businesses, and promoting sustainable economic development. The ERC Fellow will play a pivotal role in community engagement, research of rural ecosystems, and infrastructure requirements. The fellow will conduct extensive outreach and utilize online surveys and tools to validate identified needs. The goal is to communicate findings, gain insights, and identify catalysts for a regional action plan that will support resource planning for small rural communities seeking to cultivate sustainable economies.
Interested in supporting this project or learning more? Contact the ERC program team here.
