Karilyn Crockett

Dr. Karilyn Crockett’s research focuses on large-scale land use changes in twentieth century American cities and examines the social and geographic implications of structural poverty, racial formations and memory. Karilyn’s book "People before Highways: Boston Activists, Urban Planners, and a New Movement for City Making" (UMASS Press 2018) investigates a 1960s era grassroots movement to halt urban extension of the U.S. interstate highway system and the geographic and political changes in Boston that resulted. In 2019 this book was named one of the “ten best books about Boston of the decade” by the Boston Public Library’s librarians. Previously Karilyn co-founded Multicultural Youth Tour of What's Now (MYTOWN), an award-winning education & tourism organization based in Boston. MYTOWN hired public high school students to research their local and family histories to produce youth-led walking tours for sale to public audiences. During its nearly 15 years of operation, MYTOWN created jobs for more than 300 low and moderate-income teenagers, who in turn led public walking tours for more than 14,000 visitors and residents. In a White House ceremony, the National Endowment for the Humanities cited MYTOWN as “One of ten best Youth Humanities Programs in America.”

 Karilyn holds a PhD from the American Studies program at Yale University, a Master of Science in Geography from the London School of Economics, and a Master of Arts and Religion from Yale Divinity School. She has served in several executive leadership roles in Boston city government; including Director of Economic Policy & Research in the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, Director of Small Business Development; and later as the City of Boston's first Chief of Equity, a Cabinet-level position with a mandate to embed equity and racial justice into all City planning, operations and forward-moving work. She holds a faculty appointment as professor of urban history, public policy and planning in MIT's Department of Urban Studies & Planning. And, she is a recent recipient of the following honors: the Dudley Street Neighborhood Intiative’s Bob Haas Community Builder Award, Harvard Divinity School’s Religion & Public Life Fellowship, Walk Massachusetts Golden Shoe Award and Yale Divinity School’s William Sloane Coffin Award for Peace & Justice. She is also a 2024 Boston Preservation Alliance Libations for Preservation honoree. Karilyn currently leads the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston to assess the regional racial wealth gap.