Syed Ali

As an Analyst at HR&A Advisors, I support market studies and economic impact analyses around the country. This includes the development of an innovation district in Oklahoma as well as assessing the impact of an urban technology company in New York City.

Prior to joining HR&A, I studied urban planning at Harvard University. My graduate projects included business district management strategies, proposing a public market as an immigrant food business incubator, a health lens analysis of Boston’s Chinatown, and developing a framework for a network of worker cooperatives serving Miami’s healthcare anchor institutions. As a graduate teaching assistant, I supported a seminar on community development, a project-based course focused on inequality in Miami, and an interdisciplinary design studio on the future of streets in Los Angeles. I also participated in the Urban Land Institute’s Randall Lewis Health Mentorship Program and co-led a student group focused on healthy places.

As Neighborhood Planning Intern at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), I supported comprehensive multi-agency neighborhood planning studies and housing plans for the City of New York.

I spent four years setting digital communications strategy for FoodCorps, a national nonprofit connecting kids to healthy food in school. There, I worked to expand and diversify the organization’s reach, redesign its website and brand identity, and collaborate cross-functionally on fundraising, recruitment, and advocacy campaigns.

In addition to a Master in Urban Planning from Harvard, I earned a Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University, where I studied government and English. At Wesleyan, I led student government committees on community building and information technology and also served as student representative on the university’s Board of Trustees. Today, I am a board member for the Wesleyan University Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship.