Graduate School
MIT

Undergraduate School
Oberlin College

Agency
Office of Rep. Denise Provost

Supervisor
Rep. Denise Provost

Mentor
Jim Segel, Jim Segel LLC and Rappaport Institute Advisory Board Chair

Description of Fellowship
This summer, David worked with State Representative Denise Provost on her bill for a Local Option for Tenant Right of First Refusal. This bill would allow Massachusetts cities and towns to opt into a program granting tenants a window of time where they have a first right to purchase their homes when they are on the market, modeled on the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) in the District of Columbia. Since 1980, TOPA has preserved thousands of units of affordable housing and helped to prevent tenant displacement in D.C. Having worked in this program prior to graduate school, he suggested amendments to the bill based on my experience with TOPA. He also organized a legislative briefing within the Statehouse and met with dozens of advocates in Greater Boston to build momentum for the bill’s passage.