Jill Schmidt Bengochea

Director

Jill helps to make communities more resilient through climate mitigation and equitable development projects.

Previously, Jill was a Senior Project Manager at the Brooklyn Navy Yard where she managed historic rehabilitation and ground-up developments to support inclusive economic development. As a Forefront Fellow with the Urban Design Forum, Jill researched the risks of extreme heat in New York City with a focus on public health and equity to prepare mitigation proposals for the Mayor’s Office of Resilience.

Jill is originally from Portland, Oregon where she worked on regional policy and planning at Metro before leading community engagement and program development for James Beard Public Market.

She holds a Masters in Urban Planning from the Harvard Graduate School of Design where she was a graduate researcher at the Joint Center for Housing Studies. She received her Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from the University of Oregon.