Rachel G. Bratt is a Professor in the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University. For nearly ten years she served as chair of her department. Since 2001, she also has been a Fellow, Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University. She received a Ph.D. from MIT in Urban and Regional Studies. Professor Bratt’s research is focused primarily on the role of nonprofit organizations in supplying decent, affordable housing to low-income households. She is the author of Rebuilding a Low-Income Housing Policy and a co-editor of Critical Perspectives on Housing. Her most recent book (co-edited), A Right to Housing: Foundation for a New Social Agenda, was published by Temple University Press in 2006. In addition to her academic activities, Professor Bratt worked as a professional planner in the City of Worcester, Massachusetts and has served on a number of boards and advisory committees. In her local community, she was on the Wayland (Massachusetts) Planning Board and is a current member of the Wayland Housing Partnership (2004-present).