Michael S. Chavez NOMA, NCARB, LEED AP

Community Engagement, Architect, Project Development & Management

Michael Chavez was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico and received a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Design with an emphasis in Landscape Architecture from the University of New Mexico (UNM) in 2006. To combine his passion for community activism and architecture, Michael moved to Boston to pursue his Master of Architecture degree from the Boston Architectural College (BAC). During the BAC’s intensive 5-year concurrent program Michael worked at YouthBuild Boston (YBB), a Roxbury-based nonprofit focusing on job development in the building trades. Michael had various roles but was most recently the Project Development Manager where he was in charge of developing and managing projects that included affordable housing, design and buildouts for other nonprofit organizations, urban gardens and green spaces, and more. Michael also oversaw the organization’s uBuild program which engages corporate sponsors with local nonprofits in need through community service.Lastly, Michael oversaw YBB’s Designery program which is YouthBuild Boston’s high school architecture program.

Upon graduation from the BAC, Michael was selected for the prestigious Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship from 2014-2016 where he worked with the Fairmount/Indigo Line CDC Collaborative (FIC) to spearhead a sustainable, smart growth agenda along the 9-mile Fairmount commuter rail line in Boston, MA. The line runs through some of Boston’s most impoverished yet culturally diverse neighborhoods in Dorchester, Mattapan and Hyde Park. The FIC, consisting of three different Community Development Corporations, seeks to bring more amenities to these communities without displacing residents. Michael’s work focused on increasing the FIC’s capacity to engage neighborhood residents in the design process of the proposed new Transit-Oriented Developments while emphasizing the positive impacts of holistic design on low-income neighborhoods to funders and policy-makers. When the fellowship ended, he was invited to return to YBB to continue overseeing the development and design of affordable housing, the uBuild service events, designing and launching the state’s first registered Facilities Maintenance Apprentice program with Winn Residential, and increase YBB’s external relationships with organizations like YouthBuild International, Girl Scouts of America, Boston Society of Architects,and many others.