Marie Kennedy is a Professor Emerita of Community Planning in the College of Public and Community Service, University of Massachusetts Boston. 

She combines the roles of activist and scholar, teaching, working in and writing about community development, planning education and participatory action research. 

Marie has supervised numerous collaborative projects, through which students earn academic credit while providing service to community organizations focusing on human services, housing, anti-displacement, anti-racist and community empowerment issues. 

In the College, she developed several programs, which continue today, through which low income women are supported in acquiring a college education while focusing their academic work on issues of importance to homeless and low income women.  

Over the years, Marie has worked extensively with community organizations in the Greater Boston Area, as well as in San Francisco, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, and Nicaragua.  

Currently, she serves on the advisory board of the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy and is co-chair of the Steering Committee of the Planners Network and on the editorial board of their magazine, Progressive Planning.