Steering Committee

Diane is a founding member of Cambridge Cohousing and former member of Coho/US Board of Directors. She coauthored the Report on the Survey of Cohousing Communities, 2011. Diane is Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Connecticut. She has published research articles as well as two books, The Fabric of Self (1998), which won Honorable Mention at the First Annual Book Award of the Eastern Sociological Society, and The Managers. ResearchGate

Angela is a behavioral scientist at University of California, Davis, and former member of Coho/US Board of Directors. She led CRN’s national survey of cohousing residents in 2012. Angela’s research includes the identification of cohousing practices that contribute to social and environmental benefits. She has a particular interest in retrofit cohousing and framing the concept of cohousing to mitigate perceived ideological barriers. ResearchGate

Heidi is Associate Professor of Political Science and Women’s and Gender Studies and co-chair of the Women’s and Gender Studies Department at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. She publishes research on the cohousing movement; the politics of work and family; gender and politics; social movements; and political behavior. Heidi is responsible for creating and maintaining CRN’s extensive bibliography of cohousing research.

Neil is a seasoned life coach who works with clients on personal, professional and impact development.  He has coached many Cohousing residents and others who seek more community, more fullfilling and rich lives.  He is a former Cohousing Association board and staff member (Tours Director, Fundraiser and Conference Planning Team) as well as a co-developer and founder of Swan’s Market Cohousing established in 2000.

Neil is a technologist, current co-organizer of the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network (NTEN) Oakland chapter and is the SF Bay Area convener for the CiviCRM community. He brings all his Cohousing and Technology experience to his role at CRN as Webmaster, Database Administrator and Director of Communication.

Chuck spent 34 years as a Personnel Research Psychologist and now consults for public and private organizations.  He specialized in the development of personality-oriented assessments for a variety of occupations such as Trademark Attorneys and Deputy Marshals. Chuck has been a member of CRN since 2011. He contributes his expertise in person-organization fit and data analysis as CRN’s research coordinator.

LaDona is a Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Geography & Planning at California State University, Chico.  She publishes research on food hubs, community gardens and local food systems.  She conducts mixed methods research and is cofounder of grounded visualization methodology with Meghan Cope who was her PhD chair at University at Buffalo, where she was an IGERT fellow in GIScience.  She frequently conducts service learning projects with students in her sustainable planning and urban geography classes, including research into sustainable housing and transportation options including affordable housing, cohousing and cooperative housing and active transportation options.

Rick was a professional community/environmental planner and facilitator with over 40 years of experience. He had worked in the private, non-profit, and government sectors. Rick co-founded a number of nonprofit organizations and coalitions serving low income individuals and communities. He was a resident of a cohousing community in Amherst, MA, former member of Coho/US Board of Directors, and founding member of CRN

Robert Boyer is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography & Earth Sciences at University of North Carolina where he teaches courses in urban planning and urban sustainability. His research focuses on cohousing as an alternative to speculative housing development in the United States, and the regulatory changes necessary to broaden the availability of cooperative neighborhood development beyond a niche constituency.

Betsy Morris, PhD, is founder/CEO of Planning for Sustainable Communities. She has been a regional and community economic development planner, researcher, and consultant for 25 years. She and her husband Raines Cohen, produce a variety of workshops and conferences on intentional community development covering both the real estate and the shared leadership side of development.