Erika Haskins
City of Boston – Mayor's Office of Housing
ERIKA HASKINS is an economic development strategist, founder, and impact investor with 17 years of experience advancing economic opportunity and inclusion. She has mobilized millions in philanthropic and private investment, co-founded two tech startups, supported the launch of 70+ public charter schools, and coached founders through top accelerators including Techstars, Village Capital, and MassChallenge. Haskins has served as a Lecturer and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at The University of Texas at Austin and partnered with the U.S. Department of State and 13 embassies to design startup accelerators and strengthen global entrepreneurial ecosystems. Her career portfolio centers equity, local ownership, and long-term resilience—bringing a practitioner’s lens to ecosystem development, community wealth building, and public-private investment strategy.
Project
The City of Boston aims to narrow the wealth gap by expanding access to housing and homeownership for low- and moderate-income members of historically marginalized communities. Building on inclusivity initiatives in the Mayor’s Office of Housing, FUSE Executive Fellow Erika Haskins will collaboratively select and advance 2-3 priority housing projects through stakeholder engagement, strategic planning, and targeted implementation. The work centers on addressing the lasting impacts of past housing policies while incorporating principles of equal opportunity into decisions about city-owned properties. By creating sustainable systems and tools for long-term impact, this initiative will provide more Bostonians with pathways to housing stability and wealth creation, regardless of background.