Growing up in a multigenerational, immigrant home, KellyAnn Kirkpatrick acted as a navigator as her family members encountered inequities and barriers in public systems.
“My grandmother retired well past retirement age because of the cost burden of living in New York City, having children with special needs and making uninformed financial decisions,” she says. “I am the product of trying to process all of that on behalf of others.”
Now, in her role as grants and partnerships lead for the Amazon Housing Fund, Kirkpatrick makes hyperlocal grants in three Amazon hubs — Seattle; Arlington, Virginia; and Nashville, Tennessee — to bridge gaps in affordable housing development, research and policy. Kirkpatrick is focused on “workforce housing” projects in high-opportunity areas near transit, which help groups like single parents, nurses, teachers and firefighters live affordably and well.
“The Fellowship is so exciting to me because I am learning the tools and the language to translate my personal experiences into meaningful change in communities,” she says.
Kirkpatrick reflects that no matter what was going on with her family during her childhood, she never had to worry about where she was going to lay her head at night. “There are so many children who don’t have that. It’s hard to focus on anything else.”