2025 Big Swings

The next cohort of Global Exchange Fellows will continue to build solidarity between New York City and cities across the globe taking “big swings” at their housing crises.

Our Global Exchange fellowship for mid-career leaders surveys the world for bold solutions to New York City’s most intractable problems. The 2025 fellowship will invest in 40 leaders across design, development, policy, law, advocacy, journalism, construction and philanthropy to build bridges between New York City and its peer cities. Fellows will engage with leading global experts, travel to a peer city to study alternative approaches, publish insights, and meet with local decision-makers to champion reform and demand courageous public policy. 

Last year, Global Exchange Fellows researched global housing policies that deepened affordability, welcomed new arrivals, built buy-in, cut red tape, and advanced green solutions from cities such as Singapore, Barcelona, and Montevideo. Our next cohort of Fellows will survey the world for courageous leadership on a new set of challenges. Fellows will lead comparative research through a nine-month, 130-hour leadership development program grounded in an experiential learning approach. A 4-day study trip will challenge Fellows to dive deep into Tokyo’s unique housing market through site visits, presentations, and working sessions.

Through exploring the cultural and political dynamics behind housing changes around the world, we will energize decision-makers to better advocate for reform. Our goal is to complement the diligent work of local leaders, weave together diverse perspectives, and support a new generation of leaders to house every New Yorker.

Key Questions

Fellows will form working groups based on their interests and expertise, focused on these intersecting topics: 

Unleashing Supply: How are governments transforming zoning, building codes, and approval processes to increase density across entire cities?

Planning for Neighborhood Mix: How are cities balancing housing development with open space, infrastructure, workplaces and other uses to build livable neighborhoods outside the urban core?

Adapting Homes: How are cities updating building codes, transforming planning procedures, and retrofitting homes to achieve climate resilience?

Building for Demographic Shifts: How are changing family sizes, aging residents, and growing populations shaping the delivery of new housing types? 

Energizing Social Housing: How are governments and resident-led movements building and preserving permanently affordable homes? 

Embracing Housing for All: How are cities enshrining a right to housing through public policy, tenant protections, and cultural values?

Who Should Apply

Interests & Experience

Fellows are mid-career professionals in or entering senior leadership within their organizations, with 10 to 25 years of experience. Fellows are seeking opportunities to develop their leadership, knowledge, and networks through comparative research and interaction with a broad range of stakeholders.

We welcome candidates with deep interest in the intersections of housing and design, development, policy, law, advocacy, journalism, construction and philanthropy. We encourage candidates whose work and research exclusively engages with local issues in New York City to apply, as well as those who work on housing issues around the world. 

Urban Design Forum seeks to build a cohort that welcomes traditionally underrepresented groups in planning and design. Women and gender-expansive people, people of color, LGBTQIA2S+ people, people with disabilities, and professionals with experience in diverse community settings are strongly encouraged to apply.

Time Commitment

Global Exchange is a time-intensive, experiential leadership development program that relies on the active participation of every member of the cohort. In addition to attendance at all program dates, Fellows should expect to commit approximately four hours per week (virtually and/or in person) throughout the fellowship. 

Calendar

Program Cost

We aim to build a diverse and inclusive cohort that recognizes that different leaders have different financial capacity to contribute toward this program.

Tuition in the Fellowship is $5,900, which covers the cost of 130 hours of programming with leading New York City and global thinkers. The additional costs of travel and accommodation for the study trip are assumed by the participants. 

Scholarships will be made available to help cover the cost of participation for those who indicate need-based consideration up to the full tuition amount of $5,900 in some cases. If cost is a barrier, we encourage you to still apply. We also offer installment payment plans.

How to Apply

Support Our Work

Global Exchange is made possible through support of our Global Circle. We thank sponsors Apple Bank, CAMBA Housing Ventures, Charney, Cozen O’Connor, Fogarty Finger, HKS, Jamie von Klemperer, KPF, One Architecture, Perkins Eastman, Skylight, Turner Construction, Upside Collab and Zillow.

Circle members gather for events with esteemed speakers, travel together to a peer city, and connect New York’s decision-makers with their counterparts around the world. Their financial leadership enables us to offer the fellowship for free to advocates, public servants and journalists who need to be at the table. 

Members receive benefits including network building, thought leadership, nomination of fellows, and visibility. For more information about how to join this league of supporters, along with a list of support tiers and benefits, please contact Miranda Bellizia, miranda@urbandesignforum.org. 

Thank you to our Founding Circle members.

Image Credit: 1-2. Kasia Zacharko, 3. Sam Lahoz