Mary Ross On February 8, 2016, Mary Ross joined the Community Development team as a Planner I-Transitional Housing Team Member. In her position, Ross focuses on community out-reach, homelessness prevention and transitional housing support. One of Ross’s largest project was coordinating the Madison County Poverty Summit, “Combating Poverty: educating the Community”. The Poverty Summit was a data-driven discussion on homelessness problems and potential solutions. Community Development enlisted the assistance of the SIUE Institute for Urban Research to collect and analyze local data which guided the subject matter for discussion. The intended out- comes from the event included increased collaboration between the participants, broader understanding of the barriers faced by low income families and greater public awareness of the issues surrounding poverty. The audience for the event was comprised of local not-for-profits, governments, business owners, faith-based groups, law enforcement, and educators.Ross joined the Edwardsville Township team in 2014 as the MPA intern before graduating from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications and a Master’s degree in Public Administration & Policy Analysis. A native of Belize, Central America, and Ross lived in Chicago until she moved to Edwardsville to attend SIUE. She attended Roosevelt High School in Chicago, IL.
