A group of scholars and public housing executives gathered Friday, June 12, at an all-day conference at Rutgers to discuss various issues and research in public housing. The seminar aimed to talk about historical and cross-national comparisons of affordable housing; town and gown relationships; public housing redevelopment and resident relocation; future of public housing policy and successes and failures of mixed-income housing.

Mayor Cory Booker and Sen. Robert “Bob” Menendez were guest speakers. NHA Executive Director Keith Kinard was a panelist for the Town and Gown Relationships portion. He and other housing officials and professionals talked about how public housing authorities and universities can work together and factors involved in achieving success. “This event served as a great way for experts and public housing officials to come together and exchange important information and to address what works for public housing,’’ Kinard said. “I hope each professional left the summit with an enriched mindset about public housing and that it serves as an effective channel for all public housing leaders.’’ Kinard said.