#  Building Power, Securing Public Housing 

 



#### As the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants, **Sarah Byrnes, MTS '05**, builds power and voice for low-income residents of public housing in Massachusetts.

*Sarah Byrnes, MTS '05, Executive Director, Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants (Dorchester, MA)*

   ![Sarah Byrnes](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-03/Sarah-Byrnes.jpg?itok=7vDaG8fF) 

 

Sarah Byrnes, MTS '05*View* [*more stories*](/community-life/career-services/alumni-career-snapshots "Alumni Career Snapshots") *on HDS alumni and their career paths.*

## **Describe the work you do today:**

• With Mass Union’s all-tenant board, execute the organization’s mission to build power and voice for low-income residents of public housing in Massachusetts

• Oversee all the programmatic and administrative functions of Mass Union

• Work directly with tenants and Local Tenant Organizations across the state, providing moral and practical support through training, technical assistance and other programming

• Supervise staff, graduate fellows, and subcontractors, including tenant leaders

• Ensure financial health for the organization through fundraising, budgeting and fiscal management

• Serve as the face of Mass Union and advance its policy agenda to improve public housing communities in Massachusetts

## **How has your HDS degree influenced your career journey?**

I am involved in grassroots social change; i.e. empowering low-income people through organizing and popular education. The ethical systems I studied at HDS provided an interesting foundation for this work, and have definitely informed my bottom-up theory of change.

## **What career advice would you offer to current HDS students?**

Take it one day at a time and follow your gut.



 



 

 See also:- [ Alumni Career Snapshots ](/alumni-career-snapshots)