#  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.



 

February 14, 2025

 

 

     ![Sarah Byrnes](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-03/Sarah-Byrnes.jpg?itok=pr5jknEr) 

Sarah Byrnes, MTS '05



 



 

*Executive Director, Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants (Dorchester, MA)*

*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 News and Profiles ](/discover-stories-about/alumni-news-and-profiles)