Somerville Community Land Trust Names First Executive Director

SOMERVILLE, MA — The Somerville Community Land Trust has named Miranda Strominger its first executive director.

Strominger spent the last 10 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she led projects for the Bay Area Community Land Trust. This included partnering with tenants at risk of displacement to take control of their housing and bring it under community stewardship.

"I’m honored to be able to lend the skills I’ve built in the movement for decommodified housing in the Bay Area to helping foster stability and community power here in Somerville," Strominger said in a statement. "I grew up down the road in Lexington and Cambridge, and it's great to be back home in Massachusetts and be involved at this important moment for SCLT. So much collective energy and determination have gotten us to this point, and I'm excited to work together to build SCLT into a force for housing justice in Somerville and in the region."

SCLT is a non-profit dedicated to building permanently affordable housing and neighborhood stability through community-owned land.

Incorporated in 2019, SCLT has earned generous financial support from the city of Somerville and the Somerville Affordable Housing Trust Fund, as well as the Greater Boston Community Land Trust Network and the Massachusetts State Department of Housing and Community Development.

Strominger's hiring comes at a time of growth for SCLT. The organization was recently included as a recipient of funding negotiated by the Union Square Neighborhood Council through a community benefits agreement with DLJ, one of the developers active in Boynton Yards. That financial support, alongside the labor support of a network of more than 100 community volunteers, made the hiring possible, SCLT said in a release.

"We’re thrilled to have Miranda leading Somerville Community Land Trust. She brings deep roots both here in Massachusetts and in the community land trust movement that will position SCLT to succeed," Elizabeth Haney, president of the SCLT board, said in a statement. "Her experience organizing tenants and homeowners as well as moving projects from concept to reality is what SCLT needs to create and preserve affordable CLT housing in Somerville."