Who did you meet with today?
Today, we met with Mary Grace Houlihan, Jennifer Afdahl Rice, and Michele Wray Khateri.
Where do they work? What does the company do?
Mary Grace, Jennifer, and Michele work for Blueprint. Mary Grace is the Northern California Project Director, Jennifer is the Executive Director for Northern California, and Michele is the Director of Fundraising and Strategic Initiatives. Blueprint is a real estate development firm, managing all aspects of facilities projects—site search, design, construction, and financing. Working alongside charter school partners, it has created 55,800 charter school seats and helped improve students’ education.
What did you learn today? What were some highlights?
Today, we learned about the field of real estate development, learning about all the different factors that go into making a single project. We learned about factors like social, economic, and environmental.
What insights did you gain into the field of real estate development?
I gained insight into the field of real estate development by learning that planning can require buildings to look similar and have a theme, thanks to zoning. I know why now. I would also say that I received more insight into how sites are selected and what factors decide whether they meet the standard or not, for example, the approval of neighbors or the soil (if it has chemicals or if it is not stable enough). Overall, I got to learn many factors involved in deciding if a site is acceptable enough.
What did you find the most interesting about the field in the field after today?
After today, what I found most interesting was learning about the background of Blueprint and learning about their impact, learning about how much they have helped communities and allowed students at charter schools to receive an education.
Photos: Chris Bautista, Spring Intern
