Christina Farrell
Senior Program Manager
Christina provides CRS with project management; capacity building for partners; community engagement in and across programs; communications and marketing support; budget planning, evaluation and metrics tracking; and provides leadership in coordination and collaboration with all program implementation partners. Christina supports multiple related initiatives to provide consistent capacity building by maintaining strong, trusted relationships with our community-based partners.
Previously, Christina was a senior planner with the UB Regional Institute where she supported research, communication and program design for the Western NY Regional Economic Development Council (WNY REDC) and their strategic planning initiatives. She assisted Empire State Development in developing, communicating and implementing multiple economic development initiatives including the Better Buffalo Fund, Workforce Development Challenge, Smart Growth Community Fund, and East Side Corridor and Niagara Falls Strategic Economic Development Funds.
Christina draws on prior experience in community and economic development, and public policy. Prior to moving to Buffalo in 2011, the Boston native worked in the Massachusetts public sector for nearly a decade, serving as program officer for two cultural economic development grant programs at the Massachusetts Cultural Council, helping to revitalize communities, spur the development of creative industries, and promote cultural tourism. Garnering experience in policy-making, pubic processes and community engagement right from the start of her career, Christina served as a legislative aide for a state senator who represented neighborhoods in the City of Boston.
Christina holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Boston College and a master’s degree in urban planning from the University at Buffalo, where she received the AICP Outstanding Planning Student Award (2013), the Michael J. Krasner Memorial Scholarship (2012), and was part of the team that won the APA NY Upstate Chapter Outstanding Student Studio Project Award (2013). While pursuing her master’s degree, Christina worked at the Buffalo Urban Development Corporation on planning projects related to the South Buffalo Brownfield Opportunity Area. She was also a research assistant in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning co-authoring journal articles and a book chapter on multi-modal transportation planning for evacuations.