Aaron Bartley

Aaron Bartley is the co-founder of People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH Buffalo), which mobilizes residents to create sustainable neighborhoods with quality affordable housing, green jobs and next generation infrastructure.   In 2011, PUSH's Green Development Zone, which combines green housing, job training, stormwater management and urban agriculture in a district on Buffalo's West Side, was named the winner of the global Sustainable Housing competition sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation, the Brazilian Ministry of Cities and HUD. Aaron grew up in Buffalo and attended Buffalo Public Schools.  He is a graduate of Swarthmore College and Harvard Law School, where he co-founded the Harvard Living Wage Campaign, which resulted in $10 million in annual wage and benefit increases for the low-income campus workers it represented. In 2011, Aaron was appointed by Governor Andrew Cuomo to the WNY Regional Economic Development Council, which is now charged with investing $1 billion in state funds to revitalize Buffalo's economy. Aaron writes columns on cities and community organizing at Huffington Post.