Her Story
About Micah
Micah Avery serves as a project coordinator at the Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership, where she supports individuals with rental assistance and helps low-income, underserved communities secure and maintain housing. Now in her third year in the field, she also co-chairs the Baltimore City Youth Action Board, distributing resources to youth experiencing housing instability and connecting them to job trainings and support services. Additionally, Avery is a new Board of Directors member for the Episcopal Housing Corporation, contributing to real estate development for affordable housing buildings. She volunteers at Paul's Place, a drop-in homeless shelter offering showers, meals, and document storage. Avery completed her bachelor's degree in three years and her master's degree in one year at Stony Brook University before beginning her PhD program in public policy, with a specialization in urban development and housing.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Micah
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would definitely say resilience. There's gonna be a lot of obstacles and challenges. It's honestly about how much you can interpret these obstacles as learning opportunities. If you can walk away from every single hardship and say, what did I learn? You won. There's no losing. You either win something, or you learn from it. Never taking no for an answer. If I keep getting a no, I'm asking the wrong person. Being able to just pivot.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say realized something that I had to really realize early on... I have nothing to prove and everything to learn. It couldn't be about showing the people around me... Instead of focusing so much on that... it really became, how do I soak up everything that these people have to show me? How do I become a fly on the wall... Having nothing to prove and everything to learn.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think compromise is always going to be one of those things, especially working in policy... Everybody has a different opinion as to what's best for the community... realizing that everybody has something to say that's worth value... how to work together better with people, how we can all be on a consensus, and keeping the mission in mind more than the specifics.
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