Uncrowned Community Builders

Danis Joyce Gehl is the Project Director, University Community Initiative (UCI), a public service project directed toward stabilizing and improving the neighborhoods surrounding the Main Street Campus of the University at Buffalo. Ms. Gehl has spent most of her professional life working in the housing and human services fields. Much of her work has been with block clubs and other grassroots neighborhood organizations. She was the Executive Director of Kensington Bailey Neighborhood Housing Services, the Director of the Family Advocacy Program for Child and Family Services, and the Neighborhood Services Coordinator for the Community Planning Assistance Center of Western New York.

Throughout Ms. Gehl's membership in many neighborhood and community organizations, the development and maintenance of healthy neighborhoods has remained a major area of interest. She was the chairperson of the Oversight Committee for the 1993 Buffalo Common Council Housing Preservation Study, was a member of the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County Needs Assessment Committee, and served on the board of many community organizations. Ms. Gehl sits on the boards of Child and Family Services, the YWCA of Western New York, and Fidelis Care New York. She is active in her parish St. Martin de Porres Roman Catholic Church and is a member of the Leadership Buffalo class of 1999.

Recognized for her expertise in the non-profit sector, Ms. Gehl has given presentations, led workshops, seminars or planning sessions for such organizations as Working for Downtown, the Langston Hughes Cultural Institute, Kensington Bailey Neighborhood Housing Services, the American Planning Association (Western New York Chapter), United Neighborhoods, the Roll Call for Racism and the Erie County Council on Children and Families.

Ms. Gehl has been recognized for her work in housing and neighborhood development by numerous organizations including, the Buffalo Common Council, Buffalo Neighborhood Housing Services, and Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME).

Ms. Gehl received her Bachelor of Arts and Master's degrees from the University at Buffalo where she is currently pursuing a doctorate in Sociology. Ms. Gehl is also lecturer in the UB Millard Fillmore College.