Staff

Jim Campen

Executive Director

Jim Campen is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where he is currently a Senior Research Associate at the Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy.  Jim serves on the boards of the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston and the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, is a member of the Mortgage Lending Committee of the Massachusetts Community and Banking Council, and was a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Community Development Advisory Council from 1996-98.  His publications include numerous studies of mortgage lending, particularly in Boston and Massachusetts.  He has a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.  

Kirsten Keefe

Founding Executive Director

Kirsten Keefe is the Founding Executive Director of Americans for Fairness in Lending.  She works as an attorney with the Empire Justice Center, a non-profit legal services organization, where she practices consumer law.  Kirsten is a frequent trainer of counselors and lawyers on consumer law issues.  Prior to returning to her hometown in upstate New York, she worked in the Consumer Housing Unit of Community Legal Services, Inc. (CLS) in Philadelphia, PA.  Kirsten is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and the Beasley School of Law at Temple University. She also served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand. 

Sarah Byrnes

Campaign Manager

Sarah has worked in a variety of educational and faith-based non-profits in the past, including the Center of Concern, the Thomas Merton Center, Bidwell Training Center, and the Vincentian Service Corps.  She also worked at the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Pittsburgh.  Sarah earned a Bachelor’s degree at Boston College and a Masters of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, where she focused on comparative social and economic ethics.

Jessica Wheeler

Campaign Assistant

Jessica Wheeler is originally from southeastern North Carolina, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.  Since moving to Boston she has been active in Massachusetts politics, volunteering with activist campaigns and organizations such as the Mass Free Ballot Campaign, MassEquality and Greenpeace. She has also worked in the Massachusetts State House, interning for Senator Patricia Jehlen.