Rolan Joni Young helps commercial developers, lenders, public housing authorities, and community healthcare organizations shepherd development projects from conception to completion. From assisting with site selection to negotiating construction contracting and financing to addressing land use and zoning compliance, she navigates clients through the process of building consensus and support for these projects, including public/private partnerships necessary for successful completion. These clients have included six public housing authorities, a large federally qualified community health center, and for-profit and non-profit developers.
She represents clients in addressing a full range of commercial real estate, affordable housing, community and economic development, healthcare regulatory, and public and municipal law matters. In her legal and community work, Rolan has championed important social justice initiatives that have helped remove obstacles and advance transformative projects benefitting disadvantaged communities.
As a community leader, her accomplishments include serving as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority from 2006-2011 and as a former Chair of the Board and board member of the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. She served as the first woman President of the Greater New Haven NAACP and was a member of the Executive Board of the NAACP Connecticut State Conference.
Rolan currently serves as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of New Haven Bank, a community bank and community development financial institution, and is a member of the Greater New Haven Chapter of The Links, Incorporated. She is actively involved in the statewide community and has been a member of the Dixwell Congregational United Church of Christ since 1960.
A frequent lecturer, Rolan has spoken on community and private development and community healthcare topics and was a visiting lecturer at Yale University Law School.
