Rosanne Haggerty is the founder of Common Ground Community a not-for-profit housing development and management organization in New York City, which provides innovative housing opportunities for homeless adults.

Common Ground is the largest developer of supportive housing in the United States. The organisation’s work has been widely imitated both in the US and abroad.

Rosanne identifies four factors that make supportive housing successful:

1. attractive, functional well-designed buildings
2. the provision of attentive but non-compulsory on-site services
3. the demographic and economic mixture of the tenancy offering a different environment from shelters catering for the homeless
4. strong, hands-on management presence in the buildings.

Rosanne received her BA from Amherst College, USA, and is currently pursuing an MA at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Historic Preservation. Prior to founding Common Ground in 1990, she was the coordinator of housing development at Brooklyn Catholic Charities. In addition to her role as executive director of Common Ground, Rosanne serves as a trustee of Amherst College and the Folger Shakespeare Library, a director of the Times Square Business Improvement District and of the Dwelling Place Women's Shelter. She is a board member of New York City's Citizens Housing and Planning Council, and of the Centre for Urban Community Services.

Rosanne as a leading creator of solutions to homelessness in the United States applies her expertise in real estate, finance, management and strategic planning to address the unique challenges of housing low-income or otherwise disadvantaged residents.

Rosanne lived and worked in South Australia as an Adelaide Thinker in Residence in two stages; the first from 4 to 23 March 2005, and the second from 26 June until 14 July 2006.

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