By Dani Patel, NLIHC Strategic Partnerships & Campaigns Intern
NLIHC is excited to welcome Dani Patel as a Fall 2026 Strategic Partnerships & Campaigns Intern.
Dani is a junior pursuing a BS in Public Policy & Law at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her interest in housing began at the local level, where she saw a lack of representation for low-income renters at a city council meeting.
That experience inspired her to tackle nonpartisan voter registration in Illinois, with an emphasis on supporting out-of-school youth who felt disconnected from the civic process through outreach and relationship-building.
Dani is passionate about working in multiple issue areas to better fight for social and racial justice. Previously, she supported the needs of multilingual students as an education policy intern at Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC). Dani looks forward to connecting her prior advocacy experiences as an NLIHC intern to drive both narrative and policy change for low-income renters.