NLIHC’s Collective is a group of dedicated tenant and community leaders with lived experience of housing insecurity who work to advance housing and racial justice in their communities. NLIHC collaborates with members of the Collective to inform policy priorities so that they best reflect the needs of low-income renters. The inaugural cohort of the Collective (previously known as the Tenant Leader Cohort) was launched in 2022 and was made up of people from across the country who had experience with NLIHC’s federal housing policy advocacy and were established community leaders. The second Collective cohort (2023-2024) consisted of advocates with various areas of expertise and a wide variety of lived experiences, strengthening the group’s power to craft creative solutions and formulate effective advocacy strategies. This summer, members of the second Collective cohort completed their nine-month program, and NLIHC selected members of the third Collective cohort!
Learn about the Collective and Other Efforts to Engage Tenants!
NLIHC Announces Members of the Collective’s Third Cohort!
In July, NLIHC selected members of the third Collective cohort. The new members are as follows:
- Jacob Berry, residential services coordinator, Mercy Housing (WA)
- Diana Blackwell, president, Fred Samuel Resident Association, NYCHA (NY)
- Destiny Brown, founding organizer, Dayon Tenant Union (OH)
- Diana Brown, community advocate and founder, Ossie’s Fair Housing and Homecare (GA)
- April Burns-Norris, founder and executive director, Community Bridges Inc-TN; policy and advocacy chair; Nashville-Davidson County TN CoC (TN)
- Adalky F. Capellán, campaign organizer, Right to Council NYC (NY)
- Kay Carroll, co-chair North Carolina Balance of State Continuum of Care Lived Expertise Advisory Council; at-large member of the North Carolina Balance of State CoC Steering Committee (NC)
- Kia Dupclay, executive director, Free 2 Dream Big (CA)
- Laurin Embry, organizer, Indiana Tenants Association (IN)
- Denell Gibson, state coordinator, ADOSAF California (CA)
- Tiffany Haynes, CEO, Aiden Anthony LLC (DC)
- Sucely Murillo, community activist, advocate, and spokesperson (NJ)
- B. Malaika Rumala, consultant; founding director, People with Lived Experience Institute (CA)
- Alex Santiago, student organizing intern, AFSCME 3299 (CA)
- Suzette Shaw, activist, Standing 4 Black Girls and Women / Women's and Girls Leadership Project (WLP); advocate, California Black Women's Health Project (CBWHP); peer advocate, Mental Health of America (MHA) (CA)
- Michelle Thurston, founding member, Residents Organizing for Change (OR)
- Terria Ware, vice president of supportive services, Anchorage Affordable Housing and Land Trust (AK)
- Ashia Wilson, manager of authentic engagement, Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness (MI)
Each new cohort kicks off with a Collective Retreat, an annual event at which new members build community with each other and NLIHC staff, address racial trauma and healing, and help formulate NLIHC’s policy priorities. Last year, the Collective Retreat was held in Albany, Georgia, at the Resora, a property of New Communities, which was founded by the late Reverend Charles Sherrod and his wife Shirley, revered civil rights trailblazers who were instrumental in creating the first community land trust in the U.S. This year, the Collective Retreat will again be held at the Resora, from October 10-14.
Show Your Support for Tenant Engagement by Endorsing the National Tenants Bill of Rights Today!
Tenant leaders and advocates are invited to show their support of NLIHC’s efforts to engage tenants in housing advocacy by endorsing the National Tenants Bill of Rights! Written with direct input from tenant leaders, people with lived experience of housing instability, housing law experts, and advocates nationwide, the National Tenants Bill of Rights provides a bold, legislative framework to enshrine tenants’ rights throughout their tenancy in private as well as federally assisted properties. NLIHC urges advocates – including individuals, organizations, elected officials, and candidates for elected office – to endorse the National Tenants Bill of Rights today!