Pre-Forum Events

7:30 - 8:30 am

8:30 am - 12 pm

NLIHC State and Tribal Partners Meeting (Invitation Only)

Tenant Leaders Session

12 - 1 pm

NLIHC Housing Policy Forum 2023

1 - 1:20 pm

Getting Started: NLIHC Board Leadership & 
Resources for Advocates

Speakers:

• Dora Leong Gallo – NLIHC board of directors (chair)
• Loraine Brown – NLIHC board of directors

1:20 - 1:45 pm

Onward to Housing Justice

Diane Yentel – NLIHC, President and CEO

1:45 - 2:45 pm

Keynote Speaker – Matthew Desmond

Book Launch of Poverty, by America

2:45 - 3:30 pm

Special Remarks – Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II 

Greetings from Members of Congress (Video) – Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY); Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

3:35 -4:00 pm

Break

Book Signing – Matthew Desmond

3:45 - 5 pm

Breakout Sessions:

Homelessness is a Housing Problem: Best Practices in Housing First

Speakers:

• Clayton Page Aldern – co-author of Homelessness is a Housing Problem 
• Ana Rausch – VP of Program Operations, Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County 
• Claudine Sipili – Director of Lived Experience and Innovation, Destination: Home 
• Moderator: Alayna Calabro – Senior Policy Analyst, NLIHC

Building Tenant Protections in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Program

Speakers:

• Marcos Segura – Staff Attorney, National Housing Law Project
• Glenda Krouse Matute – Georgia State University 
• Faruq Hussein-Bey – Resident Services Coordinator, National Housing 
• Moderator: Dan Emmanuel – Senior Research Analyst, NLIHC

Expanding the Multisector Affordable Housing Movement

Speakers:

• Sarah Hassmer – Director of Housing Justice, National Women’s Law Center 
• Sam Washington – Policy Associate, Civil Rights Corps 
• Hale Crumley – Coalition Coordinator, Prosperity Indiana 
• Dr. Aura Obando – American Academy of Pediatrics
• Moderator: Chantelle Wilkinson – National Campaign Manager, NLIHC

Tenant Leaders Advancing Housing Justice

Speakers:

• Dee Ross – Founder and CEO, The Ross Foundation
• Mattye Berry-Evans – Resident Action Project
• Taylar Nuevelle – Executive Director, Who Speaks for Me? 
• Moderator: Sid Betancourt – Housing 
  Advocacy Organizer, NLIHC

5:15 - 6:30 pm

7:30 - 8:30 am

8:30 - 8:40 am

Welcome Back!
Russell “Rusty” Bennett – NLIHC board of 
directors

8:40 - 9:20 am

Conversations with Administration Officials

Speakers:

• Director Sandra Thompson – Federal Housing Finance Agency
• Sarah Saadian – NLIHC SVP for Public Policy and Field Organizing
• Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo – Department of the Treasury
• Moises Loza – NLIHC board of directors, former executive director of the Housing Assistance Council

9:30 - 10:45 am

Breakout Sessions:

Capitol Hill Insiders Panel

Speakers:

• Alia Fierro – Director of Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, Office of House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA)
• Beth Cooper – Professional Staff Member, Office of Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Chair Sherrod Brown (D-OH) (invited)
• Neil Siefring – Hilltop Advocacy LLC
• Moderator: Kim Johnson – Public Policy Manager, NLIHC

Racial Equity in Practice

Speakers:

• Pascale Leone – Executive Director, Supportive Housing Network of New York 
• Cathy Albisa – Vice President of Institutional and Sectoral Change, Race Forward
• Ramona Ferreyra – Advocate, Save Section 9 & Founder of Ojala Threads
• Moderator: Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins –Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Director of Policy & Partnerships, Vice President of Strategies, North Star Strategies

Achieving Affordable Housing Solutions in Native and Rural Areas

Speakers:

• Sharon Vogel – Executive Director, Cheyenne River Housing Authority and NLIHC board of directors
• Stephanie Isaacs – Founder, Bedford County Listening Project 
• Jonathan Harwitz – Director of Public Policy, Housing Assistance Council (HAC)
• Mel Willie – Director of Native Partnerships and Strategy, NeighborWorks America 
• Moderator: Kayla Laywell – Housing Policy Analyst, NLIHC

Status of Evictions and Eviction Prevention Work

Speakers:

• Emily Benfer – Professor of Clinical Law, George Washington University Law School; Visiting Research Collaborator, Eviction Lab, Princeton University 
• Samira Nazem – Principal Court Management Consultant, National Center for State Courts
• Michelle Mapp – Equal Justice Works Law Fellow at ACLU of South Carolina, sponsored by Alston & Bird Racial Justice Fund 
• Andrew Bradley – Policy Director, Prosperity Indiana and NLIHC board of directors
• Moderator: Sarah Gallagher – Senior Project Director for ERASE, NLIHC

10:45 - 11 am

11 am - 12 pm

Greetings from Members of Congress (Video)

• Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
• Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) – Chair, Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development

Presentation of Organizing Awards and Best 
Practices in State/Local Organizing

Presentation of Awards: Chrishelle Palay – Director, HOME Coalition and NLIHC board of directors

Speakers:

• Vanny Veras – Tenant Organizer, Miami Workers Center 
• Devetria Stafford – Tenant Organizer, Miami Workers Center 
• Michael Chavarria – Executive Director, Hope Fair Housing Center 
• Sharon Norwood – Housing Justice Organizer, Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance
• Moderator: Courtney Cooperman – Housing Advocacy Organizer, NLIHC 

Best Practices in State and Local Organizing

Learn More about the Organizing Awards

12 - 1:15 pm

1:15 - 2:30 pm

IDEAS into Action

Speakers:

• Diane Yentel – NLIHC, President and CEO
• Renee Willis – NLIHC, SVP, Racial Equity

Discussion Speakers:

• Zella Knight – Member Leader, Residents United Network LA, Board Member & Tenant Leader Cohort Member, NLIHC, Resident, Los Angeles, CA
• Loraine Brown – President Emeritus, 334 East 92nd Street Tenant Association, Board Member & Tenant Leader Cohort Member, NLIHC, Resident, New York, NY
• Mindy Woods – Member Leader, Resident Action Project, Board Member & Tenant Leader Cohort Member, NLIHC, Resident, Seattle, WA
• Moderator: Secretary Marcia L. Fudge – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

2:30 - 3:15 pm

Achieving Housing Justice

Speakers:

• Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) 
• Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) 

3:15 - 3:45 pm

3:45 - 5 pm

Breakout Sessions:

Countering the Criminalization of Homelessness

Speakers:

• Carlton Martin – Pro Bono Director, National Homelessness Law Center 
• Donald Whitehead Jr. – Executive Director, National Coalition for the Homeless 
• Lisa Glow – CEO, Central Arizona Shelter Services 
• Marqueia Watson – Executive Director, Greater Kansas City Coalition to End Homelessness 
• Moderator: Sarah Saadian – SVP for Public Policy and Field Organizing, NLIHC

Effective Messaging and Communications Strategies to Advance Housing Justice

Speakers:

• Halley Holmes – Sr. Director of Communications, The Coalition for Nonprofit Housing & Economic Development
• Tom Murphy – Sr. Director of Communications, National Alliance to End Homelessness
• Deidre (Dee Dee) Swensik – Director of Communications, National Housing Law Project
• Nanci Flores – Media Relations Manager, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
• Moderator: Renee Willis – SVP for Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, NLIHC

Rights, Retreats, and Red Tape: In Pursuit of a Just Disaster Recovery

Speakers:

• Ariadna Michelle Godreau Aubert – Founder and Executive Director, Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico
• Chrishelle Palay – Director, HOME Coalition 
• Hannah Perls – Staff Attorney, Harvard Law School Environmental and Energy Law Program 
• David Wheaton – Economic Justice Policy Fellow, NAACP 
• Moderator: Noah Patton – Senior Policy Analyst for Disaster Recovery, NLIHC

Achieving Permanent Renter Protections

Speakers:

• Rasheedah Phillips – Director of Housing, PolicyLink
• Erika Poethig – Special Assistant to the President for Housing and Urban Policy, White House Domestic Policy Council 
• Zella Knight – Board Member, Activist, Residents United Network, and NLIHC board of directors 
• Foluke Akanni – Housing Policy Organizer, Housing Action Illinois 
• Moderator: Geraldine Collins – President, National Alliance of HUD Tenants, and NLIHC board of directors

6 - 8:30 pm

NLIHC Leadership Awards Presentation and Reception (separate ticket from the Forum 
required) 
Learn More