March is Women’s History Month, a time to recognize the contributions of women throughout history and in modern society. While much of the history we’re taught centers around men, make no mistake — women and non-binary people have always played an important role in every facet of our society, including in the housing justice movement.
This Women’s History Month, we are highlighting five influential women who are making important contributions to housing justice work in the United States. In no particular order, here are five inspiring housing advocates you need to know about:
1. Rasheedah Phillips | Director of Housing, PolicyLink
Rasheedah Phillips is the Director of Housing for PolicyLink, a national research and action institute advancing racial and economic equity. In this role, Rasheedah leads the institute’s national advocacy to support the growing tenants’ rights, housing, and land use movements in partnership with grassroots partners, movement leaders, industry, and government leaders.
Previously serving as Managing Attorney of Housing Policy at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, Rasheedah has led various housing policy campaigns that resulted in significant legislative changes, including a right to counsel for tenants in Philadelphia, and the Renter’s Access Act, one of the strongest laws in the nation to address blanket ban eviction polices having a disparate impact on renters of color. Rasheedah has trained on racial justice and housing law issues and skills throughout the country, previously serving as the Senior Advocate Resources & Training Attorney at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law.
Rasheedah’s leadership has been recognized with numerous awards, including the 2017 National Housing Law Project Housing Justice Award, the 2017 City & State Pennsylvania 40 Under 40 Rising Star Award, the 2018 Temple University Black Law Student Association Alumni Award, and more. Rasheedah is also an interdisciplinary afrofuturist artist and cultural producer who has exhibited and performed work globally.
2. Sandra Park | Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU Women’s Rights Project
Sandra Park is a senior attorney with the ACLU Women’s Rights Project. Sandra engages in litigation, policy advocacy, and public education at the federal, state, and local levels to advance gender equality and the rights of women and girls. Sandra has advocated for survivors of gender-based violence throughout her legal career. Much of her current work focuses on holding institutions accountable for perpetuating violence and discrimination in housing, law enforcement response, and schools. She has deep expertise in fair housing and has challenged the impact of evictions on women of color and discrimination against survivors of gender-based violence.
Sandra’s efforts have resulted in key precedent promoting the First Amendment, civil rights, and due process rights of survivors. It has also led to the strengthening of the housing protections in the Violence Against Women Act, numerous state laws advancing the housing and employment rights of survivors, and important regulations and guidance from the U.S. Departments of Justice and Housing and Urban Development on gender-biased policing, survivors’ rights in housing, and how local crime-free and nuisance ordinances can violate civil rights law. Most recently, she led the ACLU’s strategy to prevent mass evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic and championed laws adopting the right to counsel for tenants facing eviction.
Sandra currently serves as Board Chair of Girls for Gender Equity, an intergenerational organization that centers the leadership of girls of color, and as a Board Member of the New York City Bar Association. She was selected as a Movement Maker by Move to End Violence, a ten-year initiative of the NoVo Foundation to build the social justice movement in the U.S. to end violence against girls and women. She has published dozens of reports and articles related to the civil and human rights of survivors of gender-based violence.
Previously, she worked at the Legal Aid Society, Bronx Neighborhood Office as a Skadden Fellow and clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in the Southern District of New York. Sandra is a magna cum laude graduate of New York University School of Law and Harvard University.
3. Sara Pratt | Counsel, Relman Colfax PLLC
Sara Pratt is Counsel at Relman Colfax, a national civil rights law firm dedicated to protecting civil rights and enforcing our nation’s civil rights laws. Sara joined the firm in 2015 after her retirement from the federal government. Her civil rights litigation practice focuses on challenges to institutional barriers to access to housing, lending, and insurance, and to policies and practices that discriminate and perpetuate segregation based on race, national origin, and disability under federal civil rights laws.
At Relman Colfax, Sara has represented fair housing organizations and individual clients in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for suspending the implementation of a rule that increases access to rental housing for Section 8 voucher holders. She has developed and negotiated settlements in cases involving lending discrimination, redlining, housing accessibility, and rental discrimination, and is currently representing individuals with disabilities and five fair housing organizations in a lawsuit against a large regional developer. She also has served as an expert witness and consulting expert on a number of cases and has provided training for Congressional staffers, state fair housing organizations, landlords, city officials, and many others on fair housing and civil rights issues.
Previously, Sara was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing Enforcement and Programs and Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary at HUD. She directed HUD’s national civil rights enforcement efforts and led the development of regulations and policy guidance on numerous emerging civil rights issues, including the application of the Fair Housing Act to domestic violence in housing, criminal background criteria for housing, accessibility, and the obligation to affirmatively further fair housing. She helped develop HUD’s final rules on harassment, discriminatory effects, affirmatively furthering fair housing, and the housing-for-older-persons exemption for familial status discrimination. She also led the negotiations for HUD that resulted in the settlement of HUD v. Associated Bank, the agency’s largest lending redlining settlement.
Sara has received numerous awards and recognitions, including an award from former HUD Secretary Julian Castro for Excellence in Performance for leading a team to address maternity and paternity leave discrimination by lenders, a special commendation from the U.S. Department of Justice for outstanding performance, and invaluable assistance in the work of the Civil Rights Division, the 2015 Texas Housers Award, and the Mildred and Richard Loving Award from the Connecticut Fair Housing Center.
4. Marcia Fudge | Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Marcia Fudge currently serves as the 18th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Throughout her career, Secretary Fudge has worked to help low-income families, seniors, and communities across the country.
Secretary Fudge’s career in public service began in the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, rising to the rank of Director of Budget and Finance. She earned her bachelor’s degree in business from The Ohio State University and law degree from the Cleveland State University Cleveland-Marshall School of Law.
In 1999, Secretary Fudge was elected the first female and first African American mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, a position she held for two terms. As mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, she adopted one of the first vacant and abandoned property ordinances in the state. She worked with local officials to develop a taskforce to protect against predatory lending and she secured the inclusion of property maintenance grants in the Warrensville Revitalization Action Plan. Additionally, she brought new residential development to the city and addressed the city’s growing foreclosure crisis through the formation of a local partnership that helped residents maintain the financial security needed to buy or keep a home. As a former mayor, Secretary Fudge has seen firsthand the need for economic development and affordable housing. She prioritized improving the City’s tax base and expanded opportunities for affordable housing.
Secretary Fudge served as U.S. Representative for the 11th Congressional District of Ohio from 2008 to March 9, 2021. She was a member of several Congressional Caucuses and past Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. As a Member of Congress, Secretary Fudge earned a reputation of tackling the unique challenges of her district by working with her Congressional delegation and across political ideologies.
Secretary Fudge believes our housing issues do not fit into a one-size-fits-all approach. We need policies and programs that can adapt to meet a community’s unique housing challenges. She is committed to making the dream of homeownership – and the security and wealth creation that comes with it – a reality for more Americans.
Secretary Fudge is leading HUD in working to eradicate the growing homelessness issue, putting an end to discriminatory practices in the housing market, and ensuring that our fair housing rules are doing what they are supposed to do: opening the door for families who have been systematically locked out for generations to buy homes and have a fair shot at achieving the American dream.
5. Lisa Rice | President & CEO, National Fair Housing Alliance
Lisa Rice serves as President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA). In this role, she leads NFHA’s efforts to advance fair housing principles, preserve and broaden fair housing protections, and expand equal housing opportunities for millions of Americans. NFHA is the trade association for over 170 fair housing and justice-centered organizations and individuals throughout the U.S. and its territories, and is the nation’s only national civil rights agency solely dedicated to eliminating all forms of housing discrimination.
Prior to joining NFHA, Ms. Rice was the President and CEO of the Fair Housing Center of Toledo, Ohio and the Northwest Ohio Development Agency. In this role, she developed the state of Ohio’s first Anti-Predatory Lending Remediation Program.
She played a major role in crafting sections of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and in establishing the Office of Fair Lending within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She also helped lead the investigation and resolution of precedent-setting fair housing cases which have resulted in providing remedies for millions of people as well as the elimination of systemic discriminatory practices involving lending, insurance, rental and zoning matters. Ms. Rice also serves on various Boards and Advisory Councils.
Additionally, Ms. Rice is a published author contributing to several books and journals addressing a range of fair housing issues including: The Fight for Fair Housing: Causes, Consequences, and Future Implications of the 1968 Federal Fair Housing Act; Designed for the Future: 80 Practical Ideas for a Sustainable World; Discriminatory Effects of Credit Scoring on Communities of Color; and From Foreclosure to Fair Lending: Advocacy, Organizing, Occupancy, and the Pursuit of Equitable Credit.
The dedication and commitment to housing justice by these five women — and many who came before them — has undoubtedly helped move us, as a society, closer to equity, fairness, and inclusion. May they serve as an inspiration to us all, as we continue working to advance fair housing and social justice. To quote former First Lady Michelle Obama, “There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.”