Francis Antonio is NHLP’s Director of Operations and Technology. He works closely with the Chief Operating Officer and accounting team, to manage day-to-day accounting operations. He is responsible for the overall planning, organizing, and execution of NHLP’s IT functions and oversees administrative and operational activities. Francis joined NHLP because he believes in the organization’s mission to advance housing justice for poor people and communities.

Eric Dunn is a national expert on tenants’ rights and consumer law issues, including subsidized housing and criminal and eviction records. Prior to NHLP, Eric was an attorney with the Virginia Poverty Law Center, the Northwest Justice Project in Seattle, and the Legal Aid & Defender Association of Detroit. He has been involved in a number of significant cases.  Hendrix v. Seattle Housing Authority and Shepherd v. Weldon Mediation Services, Inc. led to significant improvements in the administrative hearing protections for termination from federally subsidized housing. Resident Action Council v. Seattle Housing Authority vindicated the free speech rights of public housing tenants to post signs on their doors and windows. Downtowner Tenants Association v. Seelig stopped the owner of a HUD-subsidized building from raising rents or displacing tenants after the Rent Supplement contract expired, forcing a sale to a new owner who maintained the building as affordable housing. Simmons v. T.M. Associates Management, Inc. found that a landlord may have a duty to overlook a rental applicant’s disability-related criminal conviction as a reasonable accommodation under the Fair Housing Act, and Arroyo v. Corelogic Rental Property Solutions, LLC established that consumer reporting agencies are subject to the Fair Housing Act when they engage in tenant-screening activities. In Handlin v. On-Site Manager, Inc., the court upheld a rental applicant’s right to obtain a full and complete disclosure of a tenant-screening report that a landlord obtained about the applicant. Indigo Real Estate Services v. Rousey established a right for a domestic violence survivor to have an eviction case record sealed. Eric also was a lead counsel in Smith v. Wasatch Property Management, Inc., which challenged a landlord’s policy of categorically denying admission to applicants with eviction records, by alleging an unlawful discriminatory effect on African-American women. Smith, which settled in 2017, is believed to be the first fair housing case ever filed based on the discriminatory impact of eviction records.

Johanna Kichton is NHLP’s Director of Communications. She shapes and shares the story of NHLP’s fight for a just housing system by overseeing all organizational communications. She got her press chops on the Hill working for a Democratic senator and with People’s Action and the Homes Guarantee campaign. She loves disrupting corporate media narratives and helping build the power of tenants and low-income homeowners.

Wendy Mahoney works in Publications and Administration at the National Housing Law Project providing customer service to NHLP’s publication subscribers, accounting, and sales.  She oversees administrative services maintaining advocacy listserv support, and providing administrative and database support to attorneys and staff.

Natalie N. Maxwell is the Managing Attorney at the National Housing Law Project. Natalie’s work at NHLP focuses on preserving rural housing (with a focus on USDA’s housing programs), preserving housing for low-income tenants impacted by disasters, and protecting and expanding the fair housing rights of low-income tenants and communities. Prior to joining NHLP, Natalie worked in the Florida legal aid delivery system, where she engaged in community lawyering to support community-based groups working for social, economic, and racial justice; engaged in state and local policy advocacy; and conducted litigation on behalf of low-income individuals and communities involving housing preservation, housing discrimination, disability rights, and public benefits. She also worked as an assistant public defender in Florida’s Fifth Judicial Circuit representing indigent clients in felony and misdemeanor trials. Natalie began her legal career as a 2005 Equal Justice Works Fellow, developing and engaging in legal strategies to increase access to accessible and affordable housing for low-income Floridians with disabilities. She is a graduate of the University of Florida and earned her law degree from the American University, Washington College of Law.

Noëlle Porter is NHLP’s Director of Government Affairs.  She is responsible for managing relationships with Congress and the Administration, organizational policy priority development, and strategic advocacy planning and execution. She works closely with all of NHLP’s attorneys to monitor and influence federal legislation and regulations. Prior to joining NHLP, Noëlle managed congressional relations for the National Alliance to End Homelessness after beginning her career in health policy. While earning her Master of Public Health from the University of South Florida, Noëlle worked as a case manager for a homeless services provider in Tampa.

Shamus Roller has been the Executive Director of NHLP since November 2016.  Before joining NHLP, Shamus served as the executive director of Housing California, a statewide advocacy organization working on issues of housing and homelessness.  During his time at Housing California the organization’s advocacy led to over five billion dollars in new funding for affordable development and a host of new programs and policies.  He helped start the Residents United Network, which organizes residents in affordable developments. Previous to that he was the executive director of the Sacramento Housing Alliance, a regional housing and homelessness advocacy organization. He started his career running street outreach programs for people that are homeless and ran a meditation and yoga program for incarcerated youth.  He serves on the boards of the California Association of Nonprofits and Brilliant Corners.

Bridgett A. Simmons is a Staff Attorney at NHLP.  Her work focuses on the preservation of HUD-subsidized multifamily housing, healthy housing, and voucher use. Bridgett joined NHLP in September 2017 as the second David B. Bryson Fellow. As the Bryson Fellow, Bridgett managed the editing process for the 5th edition of HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights, also known as the “Green Book.” Bridgett is a 2017 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center (GULC) and a 2011 graduate of Florida A&M University (FAMU). While at GULC, Bridgett participated in the Harrison Institute’s Affordable Housing Transactions clinic, assisting District residents in operating a multi-family housing property purchased via the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act. Bridgett also served as a student teacher in the Street Law: High School clinic and as a Law Clerk for Community Law Center (CLC) in Baltimore, Maryland. As a student at FAMU, Bridgett actively participated in campaigns aimed at increasing student political participation.

Lauren D. Song is a Senior Staff Attorney at NHLP.  She works on affordable housing preservation, and helps to build campaigns to support legal and organizing partners and tenants to preserve their federally assisted housing, advance racial equity through tenant-centered advocacy, and improve housing conditions and tenant rights. Prior to NHLP, Lauren worked for over 15 years at Greater Boston Legal Services where she partnered with many grassroots community-based organizations, low-income tenant organizations, and public agencies to ensure the one-for-one redevelopment of thousands of severely distressed federal and state public housing units into inclusive mixed-finance, mixed-income communities through participatory development processes; to collaborate on anti-displacement legislative campaigns and neighborhood-specific litigation to defend BIPOC communities targeted by corporate speculators; and to leverage building-wide direct representation of post-foreclosure homeowners and tenants to stabilize and protect vulnerable communities during the foreclosure crisis. A first-generation immigrant from Korea who is proud to be the first in her family to attend college (Yale), Lauren began her legal career after Harvard Law School as a Soros Justice Fellow, committed to empowering immigrant victims of domestic violence to enforce their rights under the Violence Against Women Act. Lauren was also a PhD candidate in Human Development at the University of Chicago where she spent 10 years marveling on the diverse resiliency of high-risk, low-income teens of color.

Deborah Thrope is the Deputy Director of the National Housing Law Project. Deborah’s work focuses on federal, state, and local policy advocacy to preserve affordable housing and tenants’ rights. She provides training and technical assistance to advocates working with low-income tenants and serves as an advisor and editor of NHLP’s seminal publication, HUD Housing Programs: Tenants Rights. Deborah has testified before Congress about increasing economic mobility in the Housing Choice Voucher program and improving living conditions for public housing residents. Before joining NHLP, Deborah was a senior attorney at the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley and represented clients with disabilities facing eviction and civil commitment.