2025 Pittsburgh Housing Justice Summit

About

April 5, 2025, 9:00 - 4:00 PM

Frick Fine Arts Building, University of Pittsburgh Campus
650 Schenley Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15260

Register here

Pittsburgh area residents and others are invited to learn about what’s driving rising housing prices in our communities, how tenants can defend their rights and improve conditions, and how community activists and organizations and elected officials are working to bring new solutions to the deepening crisis of housing insecurity. Although housing is a human right protected under both national and international law, governments haven’t done enough to guarantee all people–especially the most vulnerable– a right to a safe and secure home. We believe that a better city is possible. Be part of the work to realize a city where everyone can enjoy safe, stable and affordable housing.

Schedule

Time	Activity
9:00-9:30AM	Arrival and Registration
9:30-10:00AM	Opening Plenary
10:00-11:15AM	Breakout Session 1
11:15-11:30AM	Break
11:30AM-12:30PM	Keynote speaker, Tracy Rosenthal How tenants can end the affordable housing crisis
12:30-1:30PM	Lunch
1:30-2:45PM	Breakout Session 2
2:45-3:15PM	Planning Next Steps
3:15-3:30PM	Break
3:30-4:00PM	Closing Rally & Action Steps

Tracks

	Breakout Session 1 (10:00-11:15am)	Breakout Session 2 (1:30-2:45pm)
Organizing for Tenant Rights Auditorium	Campaigns & Strategy	Sharing Lessons Across Cities
Affordable Solutions Room 202	Ending the Affordability Crisis: Let’s Get the Profit Motive Out of Housing	Affordable Housing Solutions: Social Housing, Cooperatives, & Community Land Trusts
Governance & Policy Room 203	Strengthening Governance for Housing Justice: Opportunities & Challenges	Framing Housing Debates to Advance Affordable Housing for All
Movement Building Room 204	Art & Culture for Housing Justice	Broadening Movements for Housing Justice

Program

Note, there may be updates to this program as additional details are confirmed.

Breakout Session 1: 10:00-11:15AM
Tenant Organizing: Campaigns & Strategy Learn about what's happening in Pittsburgh to advance tenant organizing and advocacy work. Hear about tenant struggles and how folks are coming together to build tenant power and fight back against abusive landlords and escalating housing costs. How can we work together to improve the lives of city residents? Facilitator: Mallory Brangan, Pittsburgh Tenant Organizing Committee Panelists: Brooke Christy, Equal Justice Works Fellow, Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services; Matt Rubin, Allegheny County Lead Organizer, OnePA; Kiearra Fairweather, Renters United Allegheny Organizing Committee; Emilia Morris, Co-Chair, Pitt Renters First Committee & Intern, Commission on Human Relations
Ending the Affordability Crisis: Let’s Get the Profit Motive out of Housing How can we advance new policies and tools for stemming rising housing costs and expanding the supply of permanently affordable housing in our region? What work is being done to advance housing as a human right, not a commodity, and put an end to mass displacement of our priced-out neighbors? Facilitator: Dr. Jackie Smith, Human Rights City Alliance & Professor of Sociology, University of Pittsburgh Panelists: Omer Ali, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Pittsburgh; Bob Damewood, Senior Staff Attorney, Regional Housing Legal Services; Sabina Deitrick, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs Codirector of the Urban and Regional Analysis Program at the University Center for Social and Urban Research, University of Pittsburgh; Carl Redwood, Community Organizer, Hill District Consensus Group
Strengthening Governance for Housing Justice: Opportunities & Challenges What's happening in City and County government that can help expand support for the permanently affordable housing needed to sustain healthy and vibrant communities? How can housing justice advocates support local leaders working to make housing a human right for all? Facilitator: Dr. Michael Goodhart, Human Rights City Alliance & Professor of Political Science, University of Pittsburgh Panelists: Ed Nusser, Director of Housing Strategy, Office of Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato; Barb Warwick, City Councilmember, District 5; Dr. Jamil Bey, Director of City Planning; Dr. Noble Maseru, Professor of Public Health Practice and Director, Social Justice, Racial Equity and Faculty Engagement in the Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh; Appointee, Allegheny County Health Department Housing Advisory Board
Art & Culture for Housing Justice How can we tap the creative potential of Pittsburgh's residents to bring art and culture into our housing justice work? How have activists been using art and culture to expand the base of support for housing justice in our region? What roles can Pittsburgh’s artistic communities play in helping us advance housing as a human right for all? Participants: Miracle Jones, Visual Artist and Director of Policy and Advocacy, 1Hood Media; Dr. Daniel McClymonds, May Day Band & Visiting Lecturer, Pitt Department of Sociology; Blaine Siegel, Public Programs Manager, Carnegie Museum of Art; Dr. Caitlin Bruce, Public Art Researcher and Programmer & Associate Professor, Pitt Department of Communication

Breakout Session 2: 1:30-2:45PM
Tenant organizing: Sharing Lessons Across Cities What can Pittsburgh activists learn from the struggles of tenants in other cities? Hear about successes and analyses emerging from the work of communities to build a cross-city movement for tenant rights, including student tenants. Facilitator: Jeremy Sabo, Pittsburgh Tenant Organizing Committee & Co-chair, Pittsburgh DSA Housing Justice Committee Panelists: Tracy Rosenthal, Los Angeles Tenant Union; Jala Rucker, Co-Chair, Pittsburgh Housing Justice Table, Community Organizer, Pittsburgh Union of Regional Renters, Board Member, Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh
Affordable Housing Solutions: Social Housing, Cooperatives, & Community Land Trusts In Pittsburgh and other cities, new models of affordable housing are emerging. Learn how local organizers are advancing permanently affordable, community-controlled housing through social housing, limited equity cooperatives (LECs), and community land trusts (CLTs), and how residents can help build and support these initiatives. Facilitator: Dr. Jackie Smith, Human Rights City Alliance and Professor of Sociology, University of Pittsburgh Panelists: LaKeisha Wolf, Executive Director, Ujamaa Collective, Board Member, Hill District Federal Credit Union, Co-founder, National Association of Black Cooperators; Carl Redwood, Community Organizer, Hill District Consensus Group; Randall Taylor, Human Rights City Alliance; Stephanie Dangel, Pitt Law, Greening Vacant Lots project
Framing Housing Debates to Advance Affordable Housing for All What are some of the forces driving the divisive, hostile pushback against some initiatives for affordable, supportive, and public housing? How can we organize better to resist NIMBYism and other divide-and-conquer strategies and encourage communities to welcome affordable housing development in their neighborhoods? Facilitator: Dr. Stephanie Love, Assistant Professor, Pitt Department of Anthropology and Urban Studies Panelists: Dave Breingan, Executive Director, Lawrenceville United and Co-Chair, Pittsburgh Housing Justice Table; Laura Chu Wiens, Executive Director, Pittsburghers for Public Transit; Chris Soult, Deputy Director, Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations; Megan Hammond, Chief Operating Officer, Fair Housing Partnership of Greater Pittsburgh
Broadening Movements for Housing Justice This panel brings together powerful voices working to build a region that works for everyone. What are the opportunities and challenges in fostering cross-community solidarity to build power and support the transformative solutions we need? Facilitator: Dr. Hillary Lazar, Teaching Assistant Professor, Pitt Department of Sociology Panelists: Jaime Martinez, Community Defense Organizer, Casa San Jose; Dena Stanley, Co-Director, QMNTY Center & Founder, TransYOUniting; Emily Howe, Pittsburghers for Public Transit; Jason Beery, Principal and Director, Equitable and Just Greater Pittsburgh