Housing Justice Leadership Institute
New York Law School’s Housing Justice Leadership Institute (HJLI) is a national leader in building capacity and leadership within housing justice education across the country.
HJLI is rooted in the belief that housing is a human right. The Institute centers the essential role of lawyers in community-led housing justice movements. Launched alongside the nation’s first Right to Counsel (RTC) law for tenants, HJLI strengthens housing justice education and supports students, attorneys, supervisors, and clinical educators across the country.
Professors Kim Hawkins and Andrew Scherer serve as the Institute’s Co-Directors, and Professor Erica Braudy serves as the Program Manager. Kerri-Ann Wright is the HJLI’s Curriculum Consultant and Strategic Advisor, Marika Dias is the Lead Advisor and Training Facilitator, and Alisha Harvin is the Senior Administrative Assistant.
HJLI’s Supervisor Training is a dynamic training program that builds leadership, supervision, and management skills for housing rights supervisors in New York City. The priority deadline is December 10, 2025. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis after the deadline.
Housing Justice Leadership Institute Supervisor Training
HJLI’s Supervisor Training is designed to help housing justice supervisors lead, manage, and support attorneys and legal workers in delivering the highest-quality legal assistance to tenants facing eviction.
Program Information and Application
The program equips supervisors to build their capacity and step into their roles as mentors, managers, and leaders with confidence. It strengthens their skills to harness tenant power through the RTC–protecting against eviction, stemming the tide of gentrification, advancing the development of affordable housing, and recognizing and confronting the racialized nature of housing exclusion, instability, and segregation.
The HJLI Supervisor Training is a six-day, in-person initiative held at New York Law School (NYLS) from January 29, 2026, through March 13, 2026. Applications open on October 27, 2025. The deadline to apply is December 10, 2025. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis after that date if space allows.
The 2026 HJLI NYC Supervisor Training will mark the eighth cohort since 2017, building on a program that has already trained more than 175 housing rights supervisors across New York City. The re-envisioned program features an updated curriculum developed from the insights of participating legal services organizations and graduates of the program.
Participants receive CLE credit for attendance and a certificate from NYLS upon successful completion.
The HJLI Supervisor Training is offered at no cost thanks to the generous support of the City Bar Justice Center and New York State’s Interest on Lawyer Account (IOLA) program.
Housing Justice Leadership Institute Pipeline Project
The Pipeline Project strengthens the pathway from law school to housing justice practice by supporting collaboration, expanding training opportunities, and building a national community of educators and advocates. Strengthening this pipeline—from law school to practice—not only advances law schools’ missions to promote justice, serve underserved communities, and prepare students for meaningful careers, but is also essential to the success of the Right to Counsel movement.
Partnerships and Pipeline Development
The Project supports partnerships between clinical educators and legal services organizations to build a sustainable pipeline of law students who will lead and expand the practice of housing justice law. These partnerships advance the Right to Counsel movement, increase representation for tenants, and help ensure that critical housing justice positions do not go unfilled. Expanding housing justice clinics and experiential learning equips students with practical litigation and advocacy skills while creating clear pathways into a growing field.
National Report and Research
The Project released Building the Housing Justice Pipeline: Law Schools’ Role in the Right to Counsel Movement, the first nationwide survey of law school programs focused on housing justice and tenants’ rights. The report maps the current landscape of housing justice clinical education and identifies opportunities for growth across the country.
Community of Educators and Advocates
The Project has established a network of more than 100 housing justice educators and over 60 law schools and organizations engaged in tenants’ rights work. This community shares teaching resources, job opportunities, and pedagogical strategies to strengthen the national pipeline of housing justice advocates.
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Wilf Impact Center for Public Interest Law • T 212.431.2314 • E wilfimpactcenter@nyls.edu