Chester Hartman

Poverty & Race Research Action Council

Phil Tegeler

Poverty & Race Research Action Council

Judith Liben

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute

Diane L. Houk

Fair Housing Justice Center of HELP USA

Diane L. Houk has been the Executive Director of the Fair Housing Justice Center of HELP USA based in New York City since 2004.  She is one of the nation’s leading fair housing attorneys with twenty-four years experience in the field.  After graduating from Columbia University School of Law, Ms. Houk worked in private practice for seven years in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as lead plaintiff’s counsel in more than 100 civil rights cases alleging race, national origin, sex, including sexual harassment, disability, family and marital status, and sexual orientation discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations.  She joined the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, DC in 1991 where she worked as a Senior Trial Attorney and then Special Litigation Counsel in the Housing Section until 2004.  At the Justice Department, Ms. Houk concentrated her work on challenging race and national origin discrimination in local land use practices, including zoning, building and occupancy codes, redevelopment plans, and subsidized housing programs.  She currently serves as adjunct faculty at Columbia Law School where she teaches an externship on fair housing law and policy.