This panel will showcase homeowner stories from the Center’s network partners who do amazing work on the ground as well as highlight how stories can be used to elevate important issues for advocacy, fundraising, and raising awareness of resources available for homeowners. The panel will discuss effective methods to uplift stories and how impactful stories can be in changing policy, programs, or service provision.
Samantha Maldonado is a senior reporter for the local nonprofit news outlet, THE CITY, where she covers climate, resiliency, housing and development. She also teaches at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. She previously covered energy and environmental policy for Politico New Jersey and New York. Her reporting has appeared in the New York Times, the Associated Press and on CNN.
TaNay Mokraoui (she/they) is a Senior Staff Attorney at Brooklyn Legal Services (BLS) Neighborhood Economic Justice Project (NEJP). They are a dedicated attorney focused on racial and economic justice, serving as a fierce advocate for New Yorkers navigating the complex intersections of housing, lending, and systemic inequality. With a commitment to transforming unjust financial and legal structures, TaNay uses her expertise in fair housing and lending to empower individuals and communities, especially those historically disenfranchised. Grounded in a vision of equity and access, they are driven by the belief that dismantling systemic barriers is essential to making homeownership and economic justice attainable for communities of color. TaNay is dedicated to ensuring that the path to economic justice is one where no community is left behind.
Jennifer N. Levy is a Staff Attorney at The Legal Aid Society in Queens within the Foreclosure Prevention unit where she represents homeowners against displacement from their homes in residential foreclosure matters involving predatory lending, abusive mortgage servicing, deed theft, and various forms of real estate and consumer fraud. Prior to joining The Legal Aid Society, Ms. Levy was a Senior Staff Attorney at JASA Legal Services for Elder Justice for seven years where she gained expertise in defending reverse mortgage foreclosures. Ms. Levy teaches CLE courses on reverse mortgage foreclosures on the state and national level as well as for the NYS Unified Court System’s foreclosure judges, referees, and law clerks. Ms. Levy is admitted to practice law in the State of New York and New Jersey, as well as the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York. Jennifer received her J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law in 2010 and her B.A. from New York University in 2001.
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