Hilda Chavis started her career as a housing activist in 1988 with the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition. The NWBCCC is a coalition of neighborhood organizations and churches which work on housing development, organizing and code enforcement, and on other community issues.  Hilda recently returned to housing work after a 4 year hiatus due to illness.  She now serves as co-chair of the NWBCCC housing committee and focuses her activism on Housing Here & Now and NY VOTE.

Linda Daniels was the president of her tenant association when she came to Met Council for help.  Since then she has moved twice, continuing to fulfill leadership positions in her next two homes, and worked as a tenant and community organizer for the Abyssinian Development Corporation.  ADC,  formed in the mid-1980’s, was an outgrowth of the Abyssinian Baptist Church under the leadership of Rev. Calvin Butts and the concern of congregants for both the lack of affordable housing in Central Harlem and the need to rebuild the neighborhood. Linda currently lives in a building owned by ADC and works for the city as a case worker helping disabled tenants. 

Jackie Del Valle (Secretary) is the Lead Housing Organizer for New Settlement Apartments in the Bronx. New Settlement Apartments develops and manages affordable housing, operates numerous youth development programs and has an emerging and increasingly powerful Community Organizing capacity. They have achieved much success in education reform and have recently begun a tenant organizing initiative which Jackie coordinates. She resides in Manhattan with her husband and is also pursuing her Masters degree in Urban Planning at Hunter College.

Rick Echevarria is currently the Associate Director of the Bushwick Housing Independence Project, a tenants’ organizing and advocacy initiative located in Bushwick, Brooklyn that aims to combat the forces of gentrification that have led to the threatened housing displacement of low-income residents within the Bushwick community.  Rick is a life-long resident of the Bushwick community.

Jennifer Flynn is the executive director of New York City Aids Housing Network.  NYCAHN is a membership organization led by low-income people living with HIV/AIDS working in a coalition with nonprofit housing providers and AIDS service organizations.  NYCAHN's mission is to advocate for more housing, better housing and sound public policies for all people living with HIV/AIDS.

Artemio Guerra is the director of organizing at the Fifth Avenue Committee. FAC develops and manages affordable housing, organizes tenants and workers, fights displacement and runs a job development program for the neighborhoods of South Brooklyn.

Vajra Kilgour (Vice Chair) is associate producer & co-host of Housing Notebook (Met Council's radio show on WBAI) and is the translator for Tenant/Inquilino, Met Council's newspaper.  She is also a producer of the Community Bulletin Board at WBAI and a member of the Local Station Board. 

Vicki Larson works at MADRE, the international women's human rights organization  and has experience as a writer, editor, translator, interpreter, counselor, and community organizer. Vicki has been involved with Met Council since 2000.

Stuart Lawrence is a staff attorney at Housing Conservation Coordinators, Inc., where he represent tenants and tenant associations in Housing Court proceedings and other litigation. Stuart has been involved with Met Council since 2002, when he joined us as a volunteer tenant counselor on the hotline. Stuart contributes to the website, maintaining the Housing Links page and other resources.

Jon Lilienthal is a paralegal at the law firm of Collins, Dobkin & Miller LLP.  A former tenant leader with the Queens League of United Tenants, Jon continues to stay active on rent regulation and enforcement issues.