The Poverty and Race Research Action Council (PRRAC) is an advocacy group that promotes left-of-center policies on housing, education, and the environment. ^[1][2]

Initiatives

Poverty and Race Research Action Council has claimed that access to housing is a fundamental right, advocating for the creation of more government-controlled housing programs. PRRAC has also argued that there are racial disparities in access to property, alleging that these supposed disparities therefore constitute civil rights violations. PRRAC supports eliminating zoning laws which it deems to be “exclusionary” and expanding taxpayer-subsidized, low-income housing, particularly in affluent communities. PRRAC also supports expanding taxpayer-funded housing voucher programs and providing taxpayer-funded civil legal services for tenants facing eviction or alleging housing discrimination. PRRAC has also argued that all government officials and employees working for housing authorities should be forced to undergo “implicit bias” training, which is based on the premise that people are inherently racially discriminatory. ^[3]

PRRAC is a founding member of the National Coalition on School Diversity (NCSD), a left-of-center coalition which promotes the idea that increasing racial and ethnic diversity in schools is inherently positive and should be encouraged for its own sake. With support from PRRAC, NCSD has published papers which claim to demonstrate the benefits of policies that increase racial diversity in schools. The coalition has also issued recommendations on how to accelerate demographic change in schools. ^[4] In March 2017, PRRAC director Philip Tegeler criticized the Trump administration for ending a federal grant program implemented by the Obama administration which funded efforts to implement demographic changes in school districts. ^[5]

PRRAC publishes policy papers which promote aggressively enforcing environmental regulations, imposing new environmentalist regulations, and connecting healthcare policy to environmental issues. PRRAC also ties its initiatives related to housing and education to its “environmental justice” agenda and includes a broad range of issues related to poverty and disparate outcomes in its environmentalist advocacy. ^[6]

Leadership

Philip Tegeler was appointed as the executive director of Poverty and Race Research Action Council in January 2004. He also helps oversee the work of National Coalition on School Diversity. Tegeler has a background in civil rights litigation with a focus on housing and education issues. He previously worked as an attorney and legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Connecticut. He has also taught at the Columbia University and University of Connecticut law schools. Tegeler received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and his law degree from Columbia Law School. ^[7] As of 2019, Tegeler received over $215,000 a year from PRRAC. ^[8]

Gina Chirichigno is the director and outreach coordinator of NCSD. She previously worked for the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute at Harvard Law School. Chirichigno received her law degree from Howard University Law School. ^[9] As of 2019, Chirichigno earned more than $100,000 a year from PRRAC. ^[10]

Olati Johnson is the board chair of PRRAC. She is a professor at Columbia Law School. Johnson was previously a clerk for liberal former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and a clerk for Judge David Tatel on the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. ^[11]

Jose Padilla is the vice chair of PRRAC. He is the executive director of California Rural Legal Assistance, a left-of-center legal aid group. Padilla received his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He has also been recognized by the government of Mexico for promoting the interests of Mexican citizens in the United States. ^[12]

Financials

In 2019, Poverty and Race Research Action Council received more than $1.61 million in contributions and grants, an increase from less than $1.35 million in 2018. ^[13] These included a $400,000 grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and a $150,000 grant from the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund. ^[14][15] The council also received $175,000 from the MacArthur Foundation between 2011 and 2015, as well as a $50,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 2020. ^[16][17] PRRAC has received funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation to distribute in the form of grants to other organizations. ^[18]