Poverty and Race Research Action Council

Initiatives

Poverty and Race Research Action Council has claimed that access to housing is a fundamental right and advocates 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 that promotes the idea that increasing racial and ethnic diversity in schools is inherently positive and should be encouraged. With support from PRRAC, NCSD has published papers that claim to demonstrate the benefits of policies that increase racial diversity 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 that 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

In 2002, far-left activist Eric Mann wrote an article for PRRAC on the “U.N World Conference Against Racism” held in Durban, South African which had taken place in September 2001 that included members of several left-of-center nonprofits and activist groups. According to a 2008 report by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, one key item discussed during the conference was on reparations “in partial recompense for the West’s historical trafficking in slavery.” ⁷ Mann’s 2002 article praised the conference, particularly on discussions of reparations while accusing the United States of being, “the main cause of or organized racism and national oppression in the world.” ⁷ He further claimed reparations would be based on a “crimes against humanity tribunal” against “European and U.S imperialist civilization[s]” and that such a move would “challenge the very legitimacy of the U.S to exist as a nation state, and call into question its settler-state history of genocide against both indigenous peoples and blacks.” ⁷

Advocacy

In 2020, the Poverty and Race Research Action Council joined the ACLU Foundation of Connecticut, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers and Toll as a co-counsel in a lawsuit filed by the Open Communities Alliance and SouthCoast Fair Housing challenging a first Trump Administration attempt to repeal a rule implemented by the Obama administration in 2013 which “required housing providers, financial institutions, municipalities, and other corporations to eliminate policies that appear neutral but disproportionately limit housing opportunities for marginalized and vulnerable communities, including people of color, people with disabilities, and survivors of domestic violence.” ⁸

In June 2022, PRRAC supported legislation proposed by U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO), U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) which “would add source of income, veteran status, and military status to the list of protected classes. It would prohibit landlords from denying housing to individuals who use Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8), HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers, benefits received through Social Security programs, income received by a court order, payment from a trust or guardian, or any other lawful source of income.” The legislation would add those who receive government subsidies for housing to the groups that are protected classes under the Fair Housing Act. ⁹

In April 2023, PRRAC supported a bill proposed by U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and then-U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) which would “declare racism a public health crisis, create a National Center for Anti-Racism, and establish a Law Enforcement Violence Prevention Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” The legislation would “help expand research and investment into the public health impacts of structural racism and make it a requirement for the federal government to actively develop anti-racist health policy.” ¹⁰

In February 2025, PRRAC questioned the legality of executive orders issued by the Second Trump administration which cracked down on “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) programs in housing programs and other executive orders which paused spending on housing programs. The group claimed that it would have to rely on the courts to oppose the executive orders. ¹¹

In March 2025, PRRAC supported legislation by U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) which would expand the Housing Choice Vouchers program and reduce red tape in the program with the goal of encouraging more landlords to sign up for the program. ¹²

In August 2025, PRRAC opposed the deployment of the National Guard and federal law enforcement to the District of Columbia, claiming that “racism, xenophobia, and willful ignorance of crime data trends are all at play.” The group also opposed President Donald Trump’s call for demolishing homeless encampments. ¹³

In September 2025, PRRAC denounced a proposed U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rule that would ban illegal immigrants from receiving HUD-backed mortgages. PRRAC claimed that HUD had disregarded the Administrative Procedure Act to “further a xenophobic agenda.” ¹⁴

Leadership

Thomas Silverstein is the president and executive director of the Poverty and Race Research Action Council. He previously worked as the director for the fair housing and community development project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. ¹⁵

Philip Tegeler was appointed as the executive director of Poverty and Race Research Action Council in January 2004. In 2025, he transitioned to the role of senior counsel. He also helps oversee the work of the 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 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. ¹⁶

Gina Chirichigno is the director 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. As of 2024, Chirichigno earned $142,181 a year from PRRAC. ¹⁷

Olati Johnson is the board chair of PRRAC. She is a professor at Columbia Law School. Johnson was previously a clerk for former U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and a clerk for Judge David Tatel on the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. ¹⁸

Financials

According to the Poverty and Race Research Action Council’s 2024 tax returns, the group had $1,611,585 in revenue, $1,463,513 in expenses, and $2,127,261 in net assets. ¹⁷

The group has received grants from several left-of-center groups. 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. ^{19 20} 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. ^{21 22} PRRAC has received funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation to distribute in the form of grants to other organizations. ²³