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Tara Raghuveer

Type:

Housing Activist

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Tara Raghuveer is a left-of-center activist who serves as director of the Tenant Union Federation and KC Tenants. 1 2 3

Early Life

Tara Raghuveer was born in Australia before she and her family emigrated to Kansas City, Missouri in 1995. Raghuveer attended Harvard University in 2010 and graduating in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in arts and social studies, while writing her senior thesis on eviction and affordable housing. 4 5

Career

From 2014 to 2017, Raghuveer worked as deputy director at immigration advocacy group National Partnership for New Americans. 5

In 2017, Raghuveer began working at People’s Action Institute as the home guarantee campaign director where she advocated for the creation of a federal office within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for tenant protection, rent control initiatives, and a general tenant bill of rights. Raghuveer maintained this position alongside her position at KC Tenants until April of 2024. 5 6

In 2019, Raghuveer partnered with fellow activist Tiana Caldwell to form KC Tenants, a tenants’ advocacy group that promotes changing state and federal laws to protect tenants’ rights as well as creating a renters bill of rights. Members of the group have conducted disruptive protests including chaining themselves to courthouse fences, interrupted virtual court hearings, and even vandalism such as spray-painting the front yard of a Kansas City judge. 1 2 3

By 2024, Raghuveer began serving as director of the Tenant Union Federation, a coalition of five national tenant unions that includes KC Tenants. The Tenant Union has previously advocated for creating a renter’s bill of rights, even offering proposals to the Biden administration. 5 7 8

As of 2024, Raghuveer sits on the advisory council for left-of-center coalition Progressive International. Other members of the council include American musician Tom Morello and former leader of the United Kingdom’s (UK’s) Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn. Raghuveer is also a 2024 advisor for Public Dollars for Public Good, an initiative of the left-of-center Marguerite Casey Foundation. 9 10 11 12

Raghuveer has written articles for left-of-center media outlets including Vice, Forge Organizing, In These Times, Boston Review, the LPE Project, and The Nation. Raghuveer was also listed in Time’s Time100 next 2024 list of advocates. 13 14 15 16 17 18

References

  1. Brey, Jared. “Housing Prices Lead to National Tenant Organizing.” Governing, August 16, 2024. https://www.governing.com/urban/housing-prices-lead-to-national-tenant-organizing.
  2. Kite, Allison. “‘Today Kansas City Made History’: City Council Adopts Tenants Bill of Rights.” The Kansas City Star., December 13, 2019. Accessed October 11, 2024.  https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article238315408.html.
  3. Dougherty, Conor. “The Rent Revolution Is Coming.” The New York Times, October 15, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/15/business/economy/rent-tenant-activism.html.
  4. “Team.” Kansas CITY EVICTION PROJECT. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://www.evictionkc.org/team.
  5. “Tara Raghuveer .” LinkedIn. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tararaghuveer.
  6. “White House.” Homes Guarantee. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://homesguarantee.com/white-house/.
  7. “Tenant Union Federation.” About. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://tenantfederation.org/about/.
  8. Siegel , Rachel. “White House Unveils Tenant Protections amid High Rent Costs – the Washington Post.” The Washington Post , January 25, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/01/25/white-house-renter-protection/.
  9. “Council.” Progressive International. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://progressive.international/council/.
  10. Stilson, Robert. “The Progressive International: Leadership.” Capital Research Center, February 14, 2024. https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-progressive-international-part-4/.
  11. “Public Dollars for Public Good (PDPG): Marguerite Casey Foundation.” Public Dollars for Public Good (PDPG) | Marguerite Casey Foundation. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://www.caseygrants.org/public-dollars-for-public-good#Advisors.
  12. Stilson, Robert. “The Marguerite Casey Foundation: ‘Social Justice Philanthropy.’” Capital Research Center, June 14, 2024. https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-marguerite-casey-foundation-part-1/.
  13. “Tara Raghuveer.” VICE. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://www.vice.com/en/contributor/tara-raghuveer/.
  14. “Tara Raghuveer.” In These Times. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://inthesetimes.com/authors/tara-raghuveer.
  15. “Tara Raghuveer.” Boston Review. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://www.bostonreview.net/authors/tara-raghuveer/.
  16. “Tara Raghuveer.” LPE Project. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://lpeproject.org/authors/tara-raghuveer/.
  17. “Tara Raghuveer.” The Nation. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://www.thenation.com/authors/tara-raghuveer/.
  18. “Time100 next 2024: Meet the Emerging Leaders Shaping the Future.” Time. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://time.com/collection/time100-next-2024/.
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