The Democratic Imperative to End Homelessness

Homelessness is an urgent crisis for American democracy. Closely examining this pressing issue, this panel event brings together interdisciplinary experts to discuss housing inequality and its implications. Panelists will consider the far-reaching consequences of homelessness for individuals' health, welfare, and ability to exercise political agency. They will also discuss the wide-ranging factors that cause and exacerbate homelessness, including zoning and land use, housing market inequities, racial segregation, and the legal roots of concentrated poverty. From novel support services to complete policy reform, this panel will highlight promising models that can move us closer to a more just and participatory democracy.

Please note that this event is in-person only, and RSVPs are requested to attend. Walk-ins are welcome.

Speakers:

Margot Kushel, MD is a Professor of Medicine at University of California San Francisco and Division Chief of the Division of Health and Society. She is the Director of the UCSF Action Research Center for Health and the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. A practicing general internist at San Francisco General Hospital, her research focuses on the causes and consequences of homelessness, with the goal of preventing and ending homelessness and ameliorating its effect on health. She is the PI of the California State Study of People Experiencing Homelessness and numerous NIA funded studies on older adult homelessness.

Michael Lens is Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy, Chair of the Luskin Undergraduate Programs, and Associate Faculty Director of the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Lens' research and teaching explore the potential of public policy to address housing market inequities that lead to negative outcomes for low-income families and communities of color. This research involves zoning and land use, segregation, housing subsidies, and eviction. Lens’ regularly publishes this work in leading academic journals and his research has won awards from the Journal of the American Planning Association and Housing Policy Debate. His book Where the Hood At: Fifty Years of Change in Black Neighborhoods, was published in November 2024 by the Russell Sage Foundation.

Carolina Reid is the I. Donald Terner Distinguished Professor in Affordable Housing and Urban Policy at the University of California, Berkeley and the Faculty Research Advisor for the Terner Center for Housing Innovation. Carolina’s current research projects focus on improving outcomes in permanent supportive housing, reforming the affordable housing finance system, and understanding the drivers of housing insecurity and residential displacement. Her scholarship has been covered in national and international media, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and NPR. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MA and PhD from the University of Washington, Seattle.

Moderator:

Michelle Wilde Anderson is the Larry Kramer Professor of Law and Professor of Environmental Social Sciences Doerr School of Sustainability at Stanford University. She writes and teaches in the areas of poverty and inequality, local government law, housing, and environmental justice. Her new book, The Fight to Save the Town: Reimagining Discarded America (2022) focuses on the dismantling and rebuilding of local government in high-poverty communities. Across her work, she has worked to understand how the history of racial segregation and ongoing implicit bias against Black, Latinx, and mixed-race neighborhoods/cities affect public investment, service delivery, and housing quality. ​​She is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Housing Law Project and a board member at the East Bay Community Law Center in Oakland.

This event will have a videographer and photographer present to document the event. No personal recordings (audio or visual) are allowed. By attending, you consent for your image to be used for Stanford-related promotions and materials. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

If you require disability-related accommodation, please contact [email protected] as soon as possible or at least 7 business days in advance of the event.

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