JustFix's work building anti-eviction web apps early in the pandemic led us to change our philosophy on how tech can best serve tenants. We experienced the mismatch between legislative and software dev cycles (not the way you'd think.), the limits of organizing within the system, and the power of open data to put external pressure on bad landlords and brokers. In this talk, we'll preview some of JustFix's new tool ideas that fit this "type three" paradigm of working outside existing systems to push for housing justice. The discussion will be moderated by Daniel Waldinger in bridging social, economic, and policy perspectives on public housing allocation.
Samara Trilling (she/her) is a software engineer and policy technologist. As a fellow at the Aspen Tech Policy Hub, Samara wrote policy recommendations for machine learning regulation. Previously, Samara built city planning software at Sidewalk Labs and Google Fiber. Samara has a degree in computer science from Columbia University with a specialization in artificial intelligence. Samara loves hiking, collects books on the history of computing, and plans to build a tiny house and tow it around with her electric truck.
Johanna Monge (she/her/ella), a lifelong Queens gal, daughter of Peruvian immigrants and tenant organizer, integrates her passion for transformative justice into all her work. She co-founded Astoria Tenant Union at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic utilizing the skills she gained from organizing in Inwood and Washington Heights while at the Metropolitan Council on Housing. She graduated from Clark University with an honors degree in Political Science and Urban Development.
Daniel Waldinger is an empirical economist working at the intersection of market design, industrial organization, and public finance. His research has focused on the design of waiting lists for public housing and organ transplants. Daniel joined the NYU economics department as an assistant professor in Fall 2019 after a post-doc year at the NYU Furman Center. Daniel holds a PhD in Economics from MIT and a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Chicago.