Margaret Kaplan

President

Margaret graduated cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2003 and began her legal career with the Housing Preservation Project. She began her career as a community organizer, fighting for the rights of manufactured home community members with All Parks Alliance for Change. After law school, Margaret joined HJC under its former name Housing Preservation Project, where she worked on a range of issues including preservation of federally subsidized housing and manufactured home community preservation. She then returned to APAC as the Legal and Public Policy Director where she helped resident associations fight for their rights in parks, represented resident associations in court, and helped push legislation to support manufactured homeowners, including a law that prevented deceptive lending practices and creation of the relocation trust fund for homeowners displaced through park closures. Next, she spent four years at the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs as the Operations Director for the Minnesota Center for Neighborhood Organizing, working to ensure that people affected by decisions had the tools and skills to organize and advocate on issues ranging from education to transportation to police community relations to housing. Most recently she spent six years as the Community Development Director at Minnesota Housing where she worked to create connections between community needs across the state of Minnesota and the programs and policies of Minnesota Housing. Margaret was also a policy fellow with the North Star Policy Institute. She brings a wealth of knowledge about local, state, and federal housing policy and programs as well as a robust background in the intersection of community organizing and the law.

Contact Margaret at mkaplan@hjcmn.org 

Tim Thompson

Senior Staff Attorney

Timothy (Tim) Thompson is a 1975 graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School. He joined HJC in 2000 (known as Housing Preservation Project back then) and up until 2006 was also employed as the Litigation Director of Mid-Minnesota Legal Assistance, Inc. Tim has worked for various legal services programs for more than 25 years, specializing in tenants’ rights, government housing programs and class actions. He has been lead counsel or co-counsel on over 30 cases in Federal Court brought on behalf of low income residents. These suits have helped to secure rights to public assistance and federally subsidized housing programs for those most in need of these services. Tim’s cases have had far reaching impact on the rights and opportunities of the poor and communities of color.

Contact Tim at tthompson@hjcmn.org

Jack Cann

Senior Staff Attorney

John (Jack) Cann graduated from Carleton College in 1964 and did three years of graduate work at Stanford University. In 1967, Jack began to work full time on a variety of housing related activities, many of them litigation oriented. This provided him with a unique breadth and depth of experience relevant to housing litigation, including tenants’ rights organizing, advocacy, lobbying, and real estate development and finance. He graduated magna cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law in 1986. Jack brings a great deal of knowledge and experience to the HJC staff. He has worked extensively with Section 236, Section 8, Low Income Housing Tax Credits, and Community Development Block Grants. His knowledge of financing tools and compliance requirements gives HJC an advantage in both negotiations and litigation. He has also extensively litigated preservation cases on both the district and appellate level, both in Minnesota and across the country.

Contact Jack at jcann@hjcmn.org

Jim Poradek

Housing Rights Attorney

Jim works with low-income tenants and community organizations to enforce their legal rights to fair, safe, and affordable housing. Before joining Housing Justice Center in January 2020, Jim worked for 19 years as lead trial counsel at one of the top law firms in the country, Faegre Baker Daniels, where he won dozens of complex, high-stakes cases frequently involving disputes over $100M. Before that, Jim worked as a law clerk for a federal district court judge in Minnesota after graduating magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Minnesota Law Review. Jim has been consistently ranked as one of the top civil litigators in the country by Best Lawyers in America and IAM 1000 World’s Leading Litigation Professionals: “Jim Poradek is one of the most gifted oral advocates anywhere; . . . brilliant at taking complex technical subject matter and making it easy to understand and, above all, interesting.” Jim’s work in housing justice law goes back to the 1990s, when he worked as a community organizer and affordable housing activist in Washington, DC., and did scholarly work on access to justice and affordable housing at the University of Minnesota Law School. At Faegre, Jim developed the firm’s pro bono tenant rights enforcement practice and served as lead counsel in many successful tenant rights lawsuits, including a groundbreaking consumer fraud class action against predatory landlords that resulted in a class settlement that returned millions of dollars in rent to tenants. Jim received the 2018 Baker Benson Pro Bono Award for his tenant rights work and was recognized by the Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court for “extraordinary efforts to help low-income tenants [that] sets a shining example for all in the legal profession.” Jim’s approach as a litigator is the same today with housing rights clients as it was with Fortune 500 clients when he worked at Faegre: he believes in rolling up his sleeves and working side-by-side with clients and colleagues to develop creative strategies that achieve high-impact wins for his clients.

Contact Jim at jporadek@hjcmn.org

Shana Tomenes

Equal Justice Works Fellow sponsored by Target Corporation

Shana works with low-income tenants and community organizations to protect and expand accessible affordable housing through impact litigation and public policy. Shana attended the University of St. Thomas School of Law and graduated magna cum laude in 2019. During law school, she was the Managing Editor of the St. Thomas Law Journal, volunteered with the restorative justice program Washington County Community Circles, and clerked at the Hennepin County Public Defender’s Office. She was also a student attorney at the University of St. Thomas School of Law Appellate Clinic, where she represented a federal prisoner seeking relief in a civil appeal, and successfully argued the case before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Before joining the Housing Justice Center in September 2020, Shana was a judicial law clerk to Justice G. Barry Anderson and Justice Paul Thissen at the Minnesota Supreme Court. As an Equal Justice Works fellow, Shana’s legal and policy advocacy focuses on the areas anti-displacement and anti-discrimination to preserve existing affordable housing and fight for expansion to improve access to fair housing. As a first-generation college graduate from Minnesota, Shana works hard for her clients and is excited to collaborate with others in her community.

Contact Shana at stomenes@hjcmn.org

Max Tsai

Attorney

Max graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Law in 2021. Driven by a passion to help make the legal system fair for those who are disadvantaged by the inequities of the economy, Max joins Housing Justice Center to continue a career focused on public interest law.

Before joining Housing Justice Center, Max was a law clerk at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid where he worked in both the Family Law and the Public Benefits units helping low-income clients achieve favorable results in their proceedings during his time as a clerk.

Max was also a student attorney and a student director in the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic. During his time in the clinic, Max represented asylum seekers in their immigration proceedings. This included an immigration merits hearing where his client was granted asylum.

Max is originally from Ames, Iowa. Before law school, he worked as an AmeriCorps member with Iowa Legal Aid‘s Iowa City office. Max lives in Minneapolis and enjoys board games and trying out new restaurants.

Contact Max at mtsai@hjcmn.org

Teresa Garcia-Delcompare

Community Organizer

Teresa is originally from Guatemala and came to the United States when she was five years old. She graduated from Humboldt High School, then continued her education as a Spanish community interpreter. Teresa considers it such a blessing to be a part of Housing Justice Center as a Community Organizer. Her experiences with affordable housing and the need that she has seen in her community are part of the reasons why she applied for this position. Teresa is looking forward to supporting her community and creating a positive change.

Contact Teresa at tgarcia-delcompare@hjcmn.org

Tram Hoang

Director of Policy and Research

Tram was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, and her community development perspectives are heavily shaped by the gentrification and displacement she witnessed growing up in North Portland. After attending Oregon State University, she served on the board of Depave, the Multnomah County Public Health Advisory Board, and the Asian Pacific Islander Community Leadership Institute. During that time, she also worked at the Welcome Home Coalition, a group of organizations who effectively advocated for housing policies such as Portland’s construction excise tax, inclusionary housing, and successfully led Portland’s first-ever $258 million affordable housing bond.

Tram graduated from the Master of Urban and Regional Planning program at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, where she was a Charles R. Krusell Fellow in Community Development at the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs. Throughout her time in Minneapolis, she has worked with Hope Community, the Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers, the City of Minneapolis’ Community Planning and Economic Development, the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability, and most recently, as the Campaign Manager for the Keep St. Paul Home campaign for rent stabilization. She believes that equitable development and community benefit are made possible by strong community organizing and effective narrative framing, and wants to strengthen the ways that research can empower advocacy and organizing. Her participation in research ranges from seeking to understand the overarching financialization of our nation’s housing system to supporting the Urban Institute’s examination of the growing presence of corporate ownership in the Twin Cities. 

Contact Tram at thoang@hjcmn.org

Zaria Whitlock

Paralegal

Zaria joined Housing Justice Center in September 2021, as a paralegal. Zaria attended Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and graduated summa cum laude in 2021. Zaria graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Philosophy and Sociology with a specialization in Diversity and Social Justice along with a minor in Black Studies. Zaria is passionate about expanding and protecting the resources provided to members of protected classes who are often disadvantaged by the systems functioning in society. Zaria is especially interested in dismantling mechanisms that disenfranchise people from accessing sufficient legal advocacy. Zaria is a native of St. Paul, Minnesota and is excited to have the opportunity to work alongside the HJC team to positively impact her hometown. In her spare time, Zaria enjoys spending time with family, watching TV, and listening to music.  

Contact Zaria at zwhitlock@hjcmn.org 

Meg Daly

Operations and Communications Associate

Meg joined Housing Justice Center’s staff in March 2021 as the Operations and Communications Associate. Meg supports operational, administrative, and communications efforts that build organizational capacity for HJC’s continued success. She is particularly passionate about HJC’s mission after growing up on Long Island (Lawn Guyland)—a case study in racial covenants and redlining, mired in the legacy of Levittown. Before joining HJC, Meg worked as a Council Assistant for St. Paul Councilmember Nelsie Yang, addressing homelessness in Ward 6. She recently completed a Policy Fellowship with the Minnesota Youth Collective and worked as a communications consultant in a variety of settings, ranging from a children’s television show to a legal advisory firm focused on governance and rule of law. Meg is especially interested in advancing narrative strategies that bring us closer to a goal of homes for all. Meg graduated from Middlebury College in 2018 where she majored in English Literature and ran the campus radio station. In her spare time, she enjoys baking, learning about the diverse biomes of Mni Sota Makoce, and chasing the perfect slice joint. Meg lives in St. Paul with her significant other and two cats.

Contact Meg at mdaly@hjcmn.org

Larry McDonough

Attorney

Larry joined HJC as a litigation and policy attorney in October 2021. He has been a legal services and pro-bono civil litigation attorney since 1983. He worked in civil legal services for 30 years, served as Pro Bono Litigation Counsel at Dorsey & Whitney for seven years, and served the last year as Senior Minnesota Fellow with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. 

He has represented over 10,000 clients, with 250 trials, 1,000 motion hearings, and scores of appellate hearings under his belt. Over the years, he has become a state and national expert in housing law. He contributed to almost all of the landlord and tenant statutes enacted since 1986. 

He co-founded Minnesota’s Annual Housing Law Institute, authored Residential Eviction Defense in Minnesota, the most viewed manual at ProJusticeMN as well as many journal articles on landlord and tenant law. 

Larry created housing law clinics at the University of Minnesota Law School the Fourth District Housing Court in Hennepin County, both of which being the longest running law school and court clinics dedicated to housing law in Minnesota. He also has taught at all of the law schools in the Twin Cities in both academic and clinical courses, and regularly presents at seminars both in the state and around the country. 

He has received awards from Mitchell Hamline School of Law, William Mitchell College of Law, Minnesota State Bar Association, Minnesota Law & Politics, Mid-Minnesota Legal Assistance, Minnesota Justice Foundation, National Lawyers Guild Minnesota Chapter, University of St. Thomas School of Law, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, Minnesota Legal Services Coalition, and the Hennepin County District Court.

A complete bio along with a list of publications, presentations, litigation, legislation, media appearances, and awards is posted here.

Contact Larry at lmcdonough@hjcmn.org 

Markanetta Smith

Rental Assistance Navigator

Markanetta graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Social Work and earned an MSW degree in 2017. She is passionate about social justice and equity and seeks to help members of marginalized communities gain access to the opportunities and services that are often denied to them. She started at HJC in 2021.

Contact Markanetta at msmith@hjcmn.org 

Walter Battle

Board Chair

Walter graduated from the University of Minnesota with a B.A. in Communications in 1982, earning a Master’s Degree in Management from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota in 1993. He is a shareholder of the Wilder Square Cooperative, an affordable housing community that was only saved through his leadership. Walter is passionate about working to help others facing housing challenges. Walter has experience in owning multimillion–dollar multifamily housing units and has managed a range of rental properties from single-family homes to multiple apartment units. He has experience with HUD, MHFA, LITHC, Section 8, and other housing agencies and programs.  Walter is a business consultant that focuses on helping motivated entrepreneurs with the basics of going into business and strategies to expand their existing enterprises. He had an outstanding career with the IBM Corporation, including experience as the Branch Management staff member responsible for budgets of an eight-state upper Midwest region, and in the Account Customer Engineer service division. Walter earned many accolades including the prestigious “IBM Means Service” award. His history of volunteer work is equally extensive. He volunteered as an instructor at the RDH School of Ministry in North Minneapolis, teaching college classes in Psychology and Urban Apologetics, and tutored East African students at Saint Paul College. Walter loves the field of Neuroscience and recently earned a certificate from HarvardX—an online learning initiative of Harvard University—in the Fundamentals of Neuroscience. He loves to travel and especially enjoys Puerto Rico.

Martha Hernández-Martínez, MPA

Board Vice-Chair

Martha serves as Senior Research Associate at Rainbow Research. She holds a Master in Public Affairs from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs with a concentration in Women’s International Human Rights and Development Policy, and a License in Psychology from the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua. Her research focuses on intimate partner violence (IPV), masculinities, human trafficking, sexual violence, and the impact of public policies on women’s lives.  She developed a toolkit designed to engage Latino men in domestic violence prevention efforts, and collaborated on the development of a toolkit designed to evaluate domestic violence programs. She has published articles in Women & Therapy, Psychology of Violence, Journal of Family Violence, Latino Psychology Today, Hispanic Health Care International. She has worked for the last twenty years with Latino immigrants in Minnesota on issues related to affordable housing, and access to education.

Howard Goldman

Board Treasurer

Howard is the former Minnesota State Director of the U.S. Humane Society, and served as the Director of Multifamily Housing in HUD’s Minneapolis field office. He has also served as Vice Chair of Little Earth Board of Directors and as a member of Beacon Interfaith‘s Real Estate Committee. His extensive volunteer experience includes advocating for housing justice as part of Jewish Community Action‘s St. Paul Housing team and Temple of Aaron’s Housing subcommittee.

Eric Hauge

Board Secretary

Eric is the Executive Director of HOME Line. Eric joined HOME Line after obtaining his B.A. in Political Science and Peace Studies from Gustavus Adolphus College in 2003, later earning a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs in 2009. His research at the Humphrey Institute involved analyzing Twin Cities metropolitan regional approaches to affordable housing planning and preservation. At HOME Line, Eric has participated in numerous community organizing efforts to improve rental housing conditions throughout Minnesota including: long-term preservation of federally subsidized housing, repair of substandard housing conditions and emergency situations, and to prevent displacement from affordable private market rentals. He’s door-knocked thousands of rental unit doors throughout Minnesota and has contributed to original research focused around challenges to Section 8 voucher placement and the implications of evictions. Eric has advocated for stronger tenants rights and meaningful Fair Housing protections on local (city licensing, inspections, and anti-displacement protections), state (improvements to Chapter 504B and increases to the MN Renters Credit), and federal (HUD and USDA) levels. Eric currently holds a position on the Homes for All Coalition Advisory Board.

Linda Soderstrom

Board Member

Linda graduated from Carleton College and Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota before getting her LPN at Southeast Technical College. Linda is a fearless community advocate for affordable housing. She was a former tenant of the Crossroads apartments and currently lives in Saint Charles. The Crossroads at Penn class action filing was her “baptism by fire” in societal neglect of our most deeply in need of affordable housing. Linda attends Freedom from the Streets meetings and organizes in community. She believes in self-governance, self-expression, and that our own voices need to be heard.

Maria Johnson

Board Member

Maria is currently working for Hennepin County as a Human Services Representative while attending Metropolitan State University for her undergraduate degree. Maria was introduced to the HJC as a class representative in the Crossroads at Penn class action lawsuit. She has served on the Board of Directors since 2019. In addition to serving on the board, Maria has participated in discussions and panels regarding the lack of affordable housing around the Twin Cities.

David Anderson

Board Member

Dave is Executive Director of both All Parks Alliance for Change (APAC), the statewide association for residents of Minnesota’s manufactured home parks, and the National Manufactured Home Owners Association (NMHOA). He is a member of the HUD Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee and the Innovations in Manufactured Homes (I’M HOME) Network steering committee. Dave has a Master of Public Affairs from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and a Doctorate of Education in Leadership from the University of St. Thomas. APAC and HJC have worked closely together to develop strategies to keep parks open in recognition of their value as an affordable housing resource.

Michael Bodaken

Board Member

From 1993 to 2018, Michael Bodaken served as head of the National Housing Trust (NHT). During his tenure at the organization, Michael served as President of NHT, NHT-Enterprise Preservation Corporation (NHT-Enterprise) and the National Housing Community Development Fund (NHTCDF). Michael was largely responsible for the growth of the organization into an industry leader in affordable housing and “green preservation,” targeting grants and loans for energy retrofits of affordable housing. Under his leadership, the Trust won the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Award for Creative & Effective Institutions. He was one of the co founders of “Energy Efficiency for All” a unique collaboration between NHT, NRDC and the Energy Foundation. Under his leadership, the Trust financed and preserved more than 30,000 affordable homes throughout the nation, leveraging more than $1 billion in financing. NHT, through its subsidiary NHTCDF, provides low-interest loans to affordable housing developers across the U.S. Through affiliate NHT-Enterprise, NHT owns and operates nearly 4000 affordable homes along the East Coast and Midwest. Prior to joining the Trust, Michael worked as Deputy Mayor for Housing for the City of Los Angeles after having practiced public interest law for more than a decade. In addition to HJC, Michael is a member of the Boards of the Morgan Stanley Community Development, Homes for America and the Healthy Affordable Materials Project. He is a frequent guest lecturer and panelist at affordable housing industry events. Michael is currently a consultant for the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Center for Community Investment. He teaches part time at the University of Maryland.

Warren Hanson

Board Member

Warren is the President & CEO as well as founder of Greater Minnesota Housing Fund and Minnesota Equity Fund. Warren leads the executive team and works closely with state and local governments, philanthropy, investors, and community leaders to assemble resources and design strategies to meet affordable housing needs in Minnesota. He brings over 35 years of development finance experience to GMHF. He was previously director of Riverfront and Neighborhood Development for the City of Saint Paul and was economic development director of West Bank Community Development Corporation. He is the co-founder of Community Reinvestment Fund USA (CRF-USA). He has a Master of Science Degree in City and Regional Planning from the Pratt Institute in New York.