Leah Levinger

Leah Levinger

Leah Levinger is an attorney and dedicated tenant organizer in the housing justice movement.  She serves as the Shriver Center’s class counsel in Henry Horner Mothers Guild v. Chicago Housing Authority, where she represents Horner-Westhaven residents in the implementation of a landmark federal civil rights consent decree. Leah also serves as the Shriver Center’s liaison to support the housing advocacy work of several Chicago community organizations, and consults with stakeholders inside and outside government on improvements to local housing policy. Before joining Shriver Center’s staff, Leah worked as a staff attorney at the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, where she litigated on behalf of persons experiencing housing discrimination.

Before law school, Leah spent 15 years as a tenant organizer and nonprofit executive in Chicago. She co-founded several community organizations and a coalition that won citywide rent protections and improvements to federal housing law. Her work has led to the rehabilitation and development of thousands of affordable housing units.

Leah graduated from Yale Law School, where she served as a lead editor of the Yale Law and Policy Review. As a law student, she did clinical work pertaining to community and economic development and externed with the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office in their rights-affirming litigation division. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities. When she is not working, Leah enjoys hiking and camping. She’s been known to play acoustic guitar and sing cover songs way too loud and off key.