November 20, 2025 | 4:00pm ET / 1:00pm PT
How to set up Constructive Relationships
between Academic Researchers and Policy Organizations
Online Discussion
November 20, 2025
4:00鈥�5:30pm ET / 1:00-2:30pm PT
How to set up Constructive Relationships
between Academic Researchers and Policy Organizations
This informational webinar, organized by the 糖心vlog Research & Scholarship Committee in partnership with the (NLIHC), is open to faculty interested in developing constructive relationships between academic researchers and policy organizations. Attendees will explore strategies for aligning goals, translating research findings into accessible language, and building long-term trust鈥攁ll with the aim of strengthening partnerships and increasing the public impact of academic research.
National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC)
The National Low Income Housing Coalition is dedicated to achieving racially and socially equitable public policy that ensures people with the lowest incomes have quality homes that are accessible and affordable in communities of their choice.
Founded in 1974 by Cushing N. Dolbeare, NLIHC educates, organizes, and advocates to ensure decent, affordable housing for everyone. NLIHC goals are to preserve existing federally assisted homes and housing resources, expand the supply of low-income housing, and establish housing stability as the primary purpose of federal low-income housing policy.
SPEAKERS
Noah Patton
Director, Disaster Recovery
Noah Patton serves as the Director, Disaster Recovery at National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC). Born and raised in the DC area, Noah came to NLIHC from Baltimore, MD, where he worked at the Homeless Persons Representation Project, Inc. (HPRP), helping to advocate for policies to expand public benefit programs and protecting Housing Choice Voucher holders. After working as a campaign and state house staffer in Maryland, Noah received a JD from the University of Baltimore School of Law. While in law school, Noah was heavily involved in coordinating Legal Observers of the National Lawyers Guild to protect the legal rights of Baltimore-area political protestors and served as a Kellogg鈥檚 Law Fellow at the NAACP Office of the General Counsel working on transit equity and educational policy. Noah received his BA in political science from McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. He has been a member of the Maryland bar since 2018.
Andrew Aurand
Senior Vice President for Research
Andrew Aurand is Senior Vice President for Research at National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC. He leads NLIHC鈥檚 research team in documenting the housing needs of low-income renters in annual publications like聽The Gap聽and聽Out of Reach, conducts additional research that informs housing policy related to extremely low-income renters, and co-manages the National Housing Preservation Database.
Meghan Mertyris
Disaster Housing Recovery Analyst
Meghan Mertyris is a Disaster Housing Recovery Analyst, supporting National Low Income Housing Coalition鈥檚 (NLIHC) Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition in all communications, outreach, and advocacy. Before joining NLIHC, Meghan worked as a community organizer at the New Jersey Organizing Project (NJOP) and the New Jersey Resource Project (NJRP), where she built and mobilized a base of more than 1,000 people impacted by Hurricane Ida from across the state to advocate for the passage of legislative and administrative solutions addressing damage caused by the hurricane.