About Maya

Maya Brennan helped build the Housing Matters movement–getting elected officials, agency staff, researchers, and media to recognize that safe and affordable housing is not a special interest, but an essential building block in people's lives. She has spoken before national and local audiences on evictions, affordable housing, and the role our homes and communities play for education, economic mobility, and wellbeing.

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Maya started her housing career as a tenant-landlord hotline counselor, helping people chart a path forward during their most vulnerable and scary moments.

During the pandemic and its aftermath, she drafted and brokered numerous legislative and budget wins that helped District residents, workers, and other stakeholders get their needs met and voices heard.

She holds an elected role on the Education Equity Committee for her ward and is a member of ULI Washington's Housing Council and Women's Leadership Initiative Steering Committee.

Maya has worked as an equitable change consultant and in various policy, strategy, and research roles at the Council of the District of Columbia, the Urban Institute, the Urban Land Institute, and the National Housing Conference. She has an M.S. in urban policy analysis and management from the New School and a B.A. in liberal arts from St. John's College.

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She lives her values and wants to help others live theirs, too. From the places where she lived, the ways she engages with her neighbors and neighborhood, the schools her children attend, her volunteer activities, and other life choices, Maya prioritizes social and racial equity, listening before acting, and cooperation over competition. Maya believes that we all do better when those farthest from privilege do better. She also believes that we all have tools and skills that can combine to create a better community and world.