Housing Justice & Policy Strategy · New York
Velvet A.Johnson-Ross
Advocating for women of color locked out of housing opportunities because of evictions, vouchers, and bad credit.
Senior Housing Justice & Policy Strategy Consultant
Founder & Principal, The Ross Brand Consulting
Also known as Fannie Lou Diane — the name much of her advocacy is published under
- Practice
- The Ross Brand Consulting — Founder & Principal
- Base
- Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn · serving New York City & State
- Focus
- Rental assistance vouchers/Source-of-income discrimination/Eviction prevention/Homelessness policy
- Partners
- Housing Justice for All/Neighbors Together/Unlock NYC/Impacted Advocates
- Education
- M.A. Women’s History, Sarah Lawrence/B.A. Communications, Brooklyn College
- Memberships
- Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc./National Council of Negro Women/National Organization for Women/NAACP
- Recognition
- 2022 David Prize Finalist — Brooklyn
- Also
- Historian/Educator/Writer
- Contact
- VelvetRoss@gmail.com/332-202-4309
Testimony to the New York State Legislature · February 9, 2021“We have a narrative of what someone who is homeless looks like, but I’m here to tell you that any one of us can be in this position. … Housing should be a human right, and good, clean, safe and affordable housing should be the standard and not an option.”
Read the full testimony
What she works on
4 areasVoucher access and value
Expanding who qualifies for rental assistance, and raising benefit levels so a voucher can cover a market rent. Where it cannot, people hold a voucher and stay in shelter.
HAVP · CityFHEPS · Section 8 / HCV · Emergency Housing VouchersSource-of-income discrimination
Refusing a voucher is illegal in New York City and happens anyway. Her work here is about evidence — giving voucher holders a record of the refusal that they can act on.
Landlord acceptance · Broker conduct · EnforcementEviction prevention and recovery
Keeping households in place, and supporting them through the period after an eviction, which few programs are built for.
Illegal eviction · Habitability · Post-eviction supportHousing, race and gender
How an eviction record, a voucher and damaged credit compound against each other, and why they fall hardest on Black women.
Redlining legacy · Eviction records · Credit screeningWhere she works
6 listedThe Ross Brand Consulting
Her own practice. Policy strategy, systems analysis and narrative development for housing justice organizations across New York City and State — legislative memos, policy briefs, testimony and public-facing communications.
See the practice →Unlock NYC
Women-led technology nonprofit building tools for a fair housing search. Its Rights Recorder lets voucher holders document discrimination as it happens.
weunlock.nycNeighbors Together
Central Brooklyn anti-poverty and advocacy center founded in 1982, organizing homeless and formerly homeless New Yorkers across Ocean Hill, Brownsville and Bedford-Stuyvesant.
neighborstogether.orgHousing Justice for All
Statewide coalition of tenants and homeless New Yorkers campaigning for rent regulation, eviction protections and a statewide housing voucher.
Statewide coalitionImpacted Advocates
Advocacy led by people who have lived through the systems they are working to change.
Campaign partnerMayor’s Roundtable on Housing
Worked with the Adams administration on housing plans and Section 8. The City quoted her in its October 2023 announcement eliminating credit checks for voucher holders — billed as Founder of The Eviction Fund of New York City.
nyc.gov announcement