Rasheedah Phillips
Professional Experience
Rasheedah Phillips is currently serving as Managing Attorney for Housing Policy in the Housing Unit. Ms. Phillips is an expert in subsidized housing law and has successfully advocated for changes in housing policy affecting the entire City of Philadelphia and beyond.
Ms. Phillips first came to CLS as a legal intern in the Family Advocacy Unit. As an intern, she assisted in creating a community education workshop that educated teenage parents and their advocates on their legal rights in the areas of custody, child support, education, public benefits and other rights. She conducted the workshops for various teen parenting programs and advocacy organizations throughout the city. In 2008 she became a Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network Martin Luther King, Jr. Fellow in the Community Economic Development Unit, providing legal advice, representation, and resources to low-income child care businesses and non-profit, community organizations. After joining the CLS Housing Unit, Ms. Phillips took on a leadership role as Managing Attorney, after which she joined the Shriver Center on Poverty Law as Senior Advocate Resources and Training Attorney. In 2020 she returned to CLS as Managing Attorney for Housing Policy.
Professional Associations
Ms. Phillips has been active in leading various advocacy campaigns that have resulted in legislative changes, including laws that made it easier for family child-care providers to obtain zoning. She spearheaded the Philly Eviction Prevention Project pilot program created in 2017.
Rasheedah is a 2016 Shriver Center Racial Justice Institute fellow and a 2018 Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity
Education
Ms. Phillips earned her J.D. from the Temple University Beasley School of Law in 2008. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Temple University in 2005, with an undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice.
Awards
2019 Barristers Association of Philadelphia Outstanding Young Attorney Award
2018 Community Legal Services of Philadelphia Equal Justice Award
2018 Temple University Law School Black Law Student Association Haddon, McClellan, and Richardson Alumni Award
2017 National Housing Law Project Housing Justice Award
2017 City & State Pennsylvania 40 under 40 Rising Star award, a 2016 Shriver Center Racial Justice Institute Fellow
2013 Next Generation of Women Leaders: Rising Stars presented by Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, Philadelphia City Council
