Biography
Margaret is a movement lawyer who has spent her entire legal career fighting to keep people housed, both inside and outside the courtroom. She began her work at San Francisco’s Tenderloin Housing Clinic, where she specialized in affirmative litigation against landlord abuse and defended tenants facing eviction. Later, at Legal Assistance for the Elderly, she led a team supporting seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities—ensuring wraparound care through close coordination with city agencies and community partners. After relocating to Sonoma County, Margaret turned her focus to housing policy with Legal Aid of Sonoma County, where she drafted a just cause eviction ordinance for the City of Petaluma and helped secure the county’s first permanent tenant protections. She also helped reduce rent stabilization rates in mobilehome parks across Sonoma County and created Struggle for Home, a public data platform that maps evictions and uplifts tenants’ stories to challenge the legacy of racist housing policies. Currently, as Directing Attorney at California Center for Movement Legal Services, Margaret leads impact litigation and policy advocacy in partnership with grassroots organizations. Her work includes enforcing tenant protections, working to provide legal support to the Central Valley farmworker community, challenging rent gouging, and supporting community-led campaigns for housing justice. Margaret brings a deep commitment to grassroots collaboration, systemic change, and holistic lawyering, and is thrilled to join this conversation on housing and land justice.
