Alexander Polikoff
Director, Public Housing Program

Alexander Polikoff has served as lead counsel in the Gautreaux public housing litigation for more than 40 years. Alex joined BPI one year after its founding in 1970 as Executive Director, a position he held for almost 30 years. Prior to holding that position, he was a member of Chicago law firm Schiff Hardin & Waite. He received his BA, MA (the latter in English Language and Literature) and JD from the University of Chicago. He is the author of Housing the Poor: The Case for Heroism (1978) and Waiting for Gautreaux (2006).
apolikoff@bpichicago.org

Julie Elena Brown
Senior Staff Counsel

Julie Elena Brown has served as Staff Counsel since 1989 and currently works on housing litigation and policy development. Prior to her role at BPI, Julie served as Assistant Corporation Counsel with the City of Chicago Law Department. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin and JD from the University of Wisconsin Law School, where she was on staff at the Law Review and an editor at the International Law Journal.
jbrown@bpichicago.org

Aya Barnea

Aya Barnea joined BPI’s staff as a Polikoff-Gautreaux Fellow in August 2010. Aya received her JD magna cum laude in May 2010 from the DePaul University College of Law, where she was a member of the DePaul Law Review and served on the Public Interest Law Committee. Before entering law school, she taught first grade for two years through Teach for America in Baltimore and received a Master of Arts in Teaching from Johns Hopkins University. As a law student, Aya served as a law clerk with the Cook County Public Guardian and the Family Defense Center and held internships at BPI and the Citizen Advocacy Center. Aya was awarded a BA in Public Policy Studies with Honors from the University of Chicago in 2005.

abarnea@bpichicago.org

Emily Blumberg

A 2010 graduate of Harvard Law School, Emily clerked for Justice Denise Johnson of the Vermont Supreme Court before coming to BPI. As a law student, Emily was an editor of the Harvard Civil Rights – Civil Liberties Law Review, a research and teaching assistant for Professor Lani Guinier, and a mediator with the Harvard Mediation Program.  Her internships during law school included work with The Legal Aid Society (NYC), Centro Legal de la Raza (Oakland), Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (Boston), and Advancement Project (Washington, D.C.). Prior to law school, Emily was a Teaching Fellow at Citizen Schools in Boston, a publication assistant for Harvard’s Global Equity Initiative, and a research assistant with the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research.  As a Rockefeller Fellow, she worked on community development projects with rural farming communities in Mexico.  Emily received her BA magna cum laude in History and Literature from Harvard College in 2004.

eblumberg@bpichicago.org

 Taylor Healy

Taylor Healy received a JD magna cum laude in June 2010 from Villanova University School of Law where she was named a Public Interest Scholar and inducted into the Order of the Coif. While in law school, Taylor worked with the Clinic for Asylum, Refugee and Emigrant Services (CARES), National Advisory Committee of Equal Justice Works, Housing Unit at Philadelphia’s Community Legal Services, Inc., and Guardian Ad Litem Program of the Children’s Law Center in Washington, D.C. Prior to law school, Taylor was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study immigration law in the expanding European Union. She also worked as a program analyst with the federal Legal Services Corporation (LSC) of Washington, D.C. on issues affecting hurricane and disaster affected legal aid programs. Taylor also holds a BA from Boston College, and held an internship in the Massachusetts State House.

thealy@bpichicago.org