Kumar previously served as Tenant Bloc/HJ4A Campaign Director and Organizer
Under Kumar’s leadership as Co-Chair of the NYC Democratic Socialists of America, Zohran Mamdani was first elected to the State Legislature
NEW YORK — Today, the New York State Tenant Bloc and Housing Justice for All announced Executive Director Sumathy Kumar. Kumar is replacing former director Cea Weaver who was recently appointed to lead the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Kumar brings over a decade of organizing experience and five years of leadership within the coalition, where she helped coordinate the 80+ organization statewide coalition that won historic tenant protections, including Good Cause Evictions and one of the longest-lasting eviction moratoria in the country. Before joining Housing Justice for All, Kumar co-founded HOPE Tenant Union, organizing tenants in Brownsville and East New York in Brooklyn.
In addition to her work for the tenant movement, Kumar also served as Co-Chair of the NYC Democratic Socialists of America between 2020-2022. Under her leadership, NYC-DSA elected six socialist legislators to the New York State Legislature, including Mayor Mamdani.
Following their elections, she co-founded the Socialists in Office Committee, a nationally recognized co-governance model that trained and supported socialist elected officials and coordinated inside-outside strategy to win major legislative victories such as the Tax the Rich and the Build Public Renewables campaigns. Kumar graduated from New York University in 2017.
“Tenants make up the majority of New Yorkers, and it’s time city government finally works for them. Sumathy Kumar and I have fought side by side in Albany to win real, transformative change for working-class families and, as we look to freeze rents and hold bad landlords accountable, the tenant movement couldn’t have a more powerful champion. I’m proud to partner with Sumathy in the fight for every New Yorker to have a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home,” said Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
“Sumathy and I have worked side by side for more than five years to build a tenant movement that wins. She is a disciplined leader who has built tenant power across every terrain – from organizing tenants in their buildings to coordinating our statewide coalition to electing tenant champions. Sumathy is ready to lead the tenant movement into a new era where tenants control their homes and their futures. I couldn’t be more confident in her leadership, and I’m looking forward to partnering with her from City Hall,” said Cea Weaver, former director of the NYS Tenant Bloc and Housing Justice for All and Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants.
“I am so honored and excited to step into the director role at Housing Justice for All and the NYS Tenant Bloc in this new era for tenant power. Tenants are the majority in New York and by organizing together from our buildings to the ballot box, we will win stability and the homes we deserve,” said Sumathy Kumar, Executive Director of the NYS Tenant Bloc and Housing Justice for All.
“In New York and around the country, tenants are rising up and organizing, in buildings, throughout portfolios, and across state lines. This is a critical moment for furthering the tenant movement, and movements are only as good as their organizers. Sumathy Kumar is an outstanding organizer with a long track record of visionary, creative, and rigorous leadership. New York’s tenants are ascendant and, with leaders like Sumathy in our movement, tenants can and will win in New York and beyond,” said Tara Raghuveer, Director of the Tenant Union Federation.
“Sumathy is a bold and strategic tenant leader. As the former co-chair of New York City DSA and long-time DSA organizer, Sumathy developed and enacted a vision of co-governance with elected officials, enabling the socialist movement to begin utilizing the power of government to serve tenants and working-class New Yorkers. Sumathy is a seasoned and talented organizer, with the vision and experience to make tenants a formidable force in New York politics,” said Grace Mausser, Co-Chair of New York City Democratic Socialists of America.
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The NYS Tenant Bloc is organizing tenants to take back power from the real estate industry. Tenants are half the state: united we could take control over our homes and democracy.
Housing Justice for All is a statewide coalition of more than 80 organizations representing tenants and homeless New Yorkers, united in our fight for housing as a human right.
