Tanya Dwyer, Esq.

Tanya Dwyer, Esq. founded and operated a law firm for 10 years, primarily defending the rights of homeowners, which allowed them to stay in their homes. During this time, she was selected as a 2016 TED Resident. She presented her TED Talk, “Brooklyn is Magic,” about the vast economic potential of the Crown Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Born in Jamaica, then immigrating to the United States as a young child, Ms. Dwyer received her first exposure to real estate development and housing from her father, an electrical contractor and neighborhood organizer. Although Ms. Dwyer spent plenty of time on job sites as a teenager, she knew at a very young age that she wanted to be an attorney.

Ms. Dwyer earned her law degree from George Washington University. She interned at the United Nations on the Right to Adequate Housing, the Ugandan Woman’s Lawyers Association (traveling throughout Uganda and informing women of their newly-granted Constitutional rights), and the D.C. Office of Human Rights.

In 2018, Ms. Dwyer moved to Peekskill to accept a position with Legal Services of Hudson Valley as a foreclosure and bankruptcy attorney, defending homeowners.

In 2019, she founded Parish House, Inc., whose mission is to build houses that are eco-friendly and affordable on a minimum wage salary. Parish House is proud to be pioneering affordable straw bale homes, and focuses on environmental justice, economic justice and racial justice in all its work.

Ms. Dwyer promotes the multi-disciplinary ideas behind Parish House, Inc. as a presenter, panelist and grassroots advocate. In her Peekskill community, she has designed a climateresilient, comprehensive affordable housing policy, which includes transportation initiatives and recommendations for funding and technical support. Her plan has since become the inspiration for Peekskill’s first attempt to develop a comprehensive plan for the City since the 1970s.

Ms. Dwyer is Chair of the Peekskill NAACP Economic Sustainability Committee, where she has an initiative to update Peekskill's City plan to center housing and environmental justice. She volunteers for Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress as a DEI committee member, and is also a board member of The Black Diamonds Academic Success Inc.