Dan Denvir helped to spotlight a landlord's dilapidated properties. Then the AG sued.

Name: Dan Denvir

Age: 41

Hometown: Providence

Position: Reclaim RI cofounder and host of Jacobin's "The Dig" podcast

While Dan Denvir hosts a left-wing podcast for the New York political magazine Jacobin, his place on this list was cemented by his work with the local progressive group Reclaim RI, which helped generate widespread awareness of poor housing conditions created by Pioneer Investments LLC.

Denvir and Reclaim RI were instrumental in pressuring landlord Anurag Sureka to pay attention to tenant complaints over deplorable conditions, including lead hazards. (The Providence Journal documented various issues, including reporting on lead-poisoned children.) In June, Attorney General Peter Neronha filed suit against Pioneer and Sureka.

"This coming year we are looking forward to helping tenants of other major slumlords in RI organize and win the safe, affordable and dignified housing that all people deserve," Denvir said.

His other goal? Making Rhode Island the first state in the country to be a public housing developer. In August, the state Department of Housing and RIHousing said they plan to commission a study to look into the idea. The study would consider whether Rhode Island could use a similar approach to that employed by Montgomery County, Maryland, which created a revolving fund for mixed-income units.

Reclaim has been pushing for such a program since 2022. Denvir called it "an essential tool to solve this out-of-control housing crisis."

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the state in which the revolving fund for mixed-income units is located. It is in Maryland.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Dan Denvir fights RI landlords, deplorable conditions and lead paint