Dominique Lamb ’08 to Deliver Lecture on Housing Equity The Nov. 13 lecture on W&L’s campus is free and open to the public.

By Emily Innes Stanley
November 7, 2025

Dominique Lamb ’08, a real estate broker, educator and housing equity strategist, will deliver a lecture titled “The American Nightmare: Exposing the Sale of Survival in Housing” at Washington and Lee University at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 13 in Hillel House Room 101.

Lamb’s lecture is free and open to the public. The event is sponsored by the Department of Philosophy, the Law, Justice and Society Program, the Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability and the Class of 1963 Scholars in Residence Program.

In her talk, Lamb will offer a compelling exploration of how housing, far from being just a personal or economic concern, is deeply entangled in systems of power, exclusion and survival. Drawing on her lived experience in the real estate industry and her ongoing research, Lamb invites the W&L community to see beyond capitalist market forces and begin recognizing the deeper mechanisms shaping who gets access to housing, wealth and rights. Her talk offers a critical perspective on the historical and ongoing relationships between race, land, policy and profit, and the real-life consequences for communities navigating systems not built for them.

Lamb is the owner and principal broker of the Haven Firm, LLC, and founder of the Kirby Institute, a think-and-do tank focused on reforming equitable access to housing. She is a certified instructor for real estate continuing education courses and also founded Kola Trust, Inc., a private real estate investment fund that offers access to members of historically exploited communities.

In addition to her lecture, Lamb will hold office hours on Nov. 14 from 2-3:30 p.m. in the Center for Global Learning Atrium for students who would like to learn more about her experience at W&L, her career in real estate or her research on housing equity. She will also meet with several classes and participate in W&L’s Shepherd Social Impact Summit during her campus visit.

After graduating from W&L with a bachelor’s degree in politics and philosophy, Lamb pursued a master’s degree in philosophy from George Mason University and received a graduate certificate in intellectual property, digitization and digital media from the University of Maryland, University College.