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ABOUT US
Mission
Board of Directors
Staff
History
MISSION
The mission of the Fair Housing Justice Center is to:
- Challenge systemic discrimination that restricts access to housing opportunities or fosters segregation.
- Advocate public policies and programs that reverse the harm caused by systemic discrimination, reduce inequality, and promote open and inclusive communities.
- Upgrade and strengthen local, state, and national fair housing enforcement.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Bernhard Blythe, President
Blythe Designs
Emily Martin, Vice President
Deputy Director, ACLU Women's Rights Project
Robert Martin, Treasurer
Deputy Director, District 37 Municipal Employees Legal Services
Gene Capello, Secretary
Assistant General Counsel, Pfizer, Inc.
Yvette Wilson
Minister In Training, Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims
Note: Organizations listed are for identification purposes only.
STAFF
LaDonna Burns, Intake Analyst
Prior to joining the FHJC, Ms. Burns worked as a Legislative Assistant for the Indiana House of Representatives. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Michigan State University in Microbiology. Ms. Burns has lived in New York City since 2001 and is a professional singer.
Fred Freiberg, Field Services Director
Prior to co-founding the Fair Housing Justice Center in 2004, Mr. Freiberg worked for the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice where he directed a national testing program that he helped to establish in 1992. From 1999 - 2002, Mr. Freiberg directed the field work in two national research projects conducted by The Urban Institute involving testing - a study of mortgage lending practices and the national Housing Discrimination Study (HDS). During the 1980s, Mr. Freiberg worked as a fair housing consultant for private and public fair housing organizations. Mr. Freiberg was a founder and the first Executive Director of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council from 1977-1981. Since 2005, Mr. Freiberg has been co-teaching the Housing Discrimination Law Seminar at Columbia Law School.
Vanessa Gonzalez, Office Manager
Ms. Gonzalez joined the FHJC after two years with The Children’s Village in Westchester County, New York where she worked with at-risk teenagers in a transitional housing program. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Scranton, PA in Counseling and Human Services. Ms. Gonzalez is bilingual in English and Spanish.
Miriam Kurien, Interim Executive Director
Ms. Kurien holds a Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School. She has worked as a law clerk at Levy Ratner, P.C., the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Connecticut Attorney General's Office,and the New York City Law Department on employment discrimination matters. She worked as a summer legal intern for the FHJC in 2007 and most recently served on the FHJC Board of Directors.
Justin Levy, Legal Fellow*
Mr. Levy holds a Juris Doctor from Hofstra Law School where he graduated summa cum laude. While at Hofstra, Mr. Levy served as a Notes & Comments Editor on the Hofstra Law Review and interned with the Housing Rights Clinic.
*admission to the New York Bar is pending
HISTORY
The Fair Housing Justice Center, Inc. (FHJC) is a membership-based 501(c)(3) fair housing organization based in New York City. The FHJC was initially incubated as a program of HELP USA, a non-profit provider of housing and social services for homeless families and individuals. In 2004, upon learning that many formerly homeless families were encountering discriminatory barriers during their search for permanent housing, HELP USA recruited two of the nation's leading fair housing advocates, Diane L. Houk and Fred Freiberg, to organize the FHJC and fill the void left by the closing of the New York Open Housing Center in 2003.
Sponsorship by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council enabled HELP USA to access funding provided by HUD to open the FHJC in April 2005. Ms. Houk served as FHJC's first Executive Director from 2005 - 2009. The FHJC is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors.
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