The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) honored four individuals with the Edward W. Brooke and Walter F. Mondale Fair Housing Award for their work advancing fair housing, lending, and equitable opportunities to ensure underserved individuals and communities can access quality housing, credit, and insurance opportunities.

The 2024 recipients are Lee Porter, executive director of the Fair Housing Council of Northern New Jersey; Bernard Kleina, civil rights photographer and former director of HOPE Fair Housing Center; Cat Cloud, NFHA’s former chief operating officer and retiring senior advisor to the president and CEO; and Debby Goldberg, NFHA’s retired vice president of housing policy and special projects.

“Lee Porter, Bernie Kleina, Debby Goldberg and Cat Cloud embody the spirit of dedication and passion for fair housing and civil rights,” NFHA’s President and CEO Lisa Rice said in a release. “Their tireless efforts have not only advanced our understanding of housing challenges but also transformed lives by ensuring equal access to housing and financial services for underserved people and communities. We are honored to recognize them with the Edward W. Brooke and Walter F. Mondale Fair Housing Award. Their remarkable achievements inspire us all to continue advancing housing justice and equitable opportunities so that we can achieve a more just nation.”

Meet the Honorees

Porter directed what the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development described as one of the best fair housing councils in the nation. She played a role in establishing the Fair Housing Initiatives Program, a permanently funded federal program that provides direct support to non-profit civil rights fair housing agencies as well as other organizations that implement fair housing programming. Porter also helped found NFHA, serving on its board of directors for over a decade.

Kleina answered Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s call for clergy to meet in Selma, Ala., following “Bloody Sunday” in March 1965. Here, Kleina took the first photograph of King in color and used his images to remind others of King’s vision. For over 40 years, Kleina pursued King’s dream of housing justice as director of the HOPE Fair Housing Center.

“Housing is at the heart of our struggle for equality,” Kleina said. He is also a founding member of NFHA and served on its board of directors.

Cloud began her service with HOPE Fair Housing Center in Illinois. She has served in numerous roles at NFHA including as chief operating officer. She was also responsible for developing, implementing and creating the first curriculums for Fair Housing School, NFHA’s comprehensive training and education program for fair housing professionals. Cloud’s leadership has helped NFHA to remain at the forefront of the fight to advance fair housing and reform the financial services industry. She led the development and implementation of most of NFHA’s national fair housing media campaigns which have secured over $200 million in donated media and well over 5 billion audience impressions.

Goldberg worked for 45 years to increase equity in the nation’s housing and financial services systems. She also worked on a study of mortgage lending patterns in D.C., which documented local banks’ failure to serve communities of color. She helped oversee the settlement of a landmark lawsuit against the federal banking regulators for their failure to enforce the Fair Housing Act. Goldberg also joined the staff of the Center for Community Change, including serving on the Federal Reserve’s consumer advisory council and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Following Hurricane Katrina, she became the director of the Hurricane Relief Project at NFHA and later served as the vice president of housing policy and special projects. She retired from NFHA in 2023.