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The National Association of REALTORS® and realtor.com® on Wednesday honored the four inaugural winners of the Fair Housing Champion Awards during NAR’s Fair Housing Month event, “What Will it Take to Close the Racial Homeownership Gap?” Honorees were recognized for making a significant impact on efforts to advance fair housing and expand homeownership to traditionally underserved communities, either through their business or as a volunteer or advocate.
This year’s winners are as follows:
Harrison Beacher is the managing partner of the Coalition Properties Group team at Keller Williams Capital Properties in Washington, D.C. He serves as the 2022 president of the Greater Capital Area Association of REALTORS®, and he’s an at-large director for the District of Columbia Association of REALTORS®. Many of Beacher’s clients are first-time buyers, and he helps them succeed by connecting them with down payment assistance programs and other resources.
Sabrina Brown, ABR, SRS, is broker-owner of Brown and Brown Real Estate in Fresno, Calif. She’s a director at her local and state associations, the Madera Association of REALTORS® and the California Association of REALTORS®. Brown regularly holds workshops that connect first-time buyers with programs to help them achieve homeownership and invest in real estate, with an emphasis on outreach to people of color.
Bobbi Howe, CRS, is a second-generation real estate professional with more than 24 years of experience in the field. Howe currently serves as the treasurer-elect for Missouri REALTORS®, and she says she is dedicated to using her platform to spread the word and educate colleagues and consumers about systemic racism in real estate. She works to expand opportunities for Black real estate investors in the Kansas City area.
Rafael Perez has extensive experience as a mortgage banker, lender, and educator. Perez serves on NAR’s Fair Housing Policy Committee and is a member and past president of the San Diego chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. He continues his eight-plus years of service as a commissioner for the City of San Diego on the Citizens’ Equal Opportunity Commission. Perez is passionate about helping families create household wealth through homeownership. He also helps San Diego residents who have been displaced by development to move back into their old neighborhoods.
“NAR is committed to helping build thriving, inclusive communities in every ZIP code in America,” NAR President Leslie Rouda Smith said in a statement. “I am so proud of all the work our winners have done to increase access to homeownership and hope their leadership can serve as an example to inspire others into action.”
The Fair Housing Champion Awards, sponsored by realtor.com®, provide a $4,000 prize to each winner that they can dedicate to a housing-related nonprofit organization of their choice.