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Leadership Reception
The 2026 Housing Leadership Awards Honorees
On March 12, 2026, NLIHC will honor our 2026 Housing Leadership Awards recipients: The Congressional Public Housing Caucus, Shirley Sherrod, and Protecting Immigrant Families (PIF) Coalition. These exceptional leaders will be recognized at NLIHC’s 43rd Annual Housing Leadership Awards Reception, held on the second evening of the NLIHC Housing Policy Forum 2026, at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.
The NLIHC Housing Leadership Awards celebrate and honor individual leaders and organizations for their outstanding contributions to affordable housing for those most in need.
The Edward W. Brooke Housing Leadership Award is named for the late Senator Brooke (R-MA), who championed low-income housing as a U.S. senator and as chair of the NLIHC board of directors after he left the Senate. The Brooke award goes to an exemplary housing leader with a record of fighting for affordable housing on the national level.
The Congressional Public Housing Caucus will receive the 2026 Edward W. Brooke Housing Leadership Award for their work to ensure that public housing remains a stable, safe, and quality option for low-income individuals and families and serves as a platform for lawmakers to collaborate on solutions that address the challenges facing public housing.The Congressional Public Housing Caucus is dedicated to making public housing a national priority and ensuring that federal policies support the American families who depend on it.
The Cushing Niles Dolbeare Lifetime Service Award is named after NLIHC’s late founder, who has been referred to as the “godmother” of the affordable housing movement. The award goes to an individual who has demonstrated an unyielding commitment to achieving safe, decent, and affordable homes for low-income people over a long period of time.
Shirley Sherrod will receive the 2026 Cushing Niles Dolbeare Lifetime Service Award for her invaluable contributions as a national civil rights trailblazer, advocate, and global thought leader in agriculture policy and its impact on rural marginalized communities. In 1969, she co-founded the nation's first community land trust.
The Sheila Crowley Housing Justice Award is named for former NLIHC President and CEO Sheila Crowley, who led NLIHC for more than 17 years. The Crowley award goes to an outstanding leader who has elevated the conversation around affordable housing for the lowest-income people in America.
The Protecting Families Together (PIF) Coalition will receive the 2026 Sheila Crowley Housing Justice Award for their tireless fight for immigrant families’ access to quality health care, nutrition, housing, economic supports, and other public services. PIF is a non-profit organization that bridges the gap between leading advocates for immigrant rights and health and social services.
The Loraine Brown Resident Leader Award is named after NLIHC Board Member Loraine Brown, and honors a person living in subsidized housing who has shown dedication to helping tenants, people experiencing homelessness, and their community.
The 2026 Loraine Brown Resident Leader Award honoree will be announced in the coming weeks.
Recognize these outstanding leaders by making a donation to NLIHC in their honor!
Your contribution will support NLIHC’s mission to achieve racially and socially equitable public policy that ensures people with the lowest incomes have quality homes that are accessible and affordable in communities of their choice.
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Brooke Award
The Edward W. Brooke Housing Leadership Award is named for the former senator, who championed low-income housing in Congress and later as Chairman of NLIHC’s Board of Directors.
The Congressional Public Housing Caucus is a coalition of Members of Congress committed to preserving public housing across the United States and prioritizing the needs of the millions of residents who call it home. Co-chaired by a group of lawmakers with lived experience in public housing, members of the caucus include U.S. Representatives Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO), Ranking Member of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), and Ritchie Torres (D-NY). The Congressional Public Housing Caucus is dedicated to making public housing a national priority and ensuring that federal policies support the American families who depend on it.
Past Edward W. Brooke Housing Leadership Award Honorees
Representative Tina Smith, 2025
Representative Cori Bush, 2023
Congressional Progressive Caucus, 2022
Representative Maxine Waters & Senator Sherrod Brown, 2021
Shauna Sorrells, 2020
Representative Emanuel Cleaver II, 2019
Senator Susan Collins, 2018
Ronald J. Terwilliger, 2017
Representative Barbara Lee, 2016
OMB Director Shaun Donovan, 2015
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, 2014
Senator Olympia Snowe, 2013
Senator Patty Murray, 2012
Nan Roman, 2011
Representative Keith Ellison, 2010
Senator John Kerry, 2010
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Dolbeare Award
The Cushing Niles Dolbeare Lifetime Service Award is named after NLIHC’s founder. One of the leading experts on federal housing policy and the housing circumstances of low-income people, Ms. Dolbeare was widely known as the godmother of the affordable housing advocacy movement.
Shirley Sherrod is revered for her invaluable contributions as a national civil rights trailblazer, advocate, and global thought leader in agriculture policy and its impact on rural marginalized communities. In 1969, she co-founded New Communities, Inc., the nation's first community land trust, that served as a safe haven for Black farmers who were removed from their land. Ms. Sherrod previously served on the Biden Administration’s USDA Equity Commission, studying systemic racism within the department. Ms.Sherrod has dedicated her life to advancing voting rights, solidarity, and wealth building through land ownership.
Past Cushing Niles Dolbeare Lifetime Service Award Honorees
Mac McCreight, 2025
John Parvensky, 2023
Ann O'Hara, 2022
Joy Johnson, 2021
Bill Faith, 2020
Emma "Pinky" Clifford, 2019
Lisa Hasegawa, 2018
Amy Anthony, 2017
Nancy Bernstine, 2016
William Apgar, 2015
Charles Elsesser, Jr., 2014
Chester Hartman, 2013
George Moses, 2012
Florence Wagman Roisman, Esq., 2011
Gordon Cavanaugh, 2010
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Crowley Award
The Sheila Crowley Housing Justice Award is named for former NLIHC President and CEO Sheila Crowley. The Crowley award goes to an outstanding leader who has elevated the conversation around affordable housing for the lowest income people in America.
The Protecting Immigrant Families (PIF) Coalition is a non-profit organization that bridges the gap between leading advocates for immigrant rights and health and social services. With a diverse network of over 800 member organizations, PIF fights for immigrant families’ access to quality health care, nutrition, housing, economic supports, and other public services. PIF brings the nation’s leading voices for immigrant rights and health care and human services together. PIF partners are shaping public policy, engaging immigrant communities, and changing the narrative about immigrant families and anti-immigrant policies.
Past Sheila Crowley Housing Justice Award Honorees
Susan Thomas, 2025
Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico, 2023
Representative Ritchie Torres, 2022
The National Housing Law Project's Housing Justice Network, 2021
Jennifer Leimaile Ho, 2020
Dr. Mitchell Katz, 2019
Matthew Desmond, 2018
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Brown Award
Instituted in 2025, the Loraine Brown Resident Leader Award is named after NLIHC Board Member Loraine Brown, and honors a person living in subsidized housing who has shown dedication to helping tenants, people experiencing homelessness, and their community.
The 2026 Loraine Brown Resident Leader Award honoree will be announced in the coming weeks.
Past Loraine Brown Resident Leader Award Honorees
Rob Robinson, 2025
Loraine Brown Resident Leader Award Criteria
- Person Living in Subsidized Housing: The Loraine Brown Resident Leader Award will honor a person living in subsidized housing who has shown dedication to helping tenants, people experiencing homelessness, and their community.
- Involvement with the National Low Income Housing Coalition: The nominee should have demonstrated involvement with NLIHC on advancing its priorities. While current members of NLIHC’s board of directors may not be considered to receive the award, past service on NLIHC’s board of directors is ample evidence of involvement with NLIHC, as is membership of NLIHC, and/or past participation in NLIHC events.
- Commitment to Residents: The nominee should have demonstrated a strong commitment to advocating for the rights and well-being of tenants within the public and assisted housing community. This should include efforts to organize and advocate for improving and expanding public and other subsidized housing, tenant protections, and/or preventing evictions and homelessness. It could also include efforts to provide education and training on Section 3 or other programs, organizing and offering direct assistance such as providing resources or referrals to community programs, and/or volunteering in the community.
- Community Involvement: The nominee should have actively engaged with the local community, fostering a sense of belonging and unity among residents. This could involve organizing community events for education, training, facilitating dialogue between residents and local authorities or leading initiatives to improve the overall quality of life in the development and/or neighborhood.
- Leadership and Initiative: The nominee should have demonstrated leadership qualities and initiative in addressing housing-related challenges and advocating for positive change. This could include taking on leadership roles within tenant associations, community organizations, local, county, state, and federal agencies, including, but not limited to, building relationships with legislators, and/or other relevant groups. The nominee should be actively involved with NLIHC for a minimum of 5 years and a current NLIHC member.
- Positive Impact and Results: The nominee should have a track record of making tangible, positive impacts within the housing community and broader neighborhood, whether through successful advocacy efforts, community projects, or innovative solutions to pressing issues.
- Narrative Submission: The nominee must provide a 300-500 word essay outlining the importance of advancing housing justice.
Process for Selection
- The Resident and Tenant Leadership Committee of the Board of Directors will create a process to invite and consider nominations for the Loraine Brown Resident Leader Award.
- Current members of the NLIHC board of directors may not be considered to receive the award.
- The Resident and Tenant Leadership Committee will create a process to consider, rank, and select the top 2-3 potential honorees to recommend to the NLIHC President and CEO.
- The Resident and Tenant Leadership Committee will make its recommendations by the Fall of each year.
- The Resident and Tenant Leadership Committee will forward its recommendation to the NLIHC President and CEO and Board Chair, who will make a final determination of the honoree.
Nominee Application
Applications must be submitted no later than Friday, November 21, 2025.
The Resident and Tenant Leadership Committee will make its recommendations to the NLIHC President and CEO and Board Chair by Friday, December 19, 2025.
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Donate Today
NLIHC expresses our deep gratitude to the individual and organizational donors making each year’s Housing Leadership Awards Reception a success.
Recognize the 2026 awardees by making a donation to NLIHC in their honor!
Your contribution will support NLIHC’s mission to achieve racially and socially equitable public policy that ensures people with the lowest incomes have quality homes that are accessible and affordable in communities of their choice.
Questions? Contact Benja Reilly at [email protected]