Leadership and Administrative Staff:
Carrie Pleasants
Executive Director
Learn more about Carrie
Carrie Pleasants was appointed as the Executive Director of the Fair Housing Center for Rights & Research on March 1, 2016 after serving as the Interim Director since July of 2015. Carrie served as the Associate Director at The Fair Housing Center since 2008, overseeing the management of The Fair Housing Center’s enforcement, education and outreach, and research programs and assisting in the management of the organization. Originally from the Akron area, Carrie moved to Cleveland in 2000 and joined The Fair Housing Center (then called the Metropolitan Strategy Group) as the research and mapping specialist.
In 2001, Carrie became the Director of Research & Investigations, overseeing and conducting research projects and testing until becoming the Associate Director in January 2008. She has served as the testing coordinator or supervisor for all testing projects performed by The Fair Housing Center since February of 2000 and has supervised more than 4,000 rental, lending, sales, insurance, and accessibility tests. In addition, she has conducted a number of research projects at The Fair Housing Center related to housing and lending discrimination, payday lending, and impediments to fair housing. Carrie received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geography with a minor in Cartography from Kent State University in 1997, and her Master of Arts in Geography with a specialization in urban geography from Kent State University in 2001.
Kris Keniray (she/her/they)
Associate Director
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Kris Keniray supervises The Fair Housing Center’s program work including enforcement, education & outreach, research, and testing. She represents the agency in bringing administrative complaints at the federal, state, and local levels and works with the Executive Director and outside counsel on agency litigation.
Kris joined the staff of The Fair Housing Center in April 2013 as Enforcement Coordinator and was appointed as the agency’s first Director of Enforcement in January 2014. She joined The Fair Housing Center following seven years of service to Fair Housing Contact Service in Akron where she last served as Assistant Director. Before her work in the field of fair housing, Kris worked for Family Planning Services of Lorain County and volunteered for the Lorain County HIV/AIDS Task Force and the Lorain County Rape Crisis Program. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Women’s Studies from Oberlin College in 2001.
Kris serves on the Ohio Consolidated Plan Fair Housing Advisory Committee. She previously co-chaired The Housing Committee for the Cuyahoga County Office of Reentry’s Greater Cleveland Reentry Strategy Coalition and remains engaged in the Coalition’s Policy & Advocacy and Justice Housing Committees.
Abigail Beard
Office Administrator
Learn more about Abigail
Abigail Beard is a lifetime resident of the Cleveland area. She joined the Fair Housing Center in February 2024. She works in an administrative capacity and works with the Mobility demonstration team, which seeks to help families move to opportunity areas throughout the Cleveland Metropolitan Area. She earned her bachelors degree in Sociology from the College of Wooster and is interested in community creation and various social justice issues. Previously, Abigail has worked as a research assistant in the Biomedical Sciences, Political Sciences, and Environmental Studies and as a library assistant. She envisions a Cleveland where all residents are embraced and have access to high quality housing, schools, and jobs.
Education & Outreach Team:
Tanesha Hunter (she/her)
Director of Education & Outreach
Learn more about Tanesha
Tanesha Hunter manages and leads the Fair Housing Center’s education and outreach efforts, which includes coordinating trainings and educational programs. She promotes fair housing education by providing comprehensive overviews of fair housing law to a variety of audiences, including municipalities, real estate professionals, landlords, social workers, and consumers.
Tanesha earned her undergraduate degree in Gerontology from Bowling Green State University. She is a proud Alumnus of Cleveland State’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs where she received her Master of Public Administration. During her graduate studies, she was awarded the Wallace G. Teare Prize, for her advocacy for quality housing. She was also published by the ACLU for her article “No Section 8 Means No Opportunities”, which highlights issues associated with Source of Income discrimination. Prior to working at the Fair Housing Center, Tanesha worked as an Administrative Manager for the City of Cleveland Department of Aging. In this role she assisted in the management of external affairs and coordination of outreach efforts.
Emily Martin (she/her)
Communications & Outreach Specialist
Learn more about Emily
Emily Martin serves as Communications & Outreach Specialist at the Fair Housing Center for Rights & Research (FHCRR). In this role, she works with FHCRR’s education & outreach team, assisting with social media and website management, content creation, the designing of educational materials, and the planning and implementation of education and outreach events.
Emily earned her Bachelor of Arts in Digital Media and Design from Baldwin Wallace University in 2017, where she realized her passion for housing-related social justice work. As a Brain Student Fellow at Baldwin Wallace University, she conducted a social change project on campus to raise awareness and address issues surrounding homelessness.
Prior to joining The Fair Housing Center, Emily has worked with a number of nonprofit organizations in media-related roles, including serving as New Media Intern at The City Mission, and working as a contract graphic designer for Mission Resource Alliance. She also completed a year of service with AmeriCorps VISTA, serving as Media Coordinator at Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry (LMM) in Cleveland. As a VISTA, she helped to facilitate the PhotoVoice Learning Collaborative at LMM’s Men’s Shelter at 2100 Lakeside, providing residents the opportunity to use photography as a means to share their individual experiences with homelessness.
Emily firmly believes that housing is a human right, and is committed to advocating for equitable and inclusive communities.
Prerna Agarwal (they/them)
Housing Justice Outreach Intern
Learn more about Prerna
Prerna Agarwal (pronounced Prayer-na) joined the Fair Housing Center in February 2024. As an Education and Outreach intern, they support the team’s fair housing trainings, coordination of outreach events, and development of educational materials.
Prerna has been a community organizer for nearly 6 years, and began their work fighting gentrification policies in their hometown of San Jose, California. They have a B.A. in International Affairs, with a focus in urban agriculture and are passionate about building a liberatory world in which many worlds fit.
Policy & Research Team:
Austin Cummings
Senior Research Associate
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Austin’s career has focused on addressing systemic forms of oppression and creating equitable, socially just outcomes. Before joining the Fair Housing Center, Austin consulted on a variety of applied research projects focused on expanding access to family planning resources in Southern Oregon, evaluating the development and implementation of bike share equity policy in North America, and investigating the most effective ways to structure curriculum in order to prepare high school students for college. Along his academic and career journey, Austin has co-authored a handful of book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles broadly focused on urban planning, equity policy, and addressing power inequalities.
In his role as Senior Research Associate, Austin conducts research on housing discrimination, mortgage lending, and fair housing compliance. Austin earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Philosophy and Psychology and a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Oregon.
Andrew Shenal (he/him)
Research Intern
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Andrew Shenal joined the Fair Housing Center in May 2024. In the research team, he performs data analysis and writing to support the research of barriers to fair housing, along with other topics of discrimination and compliance.
Currently, Andrew attends Kent State University to obtain a B.A. in Environmental Studies. His current research projects there focus on creating data and earth observation tools to support Indigenous communities in California and analyzing agricultural water pollution surrounding Lake Erie.
In the future Andrew hopes to attend graduate school and continue working at nonprofits to make the world a more equitable place for all.
Frank Ford
Senior Policy Advisor
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Frank Ford is Senior Policy Advisor at the Fair Housing Center and serves as Chair of the Greater Cleveland Vacant and Abandoned Property Action Council (VAPAC). He is an attorney who has worked in the field of community development for over 40 years. From 2013 to 2022 Frank was Senior Policy Advisor at the Western Reserve Land Conservancy where he led VAPAC policy initiatives and conducted housing research focusing on disparate impacts on people of color communities. In 2013 a research study he led on the outcomes of property emerging from foreclosure was published by Harvard University. From 1999 to 2013 Frank was Senior Vice President for Research & Development at Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) where he directed CNP’s Land Assembly, Vacant Property Reform and Neighborhood Stabilization Initiatives. From 1991 through 1998 Frank was Associate Director for Urban Programs at the Colorado Center for Community Development at the University of Colorado at Denver where he taught community development and conducted applied research. In Denver he published one of the first studies in the U.S. to document racial disparities in lending to small businesses – this study was cited by Attorney General Janet Reno in her Martin Luther King Day speech in Birmingham, Alabama in 1997. A study he conducted on home mortgage lending discrimination was the subject of a news story aired by Tom Brokaw, NBC Nightly News in 1993. From 1986 through 1990 Frank served as Executive Director of the Union-Miles Development Corporation in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1986 he litigated the first case under Ohio’s Nuisance Abatement Property Receivership Law. Frank graduated from Kenyon College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English, and received his Juris Doctor Degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Enforcement & Advocacy Team:
Megan Crow
Director of Client Advocacy
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Megan Crow joins the Fair Housing Center with a rich background in leading initiatives and programs dedicated to assisting homeless individuals and families. During the pandemic, Megan successfully led teams to help people experiencing homelessness transition into stable housing. She also directed programs specifically designed to support homeless families and independently implemented a program to aid unsheltered homeless individuals.
Megan firmly believes in the right to fair, safe, and affordable housing for everyone, regardless of race, sexual orientation, disability, or any other characteristic. Her dedication to advocacy is rooted in her personal experiences of helping individuals become stably housed, only to witness them return to homelessness due to evictions or unlivable conditions. This inspired her to focus on preventing homelessness through fair housing advocacy.
Alek Nielsen
Client Advocate
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Alek is a native of Greater Cleveland, with a Bachelor’s in History from Ohio State University. Alek’s career background is mainly in scientific research, coming to the housing justice world through non-professional activist work. Since 2019, Alek has been a part of electoral and tenant organizing efforts in Columbus and helped to administer and organize Cleveland’s largest anti-eviction outreach campaign to date (the Cleveland Housing Organizing Project). He believes in the importance of serious and honest advocacy and service delivery, while pushing for democratic organizing beyond the nonprofit world to build the power to genuinely transform the unacceptable conditions tenants and advocates face in Cleveland. Ultimately, he looks forward to a world where housing is a human right, rather than a private commodity or an asset for investors. As a Client Advocate, he has the opportunity to help the broader Enforcement Team in defending tenants’ disability rights, combatting racial discrimination, and more!
Chantina Bush
Client Advocate
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Chantina was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, where she developed her interest in social justice issues. She pursued a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Leadership, with minors in Nonprofit Administration and Urban Studies, at Cleveland State’s Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs. Chantina’s extensive knowledge in the field of organizational leadership helps her approach complex cases with a strategic mindset. Her expertise in the areas of nonprofit administration and urban studies gives her a holistic view of the issues at play in fair housing matters. Chantina’s passion for advocacy and social justice makes her well-suited to her role as a Client Advocate on the Enforcement Team at The Fair Housing Center. Her proficiency in organizational leadership, nonprofit administration, and urban studies, along with her dedication to advocating for fair housing rights, make her a powerful force for change in her community. Her desire for protecting and expanding fair housing rights and eliminating housing discrimination drives her efforts. Chantina’s work as a Client Advocate is an embodiment of her determination to fight for social justice and fair housing rights.
Mary Knapp
Client Advocate
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Mary Knapp joined The Fair Housing Center team in September 2023 as a part-time Client Advocate. She is a graduate of Mercyhurst University with a Bachelor of Arts in Hotel, Restaurant, Institutional Management. She spent 10 years in the customer service and restaurant industries before transitioning to a career in social service. She was a volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate Guardian ad Litem in Lorain County’s Domestic Relations Court through Voices for Children for 7 years.
While working for Catholic Charities Diocese of Cleveland, as a Human Services Worker, she worked directly with the homeless and impoverished in Lorain County assisting with Rapid Rehousing, Coordinated Entry intake and Emergency Assistance.
During her time at the West Side Catholic Center, she managed the daily operations of their non-profit social enterprise. Assisted those in need with on-the-job training, employment and mentorship; working with clients toward self-sufficiency and teaching the skills necessary to become job ready.
“It is my goal to work with the most vulnerable in our communities, helping to create a future of dignity and respect for those marginalized by society.”
Mobility Demonstration Team:
Michael Lepley (he/him)
Mobility Program Director
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Michael Lepley directs the Community Choice Demonstration program in partnership with the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority. The Community Choice Demonstration assists families with children participating in the Housing Choice Voucher Program in accessing neighborhoods with strong community resources.
Formerly, Michael spent a combined eight years as The Fair Housing Center’s Research Associate and Senior Research Associate. Michael produced research on regional housing discrimination, mortgage lending, and land-use regulations; carried out housing discrimination investigations; and provided technical assistance on housing policy to jurisdictions throughout Northeast Ohio.
Michael represents The Fair Housing Center as Vice President of the board of Greater Cleveland Community Shares, a workplace giving federation supporting Cleveland-area nonprofits with social justice missions. Michael serves as a board member of Shaker Historical Society. Michael is an alumnus of the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and of Clarion University of Pennsylvania.
Michael thinks your city should pass Source of Income protections.
Lonnie Pratt
Leasing Coordinator
Learn more about Lonnie
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Lonnie Pratt is a 15th-year professional in client engagement focused on community development through non-profit administration. With his undergrad in Organizational Leadership from the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University, Lonnie demonstrates his passion for people and social progress through his work in various organizations such as the Fair Housing Center For Rights & Research, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, the American Heart Association, the Emergency Assistance Center, Good Neighbors of Cuyahoga Falls, Summit Food Coalition, Cuyahoga Community College, Ohio City-County Management Association, and The Lee Center For Economic Advancement. Open and analytical in his approach, Lonnie works to identify, create, and distribute economic resources for underserved and disadvantaged African American communities. Lonnie believes in a community that has fewer boundaries to accessing, processing, and developing results for its residents.
David Quigley
Mobility Counselor
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In his role as Mobility Counselor, David Quigley seeks to mitigate racial segregation within Cuyahoga County by working directly with applicants of CMHA’s housing choice voucher program. David earned his bachelor’s in communications with a focus on political rhetoric and argumentation from the College of Wooster in Wooster Ohio.
David is a New Jersey native who’s passionate about anti-racism work and the promotion of equity. In the furtherance of these goals, David focused on addressing the societal impacts of systemic racism and structural poverty with his work at a reentry resource center full of amazing staff in Cleveland. There, he had the privilege of functioning as a life coach, therapist, employment specialist, housing coordinator, big brother, computer expert, financial advisor and role model for formerly incarcerated individuals, people experiencing homelessness, veterans, and all community members in need of assistance and connections to community resources. Before that, David worked at an intensive outpatient treatment center to combat the insidious and far reaching disease of addiction. David very much looks forward to continuing work in this field and promoting a more equitable future.
Joanna Riley-Jackman
Mobility Counselor
Learn more about Joanna
Joanna Riley-Jackman joined The Fair Housing Center in April 2022 as a Mobility Counselor. In this position she will provide selected families using Housing Choice Vouchers the support and services needed to overcome barriers impeding their ability to secure housing in a variety of neighborhoods. Joanna will provide support to participating families before, during and after their moves to opportunity areas.
Joanna is a native of Trinidad and Tobago, but grew up in Brooklyn, NY, and later moved to the Catskills area of New York, finally landing in Ohio in December of 2021.
She earned her bachelors in Sociology at Brooklyn College. After graduating she worked as a Residential Specialist at a not-for-profit organization assisting troubled teens. She then worked as a Career Counselor at Job Corps where she developed comprehensive, measurable, continuous educational, career plans on an individual and group basis for her students. She served as a member of committees to review policies and procedures relating to the counseling program and the center’s operation as directed. She implemented new projects for improving training sessions and conferences to develop greater proficiency among staff in areas of guidance, social adjustments, and social development.
In this new role, she looks forward to promoting a structure that benefits and provides equality to those that are in need of guidance and assistance.