Tanesha Seaborn 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 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.

Dawson is an undergraduate student at Case Western Reserve University majoring in Political Science, Economics, and Environmental Studies. He has lived in Greater Cleveland all his life and has a passion for contributing to the region through community and public service. After earning his Bachelor’s Degree, Dawson hopes to attend law school and pursue a career in public service, dedicating his life to causes he holds dear such as workers’ rights, environmental advocacy, and housing justice.

At The Fair Housing Center, Dawson is the Housing Justice Intern in the Education and Outreach department, where he assists in outreach activities such as trainings, educational programs, and community events.

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.

Heather Thomas Lazar joined The Fair Housing Center in 2025 and serves as the Program Manager for the Vacant and Abandoned Property Action Council (VAPAC). 

After earning a Master in Urban Planning, Design and Development degree from the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University, Heather launched her career in housing by working at three of Cleveland’s Community Development Corporations.  During that tenure, she was Chair of the CDC Housing Committee, led initiatives to help seniors, and oversaw the redevelopment of vacant and abandoned properties.

In 2008, as the national foreclosure crisis was wreaking havoc on many Cleveland neighborhoods and inner ring suburbs, Heather became deeply ingrained within the mortgage servicing industry while working at Safeguard Properties.  As the company’s Community Liaison, Heather created a curriculum and led educational presentations across the country sharing timely information to municipal code enforcement officers about the mortgage and foreclosure processes and maintenance best practices used by the servicing industry during and following a foreclosure.

In 2019, Heather joined the Ward 15 Council office with the City of Cleveland and continued her work with addressing vacant properties.  Heather possesses a deep-rooted curiosity, an eagerness to continue learning and an infinite willingness to explore and create viable solutions.  She is honored for the opportunity to draw upon her professional experiences and knowledge surrounding abandonment and work alongside Cleveland’s most brilliant minds within the vacant properties arena by assisting VAPAC’s members with their ongoing efforts to prevent vacancies, influence responsible ownership and share thoughtful and productive recommendations for practices, policies and legislation.

Heather believes that protecting residents and safe, quality and affordable housing are essential for a strong and vibrant community.  Both preventing properties from becoming vacant and returning abandoned properties to productive use are critical for obtaining those outcomes. 

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.

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.

Alex Muskal-Hills is a dedicated leader in health and human services, housing justice, and community advocacy. As Leasing Coordinator at the Fair Housing Center for Rights & Research, they leverage over a decade of experience in policy, DEI, and program development to advance equitable housing solutions and combat systemic discrimination.

A dynamic facilitator and presenter, Alex has led national conversations on public health, housing access, and LGBTQ+ equity. Previously, as Retention and Belonging Program Manager at one of the nation’s leading AIDs Service Organizations, they spearheaded statewide mentorship initiatives and DEI programs that expanded workplace equity and community engagement. Their work bridges policy, education, and direct community action to create lasting change.

Alex’s impact has been highlighted in Culture Jock, Apartment Therapy, The Buckeye Flame, Yahoo Life, and Cleveland.com. They serve on local nonprofit boards in Cleveland, using their expertise to influence policy and advocate for marginalized communities.

They are the 2024 recipient of the LGBT Heritage Day Arts & Culture Honoree, recognized with a citation from Senator Nickie J. Antonio and a commendation from Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb. They also received the 2024 LGBTQ+ Leadership Award from the National Diversity Council, OH Chapter, honoring their commitment to equity and inclusion.

Whether advocating for fair housing, presenting at national conferences, or using the arts for activism, Alex leads with justice, collaboration, and transformative change. Their leadership is rooted in the belief that housing is a human right and systemic change requires radical inclusion, policy innovation, and community empowerment.

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.