Workshop and
Speakers
#FHCRC2025
19TH ANNUAL
Fair Housing &
Civil Rights Conference
May 20-21, 2025
2025 Conference Workshops, a work in progress
May 20, 2025
9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Morning Plenary
State of Fair Housing
Hear from fair housing center advocates on tools and strategies on the ground, including litigating with the state agencies as well as in state and federal court to enforce civil rights laws.
Featuring:
Michelin Cahill, Senior Supervising Attorney, Fair Housing Project of Community Legal Aid
Kristina da Fonseca, Executive Director, South Coast Fair Housing.
Pamela Heller, Staff Attorney and Co-Director of Fair Housing Enforcement, CT Fair Housing Center.
Jessica Labrencis, Staff Attorney and Co-Director of Fair Housing Enforcement, CT Fair Housing Center.
Rashida Rattray-Reid, Education and Outreach Coordinator, CT Fair Housing Center.
Maureen St. Cyr, Executive Director, Massachusetts Fair Housing.
Kelly Viera, Director of Investigations & Outreach, Clinical Fellow, Suffolk University Housing Discrimination Testing Program.
10:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Protecting Immigrant Farmworkers in Massachusetts
Presented by Central West Justice Center staff:
Maya McCann, Staff Attorney.
Ben Rodgers, Skadden Fellow.
In this session, participants will discuss challenges faced by immigrant farmworkers in Massachusetts and learn about strategies for supporting the immigrant farmworker community in these times. Panelists from the Central West Justice Center will share about their experiences working with immigrant farmworkers and the strategies they employ including holistic legal representation, community education, and legislative advocacy. Panelists will also discuss different models of service provision that they use to overcome access barriers, build trust, and respond to the needs of the immigrant farmworker community, such as a farmworker medical legal partnership, a migrant youth farmworker project, and the community lawyering strategies that are fundamental to all of their work. Participants will engage in conversation about the challenges faced by the immigrant community in this moment, and brainstorm ways to adjust advocacy efforts and service provision to respond to those challenges. Participants will leave the session with concrete strategies, models, and connections to help them support the immigrant community in Massachusetts in these unprecedented times.
10:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Organizational Inclusion in the Time of Political Backlash
Presented by:
Fadia Nordveit, Springfield College and New York University.
The workshop targets organizations, employers and employees who want to engage in discussion on pathways to create, maintain, foster and grow organizational inclusion at a time of polarization, uncertainty and political backlash. The workshop provides an overview of the needs, challenges and strategies that organizations, employers and employees can take in the midst of changing politics to remain mission driven to equitably serving diverse stakeholders in society. The interactive and dialogic workshop provides participants the opportunity to engage in discussions and activities to enhance their learning. The workshop takes an intersectional approach to addressing issues of inclusion, which makes the content applicable to a wide array of industries.
10:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Evolving Landscape of Voucher Discrimination
Fair Housing Alliance of Massachusetts and Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office
Moderator:
Brittany Perdigao, Supervising Attorney, South Coast Fair Housing Center.
Panelists:
David Urena and Hailey Jenkins, Assistant Attorneys General, Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General, Civil Rights Division.
Ashley Grant, Director of Fair Housing Enforcement, Housing Discrimination Testing Program, Supervising Attorney and Clinical Fellow, Accelerator Practice, Suffolk University Law School.
Tanya Mamootil, Staff Attorney, Community Legal Aid.
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Lunchtime Plenary
Tanisha Arena, Executive Director
Arise for Social Justice, Springfield
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Fair Housing 101
Presented by:
Alvin Nguyen, Comunity Engagement Coordinator, Massachusetts Fair Housing Center.
Jasmin Rojas, Vice President, Housing Education Services, Way Finders.
When we speak of fair housing rights, we are drawing on an interplay of federal and state regulations that can vary in their specifics from state to state but still share a common purpose. With primary focus on one state (Massachusetts), this workshop will explore the basics of how federal and state fair housing laws can join together to create an overall pattern of protection.
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Gideon’s Sword: How the First Amendment is wielded to attack civil rights
Presented by:
Mitch Rotbert, Senior Counsel, State of Vermont Human Rights Commission
Civil rights, particularly the laws the prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex or gender, are under increased attack by religious groups, who use the first amendment not as a shield against government infringement, but instead as a sword. The premise of the attack is that compliance with civil rights laws impairs sincerely held religious beliefs. The workshop will explore the case law on the free exercise and establishment clauses, including how we got to the place where these clauses are being used attack civil rights; and best theories/practices for fighting back.
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Fair Housing and Admissions for Housing Applicants with Criminal Records
Presented by:
Peyton Cernak, Burlington Housing.
Jerren Chang, President & CEO, Partners in Democracy.
Leslie Credle, Founder and Executive Director of Justice 4 Housing (J4H).
Reentering citizens and others with criminal records face serious barriers to accessing affordable housing – though there are advocates and some housing providers that have made steps towards reducing those barriers. Panelists will discuss the fair housing implications of policies that place undue barriers before those with criminal records and best practices for fostering access to housing for all. Panelists and attendees will also discuss the role of federal and state policy as well as policies at the housing provider level.
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Equitable Relief: Social time with snacks and drinks
Join us in the Blake Law School Commons to mix, mingle, commiserate, and recharge! Free for all conference attendees. Cash bar available.
….
May 21, 2025
9:00 a.m. to 10:00a.m.
Welcome
Keith Fairey, President and CEO, Way Finders
Morning Plenary
Case Update: Recent Developments in Fair Housing Act Litigation
10:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Legal Protections for Survivors of Gender-Based Violence in Housing
Presented by:
Michelin Cahill, Senior Supervising Attorney, Fair Housing Project.
Julia Devanthery, Visiting Assistant Clinical Professor of Law, Director of Clinical Pedagogy and Curricular Innovation for the Legal Services Center, Director of the Housing Justice for Survivors Project, Harvard Law School.
Nora Grais-Clement, Senior Attorney, Victim Rights Law Center.
The workshop will cover the legal fundamentals of defenses to eviction under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and fair housing law. It will also cover how advocates can support tenants in asserting these protections to prevent homelessness.
10:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Collaborate, Activate, Transform: Grassroots Organizing for Fair Housing
Samantha Hamilton, Director of Coalition Building and Community Engagement, Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts.
Rusty Polsgrove, Associate Director, Arise Springfield.
Jasmin Rojas, Vice President of Housing Education Services, Way Finders.
Rose Webster-Smith, Director, Springfield No One Leaves.
The presentation will showcase the Transforming Community Initiatives (TCI) model, which exemplifies the power of coalition convening efforts in our region. The panel will highlight how we bring together residents, grassroots and community-based organizations to collaborate, support one another, and take action—particularly around housing as a key social determinant of health. We will share our successes and challenges while working with community members to inform, educate, mobilize, and organize. The session will also feature individual community partners alongside residents, who will speak to both their unique contributions and the broader TCI work.
10:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
TBD
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Lunchtime Plenary
Award Presentations
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
The State of Civil Rights
Presented by:
Bill Newman, ACLU of Massachusetts
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Re-Imagining Interim Housing Framework Update Transforming Shelter and Interim Housing: Advancing National Standards Rooted in Equity and Lived Experience
Emma Coles, Administrative Assistant, Three County Continuum of Care.
Shaundell Diaz, Program Director, Three County Continuum of Care, Community Action Pioneer Valley.
Matthew Doherty, Independent Consultant; former Executive Director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.
The national Reimagining Interim Housing project continues to help communities reimagine their shelter and interim housing systems, ensuring they uphold dignity, safety, and equity for all. Over the past year, we have engaged deeply with people with lived experience, service providers, and advocates to identify the most pressing challenges in shelter environments and define core principles for transformation.
This workshop will explore key themes regarding standards and expectations for programs that are emerging from national discussions, including radical hospitality, trauma-informed and culturally responsive care, meaningful staff investment, and removing barriers to access. Participants will engage in interactive discussions about the values and standards that should shape interim housing/shelter systems, the critical harms that must be eliminated, and strategies for ensuring that national standards reflect the voices and expertise of those directly impacted by homelessness.
This session will also provide an update on the work of the Three County CoC’s Reimagining Interim Housing workgroup, highlighting local efforts to align shelter practices with these national principles. Attendees will leave with concrete strategies to advance these approaches within their own communities and contribute to both local and national transformation efforts.