As communities face rising rents and housing costs, housing advocates are organizing at the state and local levels to keep renters stably housed and enact long-term solutions. NLIHC’s annual Organizing Awards will honor two organizations or campaigns that mobilized around low-income housing issues and achieved a significant victory during 2022. NLIHC invites our partners to submit nominations for the 2023 Organizing Awards today! Nominations for the awards are due by 5 pm ET on Friday, December 16, 2022. The nomination form can be found here.
The NLIHC Organizing Awards recognize outstanding statewide, regional, citywide, and/or neighborhood organizing that resulted in a victory within the past year. The achievements of organizing award honorees must further NLIHC’s mission of achieving 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. Special consideration will be given to nominations that incorporate tenant- or resident-centered organizing, elevate the leadership of people with lived experiences of housing instability, and prioritize racial equity.
An Organizing Awards Committee composed of NLIHC board members and previous award winners will determine this year’s honorees. The awards will be presented at the NLIHC 2023 Housing Policy Forum that will be held March 20-23, 2023. NLIHC will provide two representatives of each honored group complimentary Forum registrations and one hotel room for the next Policy Forum. Honorees will speak on a panel at the Policy Forum and share their best practices for organizing state and local campaigns.
Previous organizing award winners have been celebrated for establishing groundbreaking renter protections, expanding funding for affordable housing development, blocking significant cuts to housing programs, and building robust civic engagement initiatives. To explore the achievements recognized in recent years, please review our list of past winners.
Eligibility criteria are as follows:
- Nominated organizations must be current NLIHC members. Organizations can become NLIHC members easily online. To check your membership status, reach out to your state’s housing advocacy organizer.
- Organizations may self-nominate.
- NLIHC board members and Award Committee members may not nominate an organization with which they are employed or affiliated.
Please reach out to Courtney Cooperman, housing advocacy organizer, at [email protected] with questions.