Fair Housing Month Events

Fair Housing Month 2026 | NAR Fair Housing Champions & the Fight for Homeownership Equity

April 23, 2026 | 1 p.m. EST | 12 p.m. CST

Each April, NAR honors the Fair Housing Act with Fair Housing Forward Live — a celebration of the REALTORS®, advocates, and community leaders working to make homeownership possible for everyone.

In this year's program, meet the 2026 NAR Fair Housing Champions:

• Barry Long — A real estate agent who built Able Environments to add accessible housing data to the MLS, helping buyers with disabilities find homes that truly fit their needs.
• Shannon Malcolm — A broker-owner in Birmingham, Alabama who went from homelessness to homeownership and now leads neighborhood revitalization and community reinvestment efforts in Birmingham's Norwood neighborhood.
• Dr. Courtney Johnson Rose — CEO of GEJ Development and immediate past NAREB president, whose work through the NAREB Developers Academy has trained over 300 emerging developers building affordable housing — including tiny homes in Houston's Fifth Ward — across the country.

The program also features an expert panel on the racial wealth gap and today's homeownership challenges, from housing affordability and the legacy of redlining to down payment assistance, home buyer education, and housing counseling for first-generation homebuyers. Panelists explore solutions including affordable housing development, expanded assistance programs, and how AI could help modernize mortgage underwriting and lower production costs.

NAR President Kevin Brown closes the program with his personal fair housing story and a message on why advancing the Fair Housing Act is essential to building generational wealth and economic opportunity for all Americans.