| Staff |
|
|
|
Hilary Mason King, Executive Director
Hilary Mason King, a Cleveland native, is the Housing Center's Executive Director. Hilary earned her Juris Doctorate from The University of Michigan Law School, and Bachelor of Arts Degree from Cornell University, College of Arts and Sciences. Hilary joined the Housing Center as Fair Housing Specialist, responsible for assisting in the investigation and resolution of all fair housing complaints, after an extensive career in real estate law and development. She practiced real estate and business law at her own firm in New York City for six years before relocating to Cleveland where she initially worked as a Realtor with Howard Hanna Smythe Cramer. Hilary has been a college lecturer in business law at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, an adult continuing education leader/teacher for Case Western Reserve University Off-Campus Studies and is currently a seminar mentor for a local program of The University of the South. She is also a mediator and facilitator and has served on the board of directors of several not-for-profit organizations. Hilary was Vice President of the Mediation Association of Northeast Ohio and currently serves on the board of the Hospice of the Western Reserve. She is admitted to practice law in New York and Pennsylvania.
She has served as the testing coordinator or supervisor for all testing projects performed by the Housing Center since February of 2000 and has supervised more than 2,000 rental, lending, sales, insurance, and accessibility tests. In addition, she has conducted a number of research projects at the Housing Center related to housing and lending discrimination, payday lending, and impediments to fair housing.
Prior to joining the Housing Center in 2008, Darlene worked as a marketing generalist for Lake Hospital System, coordinating all team member events, including the groundbreaking of TriPoint Medical Center. She also spent four years promoting homeownership with LiveCleveland! (formerly the Living in Cleveland Center) as its communications specialist. She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications from Cleveland State University. She previously served on the Board of Directors of Greater Cleveland Community Shares.
Zachary Crafton, Test Coordinator
Zachary Crafton is a Housing Center Test Coordinator. He is responsible for the recruitment and screening of testers and the coordination and execution of fair housing tests. He is also involved in several of the research projects, including the annual State of Fair Housing in Northeast Ohio Report. Zach worked for Greater Ohio Policy Center in Columbus, as a research assistant before becoming the research director, where he was responsible for the strategic direction of the research program. Zach earned his Master's Degree in Geography from the University of Toronto, as well as a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geography from Ohio University. Prior to being hired as the Test Coordinator, Zach was the Housing Center's fair housing intern.
Leigh Craigmyle is the Housing Center’s Fair Housing
Specialist and is responsible for intake and management of fair housing complaints,
inquiries and filings. She assists in
the investigation and resolution of fair housing complaints and works closely
with the Executive Director and Associate Director on the Housing Center’s enforcement
work, including testing and ad monitoring; advocacy; training; outreach and
research projects. Prior to joining the
Housing Center in 2011, Leigh served as Intake Counselor at Metro Fair Housing
Services, Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia. She
earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Agnes Scott College and is
fluent in Spanish.
Mandy Mehlman
serves as the Fair Housing Community Educator. Her responsibilities include creating
and presenting fair housing/fair lending curriculum to students and the
community, working on marketing initiatives, and building collaborative
community relationships. Mandy earned her MSW with a concentration in Program
and Community Development from Washington University in St. Louis, a Masters of
Education from Lehman College, and a Bachelors of Arts in Spanish from Hiram
College. While in graduate school, Mandy
worked at The St. Louis Science Center; The Students-In-Transition Office of
the St. Louis Public Schools; and The Concerned Citizens of Precinct 12, East
St. Louis. Before joining The Housing Center, Mandy was a teacher in New York
City, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala, coordinated a public
library homework help center and lead English conversation groups for a
multi-lingual group including Spanish speakers.
Denise Cooper, Development Director
Denise Cooper serves as the Development Director for three local housing advocacy organizations: the Housing Center, Environmental Health Watch and Cleveland Tenants Organization. The position was created in an innovative, collaborative effort by the three grassroots non-profits to share administrative and fundraising services in order to be more cost-effective. Ms Cooper is a Licensed Independent Social Worker for the State of Ohio and has a Master's Degree in Social Science Administration from Case Western Reserve University, with a focus in community development. Spending the past several years working as a social worker and advocate in the Cleveland area, Cooper is cognizant of the issues facing the Greater Cleveland community and low-income populations living throughout the city. She has a range of experience in individual case management and program administration after working with agencies such as Transitional Housing, Inc. and Westown Community Development Corporation.
Jillian Watson, Fair Housing Intern
Jillian Watson is the Fair Housing Intern and is responsible for
researching housing patterns in Northeast Ohio to produce reports regarding
housing discrimination and predatory lending; assisting in education and
outreach efforts; and grant implementation. Jillian earned a Bachelor of
Science Degree in Sociology from
Irving Graves, Office Assistant Irving has worked part-time for the Housing Center since October 2002. He came to the Housing Center through a program of the AARP. He is responsible for the administrative functions of the office, including mailings, copies, and data entry. |