A leader in demanding fair housing in Chicago neighborhoods, Frank J. Williams, is the recipient of the NHS Gale Cincotta Community Visionary Award. Williams will be honored at NHS' 42nd Annual Awards Dinner, which will be held on Thursday, March 16.

 

The Gale Cincotta Community Visionary Award is presented to a community leader who exemplifies leadership, innovation and passion in his or her efforts to make our communities better places to live and work.  Frank J. Williams embodies the spirit of Gale Cincotta. Over the past two decades he has been in Springfield demanding fair housing legislation from law makers and holding them accountable. Williams was instrumental in encouraging freedom of choice for African Americans who were denied permission to move into white-dominated south side Chicago neighborhoods in the early 1970s. It was during this time that his own home was bombed in a series of incidents harassing Frank and other black residents determined to live in the Beverly neighborhood. 

Williams was president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS (C.A.R.) from 1989 to 1990, where he championed for fair housing and diversity. The Illinois Association of REALTORS chose Frank in 1991 to hold the first Distinguished Member Award for Community Service and the following year he was named C.A.R.'s REALTOR® of the Year. During this time he led effort to create a $25,000 scholarship for minority students to pursue a career in real estate. In addition to receiving prestigious awards, former Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley appointed Williams to serve on the Affordable Housing Task Force and the Real Estate Services Advisory Council.

 

Finally, Frank was president of the Southside Chicago branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1979 to 1985, during a time when affordable housing and integration ranked among the top real estate issues in the city and suburbs. During his term with the NAACP, he helped create a monitoring program to oversee housing discrimination and placed a strong emphasis on the hiring and placement of minorities in the real estate industry.