Virtual - zoom
Join the Fair Housing Center of West Michigan as they celebrate 45 years of fair housing in West Michigan!
Schedule*
12:45 pm Event Platform Opens
1:00 pm to 4:30 pm Program & 3 Workshops
*may be subject to change
Speaker Bios
Shanti Abedin, National Fair Housing Alliance
Shanti Abedin is the Vice President of Housing and Community Development at the National Fair Housing Alliance. In this role, Shanti is responsible for providing strategic direction, thought leadership, and programmatic planning and management for NFHA’s Housing and Community Development division, including the Inclusive Communities and Keys Unlock Dreams Initiatives. She oversees NFHA’s investments and work in communities throughout the nation to increase affordable housing, reduce barriers to equitable housing opportunities, increase quality amenities and services in communities of color, and broaden the network of organizations working to advance fair housing goals.
Lila Miller, Relman Colfax
Lila Miller is a Partner at Relman Colfax PLLC, a national civil rights law firm based in Washington D.C. In her civil rights litigation practice, Lila works on a variety of cases involving discrimination.
Much of Lila’s work has focused on eliminating race- and disability-based discrimination in housing, including cases challenging such discriminatory lending practices by banks and exclusionary zoning by municipalities. For example, Lila has led two cases challenging municipalities’ exclusion of housing for people in recovery from substance use disorder. Lila has also served as counsel to individuals and non-profits challenging tenant screening practices that disproportionately exclude minority and women applicants.
Prior to joining the firm, Lila clerked for Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and for Judge Kevin H. Sharp on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. She also litigated individual and class action employment discrimination cases for plaintiff-side firms.
Lila graduated from Stanford Law School, where she received the Deborah L. Rhode Public Interest Award in recognition of outstanding public service.
Jim Schaafsma, Michigan Poverty Law Program
As the housing attorney for the Michigan Poverty Law Program (MPLP), Jim Schaafsma works statewide on a range of issues in the low-income housing realm, with a focus on the federally subsidized rental housing programs. Through case and issue consultation, policy analysis and development, legislative and administrative advocacy, litigation and advocacy coordination, substantive and skills-based training, and publication and media work, he and his colleagues support and advance the work of legal services programs and other organizations partnering with low-income people throughout Michigan. He is a member of numerous housing advocacy and court system improvement committees and groups in Michigan and nationally.