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Purpose Prize

Marc Freedman Portrait

The Latest from CoGenerate

Event Recording: Try Yoda: Younger + Olders Dismantling Ageism

Event Recording: Try Yoda: Younger + Olders Dismantling Ageism

Young leaders can often bring visibility and cultural clout. Older leaders can often bring resources, networks, and institutional power. Put them together and the potential is huge. But let’s be honest, it’s not always that simple. This session delivers a primer on...

Overheard on Text: When the Stereotypes Are True

Overheard on Text: When the Stereotypes Are True

As colleagues from different generations (x and millennial), Marci Alboher and Duncan Magidson have been leading talks and workshops sharing their insights about working across generations. As they plan, they usually text furiously, sharing ideas and reflections....

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Richard Lawrence

Affordable Housing Coalition of San Diego County
Purpose Prize Fellow 2010

Lawrence is applying his skills as an organizer to increase affordable housing options in Southern California.

Driven by a commitment to social justice, the Rev. Richard Lawrence has marched in Selma, Ala., for voter rights, gone to jail in Chicago for protesting the police killing of an unarmed civilian, run for office in Chicago and served on the city council in Lawrence, Mass.

When he moved to San Diego to retire in 1998, he became a strong advocate for affordable housing. As the volunteer co-chairman of the Affordable Housing Coalition of San Diego County, he helped to organize a broad-based alliance of labor, faith-based and community groups called ACCORD, or A Community Coalition Organized for Responsible Development.

With ACCORD, Lawrence helped secure a $30 million agreement from real estate investment firm JMI Realty to create 136 units of housing for families earning between $18,000 and $36,000 per year. The units opened in 2009. Among Lawrence’s other successes, he protected San Diego area renters from arbitrary eviction from a single-room-occupancy hotel and helped advocate for housing-related city ordinances, including one that requires that 10 percent of all new housing be affordable.

Now Lawrence is focused on developing “community action think tanks” to engage diverse groups of citizens in exploring pressing issues, including housing and health care.