Today the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council (MMFHC) announces the upcoming retirement of President and CEO William R. Tisdale. Tisdale has been with the Council since 1978, and has been its leader since 1981. He will serve through this June.
During his decades of service to the organization and the fair housing movement, Tisdale has grown the Fair Housing Council into a statewide organization with satellite offices in Appleton and Madison. Under his leadership, the Fair Housing Council developed innovative programs in fair housing and fair lending enforcement as well as
education and outreach. Further, Tisdale initiated pioneering work in housing mobility programs with the aim of creating of inclusive communities for all. “My vision for the fair housing movement has always been that fair housing organizations must provide a full range of services that expand housing opportunity,” he said. “Our communities need nothing less than comprehensive resources to fight discrimination and segregation.”
It is difficult to overstate Tisdale’s influence on the fair housing field. He was the founding President of the National Fair Housing Alliance, and has served on numerous local, regional, and federal advisory boards, including U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore’s Advisory Committee on Housing, and as Vice Chairperson of the Wisconsin Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Since 2012, Tisdale has been instrumental in leading a national project called Investigative Support for Testing & Enforcement Programs. As a result of this project, over 95 organizations that conduct investigations of housing discrimination have received specialized training and technical assistance.
“Bill’s leadership has improved fair housing law enforcement across the entire country,” said Richard Strode, Chair of the MMFHC Board of Directors, “and therefore, those harmed by illegal housing discrimination have greater access to legal remedies.” Strode continued, “In addition to the vision and leadership Bill has demonstrated, he is a person of unquestionable integrity, particularly when sharing hard truths that may be uncomfortable for some to hear. He leaves an incomparable legacy in Milwaukee and beyond.”
Information about Tisdale’s successor will be forthcoming.
William R. Tisdale, President and CEO