Antioch-area REALTOR® Eve B. Lee was celebrated today as a National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) 2024 Fair Housing Champion Award recipient at the REALTOR® Legislative Meetings in Washington, D.C. The award honors REALTOR® members who have gone above and beyond to advance fair housing and expand homeownership in underserved communities.

Lee, of Eve B. Lee & Associates in Antioch, has been a REALTOR® and fair housing proponent for more 45 years.

She began her real estate career by selling land in rural Lake County, but as she learned more about the profession, she sold residential property, too. She became active on the local, state and national REALTOR® association levels, and served on numerous NAR and state committees, including six years on the Illinois REALTORS® Equal Opportunity Housing Committee. Also, she became the president of the Lake County Association of REALTORS®, a local association that is now part of the Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS®.

During her time as a leader for the Lake County association, consumers of color filed lawsuits in Illinois accusing real estate professionals of discrimination. She helped convince her colleagues that the local REALTOR® association should provide fair housing training for its members to fairly serve the housing needs of all consumers. She developed the training and taught it to colleagues. The Lake County association, she says, was one of the first two locals in Illinois to adopt fair housing training.

Read NAR’s online magazine article about Lee, titled, “Trailblazer.”

In 2023, Illinois REALTOR® Frank Williams of Chicago was a recipient of the award.