Avery Friedman
Nominator: Rev. Dr. E. Theophilus Caviness,
Southern Christian Leadership Conf., Cleveland, OH

Avery Friedman, known as the "Peoples' Lawyer," has dedicated his life to promoting civil rights and advocating for the underdog through the fierce litigation of a multitude of civil rights cases as well as through legal training provided to hundreds of law students at more than three dozen prestigious law schools across the country. Mr. Friedman is a national speaker on issues of civil rights and is often referred to as a "walking reference source" by the Wall Street Journal. He has been recognized in TIME, The New York Times, and USA Today as a nationally distinguished civil rights lawyer and law professor. Mr. Friedman can also be seen on CNN where he serves as a weekend legal analyst. Mr. Friedman's body of work has reached national audiences through consulting work with various civil rights and fair housing groups, serving as Special Counsel to the Texas Commission on Human Rights, and serving as an expert on civil and constitutional rights by special invitation from the U.S. Senate and House Committees. Mr. Friedman's extensive work in the area of civil rights is nationally recognized through the receipt of awards such as the U.S. Fair Housing Achievement Award, Ohio Humanitarian Award, NAACP Freedom Award, and the Legendary Champion of Civil Rights Award from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, just to name a few.

Dr. Frank Hale, Jr.
Nominator: The Ohio State University, Office of Minority Affairs

Frank W. Hale, Jr., Ph.D., Vice Provost and Professor Emeritus at The Ohio State University, is a nationally renowned educator who has spent his life advocating for diversity, equity, and access.  Dr. Hale has served the education community locally and internationally for more than fifty-four years including service as OSU’s first African-American Graduate School Dean.  In this capacity, Dr. Hale advocated for excellence through diversity and, in collaboration with the university-wide Fellowship Committee, was responsible for leading the effort to secure more than $15 million in graduate fellowship awards that were granted to nearly 1,200 minority students.   Through Dr. Hale’s visionary leadership he founded the university’s Graduate and Professional Visitation Day Program and the undergraduate program, Minority Scholar’s Program, in an effort to actively recruit underserved and underrepresented student groups. During Dr. Hale’s tenure at OSU, the university became the number one producer of Black PhD students.   Dr. Hale has served on many national boards including the United Negro College Fund, the Ohio Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission, and the Seventh Day Adventist Commission on Higher Education.  Dr. Hale is the author of eleven books and has been published in more than 50 professional journals.

Karla Irvine  (1933 – 2010)
Nominator: Housing Opportunities Made Equal

Known as the “Mother of Fair Housing,” Karla Irvine was born in Boston, Massachusetts and later moved to Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband where she became integrally involved in the struggle for racial integration through a lifelong fight for fair housing opportunities.  Ms. Irvine’s role as an advocate began through her involvement with the North Avondale Neighborhood Association.  In 1977, Ms. Irvine became the Executive Director of Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) where she served for the next 27 years.  In this capacity, Ms. Irvine developed a nationally recognized model for enforcing fair housing law and promoting racially inclusive communities.  She also developed a Mobility Program, used innovative investigative techniques such as testing to prove discriminatory practices, and served as a mentor for fair housing groups nationwide.  Ms. Irvine was a lifetime member of the NAACP and served on the Executive Board.  She was appointed to the Federal Reserve Board’s National Consumer Advocacy Council, served as Vice-President of the Board for the Greater Cincinnati Mortgage Counseling Center, co-founded the Ohio Fair Housing Congress, and was one of the original founders of the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA).  Ms. Irvine was the recipient of several awards recognitions including the ACLU Award, U.S. Department of HUD, Fair Housing Special Achievement Award, and the NAACP’s Special Achievement Award.  

U.S. Representative William McCulloch (1901 – 1980)
Nominator: Wright State University

Eric Parks  (1949 -  2007)
Nominator: Eric Duffy

Eric D. Parks (Deceased—June 29, 2007) was a champion and advocate for those with disabilities in the State of Ohio.  Mr. Parks was left blind due to a playground accident as a child.  After receiving degrees from Mount Union College and Miami University, Mr. Parks served as a governor-appointed Commissioner of the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission, chairing the state vocational rehabilitation agency from October 1995 to March 1999.  His long history of advocacy on behalf of people with disabilities included testimony on behalf of the commission for state biennial budgets, as well as on the national level to encourage the passage of legislation reauthorizing the Rehabilitation Act.   In 1999, Commissioner Parks was inducted into the National Hall of Fame for Persons with Disabilities.

Salvador Ramos  (1939 – 2009)
Nominator: L. Tony Ortiz

Born and raised in El Paso, Texas, Salvador Ramos obtained his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Texas Western College.  Following his passion for serving people, Mr. Ramos took a position as a teacher before joining the Air Force.  He was an avid activist for the equal treatment of Hispanics in military service.  He protested inequities against Hispanics and lobbied for direct hire authority earning him the title as the first Hispanic Employment Program Manager at Wright Patterson Air Force Base.  Mr. Ramos often spent his personal time educating Hispanic officers of their rights and advocating for equal treatment by providing representation to them in the grievance process.  He also advocated for the promotion of Hispanic employees in the Air Force and worked diligently to create the Hispanic engineering recruitment program.  Mr. Ramos was recognized with highest distinction as the Hispanic Employment Program Manager of the Year.  Following his retirement from active duty as Lt. Colonel, Mr. Ramos went on to serve as an Air Force Academy Liaison to Greene County high schools where he continued his legacy of civil rights advocacy making special efforts to recruit minorities and females.

Rhonda Rivera
Nominator: Elliot T. Fishman, Ricochet E. Gordon Gee,
President, The Ohio State University

Rhonda Rivera, the “matriarch” of the LGBT rights movement in Ohio, is well-known as a prominent legal scholar who effectively created “sexual orientation law” as a recognized field of legal study and practice.  Her seminal article published in 1979 in the Hastings Law Review called, “Our Straight-Laced Judges; The Legal Position of Homosexual Persons in the United States,” was a testament to the history of discrimination and oppression faced the LGBT community.  This article was not only recognized for forming the basis for the current social justice movement for the national LGBT community, but also for advancing a movement and creating a new area of law and legal practice.  Ms. Rivera served as the President and Executive Committee Chair of Stonewall Union (now Stonewall Columbus) and was successful in advocating for the state’s first executive order banning sexual orientation discrimination in state employment signed by Governor Celeste.  Ms. Rivera also worked tirelessly with political leaders in the City of Columbus to eventually pass an ordinance prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in 1990.    She also served the residents of Ohio as the first practicing attorney in the state to advertise as a “gay” attorney and represented over 400 gay and lesbian clients and more than 200 clients living with AIDS.  Ms. Rivera has a wealth of experience in the education field and spent nearly two decades at The Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law where she is credited with laying the foundation for creating many of the university’s policies addressing equality for the LGBT community.

Ratanjit S. Sondhe
Nominator: U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown

Ratanjit Sondhe is a prominent business leader whose invaluable leadership has strengthened the Asian Indian American community and advanced the needs of inner-city entrepreneurs in the State of Ohio.  Dr. Sondhe emigrated from India in 1968 and founded Poly-Carb headquartered in Solon, Ohio, shortly thereafter.  As CEO for more than 30 years, Dr. Sondhe embodied the spirit of the civil rights movement by maintaining a very diverse workforce composition.  Dr. Sondhe initiated and led the campaign to include Asian Indian American citizens in federal minority set-aside programs.  In 1988, Dr. Sondhe founded the Asian Indian American Business Group (AIABG) in order to improve cross-cultural business communications for the betterment of all levels of government.  AIABE now has branches established in Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton.  Dr. Sondhe played an instrumental role in the creation of the Cleveland Urban League’s Multicultural Business Development Center, which launched more than 45 inner-city entrepreneurial businesses locally before it was re-launched as a successful nationwide initiative.  Dr. Sondhe possesses a passion for education and is currently partnering with one of Ohio’s leading institutions, Case Western Reserve University, to establish a campus in India with the goal of creating educational opportunities for underserved populations in the areas of engineering, science and technology.  Dr. Sondhe also serves audiences around the world as an educator, author, lecturer, TV/radio personality, entrepreneur, and polymer technologist. 

Dr. Marian A. Spencer
Nominator: Urban League of Greater Cincinnati

Dr. Marian A. Spencer, granddaughter of a freed slave, was born in Gallipolis, Ohio.  She began a career as a civil rights activist at the age of 13 when she joined the NAACP.  Dr. Spencer graduated from high school as the co-valedictorian of her class and a member of the National Honors Society and then moved to Cincinnati to attend the University of Cincinnati where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English. It was in Cincinnati that she met her husband, Donald Spencer, who worked side by side with her in the struggle for racial equality.  Dr. Spencer and her husband became well-known throughout the Cincinnati area as leaders in civil rights, civil liberties and voting rights.  In 1952, Dr. Spencer chaired the NAACP committee responsible for leading the effort to take legal action against Coney Island in a successful attempt to desegregate the park after she was denied entrance based on her race.  She served as a lifelong supporter and worker for the NAACP where much of her work was focused on public school desegregation.  During her years with the Cincinnati NAACP, Dr. Spencer served on the Executive Board as Chair of both the Legal Redress and Education committees, and in 1981, she became the first female President of the local Cincinnati Chapter. Dr. Spencer also served as a member of the University of Cincinnati’s Board of Trustees, Chair of the Community Steering Committee for Indigent Defense, and President for the Women’s City Club and Links, Inc.  Dr. Spencer was elected in 1983 as the first Black Councilwoman for the Cincinnati City Council and was later named Vice-Mayor of the city.  Dr. Spencer’s work has earned her several awards and honors including 1984 Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame, Cincinnati Enquirer Woman of the Year; and YWCA Career Woman of Achievement, and the Humanitarian Award from the Freedom Heritage Foundation of Columbus, to name a few.

Baldemar Velasquez
Nominator: Lilleana Cavanaugh, Ohio Commission on Hispanic & Latino Affairs

Baldemar Velasquez was born into a migrant farm worker family in 1947 and began working on a farm at the age of six.  He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology in 1969 and has been an avid activist for migrant worker rights for nearly five decades. Mr. Velasquez has dedicated his life to working for social justice, dignity, and improved working conditions for agricultural workers through leadership in organizing and advocacy.  Mr. Velasquez has gained international recognition for advancing migrant worker rights around the world although much of his work has focused on Ohio.   In 1978, Mr. Velasquez led 2,000 workers in one of the largest agricultural strikes in history when he called for trade union recognition and was successful in landing a multi-party collective bargaining agreement.  He also organized movements to successfully negotiate collective bargaining agreements with Campbell’s, Heinz, Deans Foods and Mt. Olive Pickles.  Mr. Velasquez served as an integral force in negotiating the founding of an independent labor commission, the Dunlop Commission, to extend collective bargaining rights to Midwest farm workers for the first time.  Mr. Velasquez currently serves on the Board of Commissioners for the Ohio Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs and as President of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee that he helped to form in 1963.  Mr. Velazquez is the recipient of several awards and honors including an Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters from the University Toledo, Hispanic Leadership Award from the National Council of La Raza, and the Midwest Academy Award for outstanding contributions to social change.