(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray was named as the recipient of the 2010 Henry B. Gonzalez Award by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) at the group’s national conference in Washington, D.C., Friday. The Gonzalez Award is presented each year to a government official for forging the most effective partnerships with community nonprofits and providing leadership in community economic development and economic justice.
Attorney General Cordray was nominated for the honor by Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People (ESOP), a community organization specializing in housing counseling and foreclosure prevention. In his nomination of Cordray, ESOP Executive Director Mark Seifert wrote, “Mr. Cordray is the epitome of a state official fulfilling his mandate to protect Ohio residents. From January through December we saw Mr. Cordray’s unswerving dedication to achieving economic justice for the people of Ohio.”
Cordray thanked NCRC and ESOP for recognizing results achieved through the hard work of Attorney General’s Office staff. “It takes the collective efforts of our team to protect consumers and small businesses from shoddy work and unauthorized charges; to stand up for retirees whose pension funds were harmed by misdeeds on Wall Street; and to partner with housing counselors to cut down on the number of foreclosed and abandoned homes in our neighborhoods,” said Cordray. “For each Ohioan we are able to help, I’m grateful. I share this recognition with the people in my office who make it possible.”
The Gonzalez Award is named for late Texas Representative Henry B. Gonzalez, who served 37 years in Congress. Cuyahoga County Treasurer James Rokakis is among the previous recipients of the award. NCRC is an association of nearly 600 community-based institutions that promote access to basic banking services, including credit and savings, to create and sustain affordable housing, job development and viable communities for America’s working families.
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