2005: STEPHEN BRADBERRY, NEW ORLEANS

For his work on behalf of the economic and social rights of New Orleans residents, Stephen Bradberry, currently the national campaign coordinator of ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families working together for stronger communities, was awarded the 2005 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award.

Since Hurricane Katrina stuck and the levees breached in New Orleans, Bradberry has organized displaced and returning working families to have a voice in the recovery to demand a right to return to their city, the means to take care of themselves, and that their concerns are treated with fairness and dignity. Under his direction, the organization ran an 18-month campaign to turn the city of New Orleans' planning process around 180 degrees -- from plans turning the Lower Ninth Ward into wetlands to being a pilot neighborhood for the rebuilding process.

Along with the RFK Center, Bradberry co-founded the Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign, a partnership of Gulf Coast community, faith, student, labor and human rights organizations and their national allies advocating for federal legislation to create living wage jobs for families to return home, rebuild their neighborhoods and restore the environment in communities still struggling to recover from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and more recently Gustav and Ike.