The Housing Development Consortium of Seattle-King County (HDC) honored Pacifica Partner Faith Pettis this week with a lifetime achievement award in recognition of her exemplary contributions to affordable housing progress in Seattle and the wider Puget Sound region.
Pettis received the Carla Okigwe Award, which is named for the HDC’s founding executive director, at the organization’s Annual Celebration of Affordable Housing. An association of more than 215 member organizations and businesses, the HDC is a leader in affordable housing advocacy.
Through her work as bond and outside counsel to state and local government entities, Pettis has supported clients in financing and developing thousands of housing units throughout her career and is actively involved in housing policy and related legislation at the state and local levels. She is bond and general counsel to the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, is lead bond counsel to numerous housing authorities throughout the state and advises local governments on housing programs.
Her dedication to housing equity and affordability also extends to her community service efforts for government entities and nonprofits. Pettis previously chaired Washington’s Affordable Housing Advisory Board and served as co-chair of Seattle’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda and is currently on the steering committees of the Evergreen Impact Housing Fund and Sound Communities.
“All of us at Pacifica congratulate Faith on this well-deserved recognition of her deep commitment to the cause of ensuring all people in our communities have access to safe, affordable homes,” said Pacifica Managing Partner Denise Stiffarm.
During her acceptance speech at the HDC’s Annual Celebration, Pettis confessed that one of her childhood aspirations was to become a zookeeper. She drew on the zoo metaphor to encourage the audience of housing advocates to recognize the power in diversity.
“I would remind this wonderful, diverse, passionate community that we are different,” Pettis said. “We come from different backgrounds, do different things, need different supports, have different priorities. We may not always get along. We may even compete for the same food.
“But our differences are our strength. If we can recognize, accept, respect and eventually value that—and try not to eat each other—this community will flourish.”
