SHA Board of Commissioners

The Seattle Housing Authority is governed by a seven-member Board of Commissioners, two of whom are SHA residents. The Mayor of Seattle appoints the board members, subject to confirmation by the Seattle City Council.

The Commissioners are responsible for approving SHA's annual budget and for setting policy. The SHA Executive Director serves at the pleasure of the Board.

Regular board meetings are customarily held on the third Thursday of the month. Informal board briefings are usually on the second Tuesday of the month. Agendas are usually published the prior week.

In October, the board will hold a special meeting in place of its regular board meeting. The special meeting will be held on Monday, October 13 at 5 p.m. in the Board Room of the Central Office. There will not be a board meeting on the customary third Thursday, October 20.

Board meetings are sometimes cancelled if there is no official business for the board to attend to. Please check back here to confirm that the meeting will take place and to see the agenda when it becomes available.

Katie Hong, Chair

Commissioner Hong has experience working on social policy, housing, community and economic development issues at all levels of government: federal, state, and local. Currently, Commissioner Hong serves as a Deputy Director at a Seattle-based foundation. Prior to being named deputy director of the Foundation, she served as director of the City of Seattle’s Office of Housing where she worked to increase affordable housing opportunities for Seattle. She also served as senior policy advisor to Mayor Nickels. Before joining the City, she worked in the White House Chief of Staff’s Office and served as executive policy advisor to Governor Gary Locke.

Yusuf Cabdi, Vice Chair

Commissioner Cabdi is originally from Somalia. He has worked with Somali and Muslim family and housing issues since settling in Seattle in 2003. A resident of SHA's public housing, he was elected to be an at-large representative to a resident council in 2006. He has also served as the Somali Community representative in the East African Association and as a community support specialist with the Somali community. He is interested in developing programs that will foster the safe and productive lives of youth in low-income public housing. Mr. Cabdi speaks several languages.

Sybil Bailey

Commissioner Bailey has been a resident of Denny Terrace – one of SHA’s low-income public housing buildings – for more than 20 years. She has been involved in community issues since she first moved into Denny Terrace, starting with taking simple actions to make Denny Terrace a safer place to live. Ms. Bailey has worked on the agency’s Joint Policy Advisory Committee since its inception and for three years chaired the committee. She continues her involvement with JPAC today. Ms. Bailey helped start a resident council at Denny Terrace and later became involved in SHA’s Resident Action Council. She also served on the committee to help formulate, write and implement SHA’s Moving To new Ways policy. She has been instrumental in implementing an in-house food bank at Denny Terrace and helping coordinate residents to attend presentations pertaining to HUD regulations and other resident concerns.

Nora Gibson

Commissioner Gibson is executive director of a nonprofit organization which provides adult day health services in the Pacific Northwest. Gibson's 30-year career has focused on providing community-based long-term care for aging adults.

Commissioner Gibson is affiliated with a number of professional organizations and is currently a board member of the National Pioneer Network, the Brain Injury Association of Washington, Alzheimer's Association and Washington Adult Day Services Association.
 

John Littel

Commissioner Littel is the political director for a Northwest trade union. He was previously assistant to the executive secretary of the Seattle Building Trades Council where he was responsible for negotiations and labor relations at SHA and King County Housing Authority. Mr. Littel also serves as vice chairperson for the Washington State Correction Industries, is a board member on the King County Workforce Development Council, is chairperson for the Seattle School District School-to-Work Advisory Council, and part of the Washington Environmental Council. He recently served as a member of the Yesler Terrace Citizen Review Committee.

Juan Martinez

Commissioner Martinez is the state field director for a community advocacy organization where he works with community, education, labor, faith and human services organizations to advocate for a progressive tax system that will benefit working families. He also spent five years working for the Department of Social and Health Services, where he worked as a case manager for a range of people seeking services.

Commissioner Martinez has worked with U.S. Congressman Jim McDermott and served as the president of Local 843 Washington Federation of State Employees. He also serves on the board of directors of the Seattle Central Community College Foundation.

Kollin Min

Kollin Min is a graduate of Yale University with a law degree from the University of Washington. He has worked in government and politics as well as in organizations supporting the environment and green building. Most recently he was the director of the Washington State office of Enterprise Community Partners, a national nonprofit that finances affordable housing and community development. He recently accepted a position with a charitable foundation in Seattle where he will be working on issues related to ending homelessness.

To contact the Seattle Housing Authority Board of Commissioners or Executive Director, call (206) 615-3500 or write to SHA, P.O. Box 19028, 120 Sixth Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109-1028. You may also contact the Board via e-mail.