Panelists

Heidi Groover is a reporter covering housing and real estate for The Seattle Times. Her work demystifies complex market trends and policy debates to help everyday Seattleites navigate rising costs and understand how proposed solutions could affect their daily lives. She recently completed the Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellowship at the University of Michigan, where her research focused on America’s housing affordability crisis. Before The Seattle Times, Heidi covered Seattle City Hall for The Stranger. She is a graduate of the University of Montana and a proud member of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, the union representing journalists across the Northwest.

In his position as CEO of Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King & Kittitas Counties (Habitat SKKC), Brett D’Antonio oversees the organization’s strategic direction, vision, growth, and operations, collaborating with an extensive network of partners, volunteers, and staff to create lasting solutions to the affordable housing crisis in Washington state. Brett began his career with Habitat as a Construction Manager at Habitat for Humanity Bay Waveland in Mississippi before becoming the Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity Island County in Washington state. After leading the affiliate for eight years, Brett joined Habitat SKKC in 2018 and was named CEO in 2019. Under his guidance, Habitat SKKC has expanded its reach to serve thousands of families and create vibrant, inclusive communities. Brett actively engages with policymakers, corporate leaders, and community influencers to promote policy changes and mobilize resources for affordable housing initiatives.

Tiffani McCoy is the Interim CEO at the Seattle Social Housing Developer. Prior to this, she was the Co-Executive Director and Co-Founder of House Our Neighbors. She served as campaign manager for the Yes on I-135 campaign, which established the first social housing developer in the United States, and for the Yes on Prop 1A campaign, which secured funding for the Seattle Social Housing Developer. Before co-creating HON, she worked at Real Change as the organization’s Advocacy Director. She is a Board Member of Washingtonians for Public Banking.

Tony Pickett is CEO of Grounded Solutions Network, a national nonprofit organization with more than 250 members throughout the U.S. Grounded Solutions leads nationwide efforts to expand inclusive affordable housing policies and programs, such as community land trusts (CLTs) and other forms of shared equity housing. Over the course of his 35 years in the community development field, Tony has successfully developed permanently affordable shared equity housing, provided thought leadership, promoted inclusive housing policies, and expanded the use of community land trusts for racial equity impact. Under his leadership, Grounded Solutions has successfully launched multiple national initiatives, including a multi-city land bank/land trust partnership (“Catalytic Land Cohort”); an inclusive policy focused multi-city cohort (“ForEveryoneHome”); and the Homes for the Future initiative, which blends public, philanthropic, and private capital to invest in and keep single-family homes affordable for renters and buyers in growing American cities.

Senator Emily Alvarado was elected to the Washington state House in 2022 to represent the 34th Legislative District, which includes West Seattle, Vashon Island, White Center, and west Burien. Since then, she has led on issues such as housing access and affordability, economic opportunity, high-quality public education and child care, reproductive justice, and breaking the cycle of poverty. Before joining the Legislature, Alvarado served as the director of the City of Seattle’s Office of Housing, an executive with a national affordable housing nonprofit, and as professional staff at Planned Parenthood. She is an attorney who graduated from the University of Washington School of Law and has also worked as a community organizer. In the Senate, Alvarado serves as vice chair of the Housing Committee and a member of the Labor & Commerce and Transportation committees.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Habitat for Humanity.

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