Seattle Social Housing Will Spend at Least $88,000 to Find Its Next CEO
August 20, 2026 Seattle Social Housing meeting report.
The Seattle Social Housing Developer (SSHD) board has approved spending at least $88,065 on an executive search firm to find its next CEO. Despite some board concerns over the high cost, the board justified the expense by the need to find a unique leader who can balance complex housing operations with the agency's strict commitment to social housing ideals of restorative justice.
Seattle’s social housing agency will spend at least $88,065, plus expenses, to find its next CEO.
At the Seattle Social Housing Developer’s Aug. 20 board meeting, member Karen Estevenin wondered whether the agency was overlooking a simpler option.
“I hope I’m not just stating the obvious here or being sort of, uh, not open-minded enough,” Estevenin said. “These are really expensive firms.”
She asked whether SSHD was required to hire an executive search firm or whether it could advertise the job, see who applied and turn to a recruiter later if necessary. “I know we have money coming in now,” Estevenin said, “but, as a board member, wanna be thoughtful about that.”
Board Secretary Leah Salerno said a recruiter can reach people who already have jobs.
“A lot of our qualified candidates are not going to be actively looking for positions,” Salerno said.
Treasurer Josh Nadel shared Estevenin’s concern.
“Spending this much money does not sit comfortably with me,” Nadel said.
But Nadel argued that finding the right person now could save money in the long run and avoid having to conduct another search.
The board ultimately chose ZRG, one of three search firms interviewed.
ZRG’s fee is $85,500, plus a 3% technology fee, bringing the starting price to $88,065. Additional expenses come on top of that.
Ryan Driscoll, who presented the recommendation, said those expenses could include advertising and marketing, travel by search-firm staff and travel to bring candidates in. Those costs will be billed to SSHD at cost.
Another search finalist, GMP, was about half the price and had experience conducting housing CEO searches in Washington.
So why spend more?
Driscoll said SSHD isn’t looking for just any housing executive.
“Because we are such a unique entity,” he said, one of the agency’s challenges is getting prospective candidates to understand what makes SSHD different.
Driscoll said SSHD wants to cast a wider net than people who are already CEOs of public development authorities. A recruiter can approach people in other fields, including people who aren’t looking for another job.
But the discussion also raised a broader question about what SSHD wants in its next CEO: an experienced executive who can build, finance and operate housing, or a leader who also embodies the agency’s particular vision of social housing?
The search suggests SSHD wants both .
Social Housing Ideology
Restorative justice played a prominent role in the search-firm interviews.
The concept is already part of SSHD’s housing model. Under its charter, residents are to have an opportunity to use restorative-justice conflict resolution before eviction proceedings begin. SSHD defines it as a voluntary process for residents dealing with conflict or harm, focused on accountability, repairing harm and restoring relationships.
But restorative justice is apparently now also part of the search for the person who will run the agency.
Driscoll said one firm proposed treating it as a “leadership competency” and looking for behaviors showing a “restorative justice mindset.”
ZRG proposed using scenarios, possibly including role-playing , to assess candidates. Driscoll said the firm also recognized that some candidates might have the desired qualities without knowing the terminology and proposed “working with candidates to train them” and doing “some education work” around the concept.
“We are centering that,” Driscoll said of restorative justice, “in a way that might not be common for these types of searches.”
Driscoll also pointed to SSHD’s “innovative resident governance system” as an example of what makes the agency unusual.
But that system is still being built.
Social Democracy
Earlier this year, interim CEO Tiffani McCoy told the board SSHD was pausing the launch of its resident constituency and resident governance councils while the agency worked out the rules.
“We don’t wanna start that process when we, as an agency, are not ready for resident governance,” McCoy said.
SSHD has since created a Resident Governance Committee and continued work on the system.
In Other Business
The board approved its July financial report. Elara at the Market, SSHD’s first apartment building, reported about $347,000 in revenue and $113,000 in expenses before depreciation.
SSHD also recorded roughly $4.2 million in social housing payroll-tax revenue.
The board also revised a policy allowing payments of up to $50 for certain public participation and advisory activities, generally capped at $3,000 per advisory body unless the board approves more.
The board also voted to stop efforts to recover property and money connected with a former contractor dispute after legal counsel advised that continuing could cost more than the claims were worth. This was a situation from last year where the SSHD’s former technology director held the agency’s website hostage for a period.
A planned executive session concerning a possible property acquisition was removed from the agenda.
Meeting was adjourned.