Assefa-Dawson running to retain Federal Way Council seat

Published 3:29 pm Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Lydia Assefa-Dawson, one of the first Ethiopian city council members in the state, today announced she will seek to keep her seat on the Federal Way City Council.

Appointed one year ago to fill a seat vacated by Mayor Jim Ferrell, Assefa-Dawson faced over a dozen applicants for the job. She said she succeeded by offering to represent the many new diverse populations growing in the Federal Way area.

“I was appointed amongst a lot of strong candidates, which was humbling for me,” she wrote in a press release.

Since she came on board, she was involved in getting the youth commission started up again, she advocated for the successful passage of the Performing Arts and Conference Center, advocated for Metro to not cut bus services, as well as to save Public Health in Federal Way.

In addition, she is the family self-sufficiency coordinator for the King County Housing Authority, chairs the Financial Education Providers Network and is a financial educator/coach for survivors of domestic violence with the YWCA.

Assefa-Dawson is a member of the Land Use and Transportation Committee, is on the governing board of the Committee to End Homelessness and serves on the State Advisory Council on Homelessness.

“While it is true that we are now seeing economic recovery all over the region, there are still so many of us who have not been able to get out of debt, pay the bills or be able to save anything for our kids’ future,” Assefa-Dawson wrote. “We need to make sure that this recovery is accessible to all of us.”

She was born and raised in Ethiopia and suffered a tragic accident as a baby, which resulted in her legs being amputated. Raised by missionaries, she has faced tough challenges throughout her life. But she has adopted a positive and optimistic approach to handling problems, a talent especially helpful in local government, she said.

Her experience includes service on the city of Federal Way Human Services Commission, the executive committee of the Ethiopian Community in Seattle, the Federal Way School District Parent Engagement and Federal Way Public Schools’ Key Communicators group, and was just asked to serve on the Global Education Initiative Committee.

Assefa-Dawson’s extensive community and regional services include a member of the board of directors of Puget Sound Access, an interpreter with the American Red Cross Language Bank, Seattle; and the former PTA president, Strategic Planning Committee and Auction Committee member of Christian Faith School in Federal Way. She is the former Community Relations Board (president) of the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac. She is also one of the key advocates of the National Soccer Tournament Organizing Committee of the Ethiopian Soccer Federation of North America here in the Seattle region.

As a lifelong volunteer, she has been awarded several honors including the Gold Heart Volunteer Award (Ethiopia Reads Seattle Event), the Living Green Award from the King County Housing Authority and the President’s Volunteer Service Award, Washington, DC.

She has a Bachelor of Science from Sterling College (Kansas), did post-graduate studies at Seattle-Pacific University and holds a Masters in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix.

Assefa-Dawson has lived in the United States for over 30 years. She has three sons, Christian (a graduate student and employee at Northwest University); Caleb (a sophomore at Gonzaga University); and Joshua (a freshman at University of Washington).

“My goal is to advocate for housing issues, involve our new growing communities of color and the youth in local government, and I look forward to continue serving the Federal Way community as a council member,” she wrote.