Jeff Dade, Director of Community Development, Forterra

Jeff Dade, Forterra



Jeff Dade, AFC®|MACP

Director | Community Development

Forterra | Land for Good

1119 Pacific Ave., Suite 1300

Tacoma, WA 98402

T 253-921-7071 | W forterra.org


A dreamer who learned to lead, Jeff "JD" Dade is a community economic developer, an Accredited Financial Counselor®, and a regional leader in the movement for racial economic equity who serves as Director of Community Development at nonprofit Forterra NW. Growing up in a working-class, active-duty military family eventually brought Jeff to Washington. Here, he grew to become a business banker, mortgage lender, Investment Adviser Representative, financial coach, DEI consultant, and more.

Today, Jeff is devoted to participatory community genius in the built environment. His active sites in Tacoma and Tukwila prioritize Black heritage as they foster inclusive, restorative economics for all and prosocial solutions like social impact investing, greentech, and cooperatives. He is a passionate advocate for anti-displacement via community-driven design and ownership strategies to bolster resilienceagainst Transit-Induced Displacement (TID). He holds advanced degrees emphasizing community economic development from the University of Washington - a BA in Urban Studies and a MA in Community Planning.

Jeff serves as Board Director for Greentrike: The Children's Museums of Tacoma and JBLM. He is also a Sr. Fellow with the Environmental Leadership Program and a Fellow with the American Leadership Forum. Married for 23 years, he loves R&B playlists, enjoys fantasy movies, and thinks commercials are interesting. Jeff works a lot, but whenever possible, he is reading or catching up with his four daughters and three grandchildren, secretly hoping they will be dreamers, too.