By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
When Dr. Angela Griffin became CEO of Byrd Barr Place, she quickly realized that one of her biggest challenges wasn’t expanding services. It was reminding people that one of Seattle’s oldest Black-led organizations was still here, still serving the community and still committed to its mission.
That work was recognized during The Seattle Medium’s inaugural Best of the Best Northwest Readers’ Choice Awards, where readers selected Griffin as Best CEO/Executive Director (Non-Profit), honored Byrd Barr Place as Best Community Advocate (Education) and voted the organization runner-up for Best Non-Profit Organization (Large and Mid-Sized).
For Griffin, the recognition reflects more than individual leadership. It represents Byrd Barr Place’s continued commitment to serving Black communities while adapting to meet changing needs.
“When I came into the organization, I knew about the transition from being CAMP to Byrd Barr Place, and I was excited to be out in the community,” Griffin said. “One of the barriers I kept getting was people not knowing that Byrd Barr Place still exists, it’s still in the community, and it is still for the Black community.”
One of Griffin’s first priorities was rebuilding that connection and reminding residents that although the organization’s name has changed over the years, its mission has remained constant.
“We are still here in the community, we’re still serving our Black folks, we are still relevant to this day, and we still want to be in partnership with you,” Griffin said. “We still want to make sure that all the community’s needs are being met.”
Her leadership has focused not only on strengthening relationships throughout the community but also on investing in the people who carry out Byrd Barr Place’s mission every day.
“One of the things I realized was that a lot of nonprofits are not paying people a living wage,” Griffin said. “I made it my mission as a leader to just make sure that we’re securing funding, and we are doing whatever it takes to be able to ensure our staff earns a living wage.”
During her first year as CEO, Griffin identified the funding needed to bring employee salaries to a livable wage and immediately began seeking partners willing to invest in that goal.
“I had a number, and I went out to some funders, and I just said, ‘Hey, this is where we need to be funded,’” Griffin said. “I was able to get a funder who funded us for three years to begin to increase the salaries.”
While Griffin has worked to strengthen the organization internally, she has been equally focused on helping the broader community reconnect with Byrd Barr Place’s history and mission.
Founded in 1964 by the Black Panther Party, the NAACP and the Urban League, Byrd Barr Place began as the Central Area Motivation Program (CAMP), serving the heart of Seattle’s Black community. As demographics shifted and families were displaced through gentrification, the organization evolved through several name changes while expanding its reach across Seattle and beyond.
“We were founded by the Black Panthers, the NAACP, and the Urban League as a civil rights organization in 1964,” Griffin said. “Reminding people we’re still for the Black community—that’s the external mission.”
Today, Griffin believes that mission is as important as ever.
“When we were founded, the Central Area was 80% Black, and it’s about 7% Black now, but it has been rooted in the Black community,” Griffin said. “But, we have to know where the Black folks are. So, we are trying to understand right now what happened with displacement, gentrification, and where and how our Black community members are doing.”
To answer those questions, Byrd Barr Place is conducting a statewide needs assessment designed to hear directly from Black residents throughout Washington.
Related Article: Thank You For Making Our Inaugural Best Of The Best Northwest Readers’ Choice Awards A Huge Success
“We’re doing a needs assessment survey across the state of Washington to get Black folks to speak up, share their voice, and tell their story about what’s going on wherever they are,” Griffin said. “I think that’s what keeps Byrd Barr Place relevant, because we don’t shift because the community dynamic has shifted in the area.”
“Just because that shift has happened, it doesn’t mean that we have to change our whole mission,” Griffin added. “We focus on how to make sure that we are still serving them.”
That same commitment to listening shapes how Griffin approaches leadership inside the organization.
“Everyone that is a part of Byrd Barr Place, whether you are a staff member, a board member, a client, a community member, we share leadership. We’re all leaders in this movement and this work,” Griffin said. “You don’t have to be the only one who makes all of the decisions. I have absolutely asked people what it is we should be doing and how we should be doing it to move the mission forward.”
That philosophy shapes not only how Griffin leads the organization, but also how Byrd Barr Place delivers its services.
Rather than assuming what families need, staff members ask clients what foods would best support their households before stocking the organization’s market.
“We ask, ‘What kind of things do you need? What kind of foods would really make a difference in your home?’ Then we try to purchase those foods, get those foods donated, and make sure our shelves are stocked with good food for people based on what they tell us they need,” Griffin said. “They get to shop in the market just like you would in any grocery store. In order to make sure we are maintaining the dignity of our clients, we have to ask them about their needs.”
Griffin said Byrd Barr Place’s evolution from CAMP to Centerstone and ultimately Byrd Barr Place reflected changing demographics rather than a change in purpose.
“CAMP was very targeted for the Central District of Seattle because that’s where we were, and when the community was displaced, the engagement shifted,” Griffin said. “We needed to expand ourselves and an approach to rebrand so that we could be more broadly focused in serving the whole city of Seattle, not just the Central District. So, that was part of the name change.”
She hopes future generations will continue building on that legacy.
“I want newer generations to be able to say, ‘My grandmother came here, my great-grandmother came here, but guess what? I’m here working now. I’m here serving in the food bank. I’m here donating and giving back,’” Griffin said. “That is how you know that there has been a generational shift in making sure that people are getting wealthier and wiser, and that is the responsibility.”
Looking ahead, Griffin sees Byrd Barr Place continuing to expand its role as both a direct service provider and a statewide advocate for Black communities.
“We have to go where our community is,” Griffin said. “We’re looking to go further south from a direct service perspective, and then we’re looking to continue to expand statewide as a thought partner and as an advocate. I want to see us really make some strong political legislative advocacy meetings in the state of Washington.”
To see the full list of winners visit bestofthebestnw.com
