Cynthia A. Parker

President & CEO

Cynthia A. Parker, President & CEO, is responsible for the overall direction of BRIDGE Housing, a leading nonprofit developer, owner and manager of affordable housing. She joined BRIDGE as President and CEO in 2010, bringing over 30 years of diverse and relevant experience to the organization. She previously served as Regional President for Mercy Housing Northwest. Prior to her tenure at Mercy, she was Senior Vice President of Seattle-Northwest Securities, a public finance firm, where she oversaw affordable housing, commercial and public facility real estate financing in five Northwest states. A partial list of her real estate financial advisory clients includes: The Port of Seattle, Port of Olympia, City of Redmond and City of Seattle; the housing authorities of Portland, Everett, King County and Seattle (HOPE VI); the University of Washington, Pacific University, and the University of Portland; and the school districts of Edmonds, Seattle, and Portland. In Alaska, her clients included the Municipality of Anchorage and the Alaska Railroad.

Ms. Parker established the Housing Office of the City of Seattle and served as the City’s Director of Housing under two separate mayors, with responsibility for the City’s housing investment strategies, $100 million annual capital budget and $824 million loan portfolio. She assisted the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation with the design of both taxable and tax-exempt housing bond programs and has provided syndication services for tax-credit placements. Under Ms. Parker’s direction, BRIDGE Housing has doubled its production capacity and has added depth and capacity in its provision of resident services and community impact. BRIDGE currently has $1.7 billion in construction and development (4,000 units) and more than 11,000 units in its overall pipeline.

A former director of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Ms. Parker has chaired the Sound Families Initiative for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and currently serves as a director of the National Affordable Housing Trust, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, Housing Partnership Network, Housing Partnership Equity Trust (Chair), Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future, Up for Growth, the Beneficial State Foundation, and is on the Board of Governors of the California Housing Consortium. Ms. Parker is a graduate of Portland State University.