Former WA Speaker Frank Chopp (far right), pictured with former Seattle Councilmember Alex Pedersen, WA State Representative Gerry Pollet, former WA Department of Commerce Director Michael Fong, and FamilyWorks Executive Director Marcia Wright-Soika, shown at the grand opening of the FamilyWorks Family Resource Center in September 2023.
We are heartbroken by the news that Frank Chopp, former Speaker of the Washington State House of Representatives and a lifelong champion for economic and social justice, has passed away. Frank was instrumental in the founding of FamilyWorks, and was an incredibly effective leader whose vision, tenacity, and deep compassion changed countless lives for the better. We are grateful he lived his life fighting for progressive causes and the well-being of Washington’s most marginalized residents.
While FamilyWorks has always been an independent nonprofit, our origins are inextricably tied to Frank and the Fremont Public Association (now Solid Ground). FamilyWorks would not exist without Frank Chopp. Under his leadership as Executive Director of the Fremont Public Association (FPA), they developed a vision to provide comprehensive, strengths-based family support programs—an idea that led to the creation of FamilyWorks in late 1995.
Frank worked to incorporate FamilyWorks as a separate nonprofit (then called the North Central Family Resource Center) with a community-led board and supported the hiring of our first-ever Executive Director Jake Weber. He was instrumental in efforts to secure early City of Seattle funding to support the new organization, and provided FPA staff to help build out the center as an asset to the community. Even as a separate nonprofit, we continued to partner closely with Frank and the FPA, including taking over the Fremont Food Bank in 1998, which had previously been operated by the FPA. We still have a close partnership with Solid Ground to this day.
Former FamilyWorks Executive Director Jake Weber recalls, “Frank encouraged me to apply for the first FamilyWorks’ Executive Director position. At first a bit intimidated, I had such deep respect for how Frank led with his heart fighting for people’s rights, that I was motivated to accept the challenge. Throughout my tenure at FamilyWorks, he continued to be a collaborator for food justice and family support. He was a mentor and a model champion for so many of us. Thank you, Frank, for helping me to make one of the best decisions of my life.”
He deeply believed in the idea of “community hubs” and “one-stop centers” to make services more accessible and more humane, and knew that many of the individuals who participated in the services offered by the FPA would benefit from the more holistic approach that family resource centers offered.
At his core, Frank was a community organizer. For those of us who were lucky enough to work with Frank, he was not just a leader but an inspiration. Frank understood that strong families build strong communities, and fought to ensure that families had access to the resources they needed to thrive. He had a rare ability to bring people together, to see not just what was, but what could be, and to work relentlessly until real change was achieved.
He channeled this philosophy as a legislator, and was a driving force behind some of Washington’s most transformational policies, championing affordable housing, food access, universal healthcare, racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, and a robust social safety net. His deep understanding of how to turn progressive ideals into actionable, achievable policy made him one of the most effective leaders in our state’s history. Even after leaving the state legislature, he never stopped fighting for those too often unheard.
FamilyWorks Executive Director Marcia Wright-Soika shared, “Frank spent the vast majority of his life advocating for an equitable and affordable Washington. He told me all the time how proud he was of how far FamilyWorks has come, and was one of the first people I told about our plans to open a Family Resource Center in an affordable housing complex and renovate the food bank. Affordable housing was something he deeply believed in – co-founding the Housing Trust Fund that has had a hand in nearly every unit of affordable housing built in our state. I remember fondly how he was there cheering us on during the grand opening of our Family Resource Center.
Whether as a community organizer, a nonprofit leader, or as one of the most powerful legislators in our state, Frank kept the people living on the margins in our state at the forefront of his focus. And he kept tirelessly advocating until his last day. I’m so grateful he lived his life the way he did.”
His loss is immeasurable, but his legacy will endure in every family that finds stable housing, every child with access to education, and every person who receives the support they need to build a better future. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and all those whose lives he touched. We will continue to honor his legacy through our work.
