Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda (Position 8, Citywide), Chair of the Council’s Housing, Health, Energy and Workers’ Rights Committee, was honored by Local Progress, a national network of progressive elected officials across the country, with the Progressive Champion of the Year Award on July 26, 2019, an award named after Ady Barkan, founder of Local Progress and a national social justice leader.
Mosqueda was voted to receive this honor by her peers for her leadership on Seattle’s Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, as well as pushing for progressive housing policies, corporate accountability and progressive revenue across the country.
“This award is national recognition by cities across the country for Seattle’s progressive policies and positions that we’ve advanced on behalf of working families, unions, low wage workers, renters, women, people of color and small businesses,” Mosqueda said. “These policy advances have sometimes faced well-funded opposition at the local level, yet nationally these wins have been applauded by city leaders across the county. I’m proud to have been nominated along with city leaders in Minneapolis and New York who are leading the way in affordable housing, updating outdated zoning laws, and worker and tenant protections. This award is not only an immense honor, but a huge recognition of Seattle’s leadership and is shared with our staff and Council colleagues who’ve made these changes possible.”
This year, the Progressive Champion Award was renamed after Ady Barkan, the founding director of Local Progress whose fights have included Medicare expansion, immigrant rights, police reform, housing and economic justice. Mosqueda was one of three nominees, which included Minneapolis Council President Lisa Bender, and a trio of elected officials from Ossining, New York: Quantel Bazemore, John Codman III, and Omar Herrera.