Los Angeles, CA — Avocation meeting vocation: That is how Faye Washington views her position as chief executive officer for the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) of the Greater Los Angeles.
She took on the job after retiring from the City of Los Angeles in 1998, where the Los Angeles native worked 32 years and moved up the ranks from a clerk to becoming the highest ranking African American woman in a number of areas in the city government.
And although she thoroughly intended to take time to “smell the roses” in retirement, her dedication to public service took over.
Under her leadership, one of the key projects of the YWCA has been to create a Job Corp Urban Campus, which includes construction of a seven-story building is a living and learning center providing housing for more than 400 Job Corp students. It also provides 1,100 corp participants recreational, medical and cafeteria facilities.
Washington has also been instrumental in the development of the Y’s Union Pacific Children’s Center in East Los Angeles.
Washington’s ultimate goal is to insure that all people living within the YWCA service area can become self sufficient and live with dignity.
