Tia Boatman Patterson, JD ’94, will be taking her skills and passion to Washington D.C. After successfully leading the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) since 2014, she was recently selected by the Biden administration to join the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as the Associate Director for Housing, Treasury, and Commerce. In her new role, Patterson will lead the team in the OMB that develops and oversees budgets for many federal agencies, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Small Business Administration.

“This is huge honor and incredible opportunity.” said Patterson, “I know first-hand how the ability to own a home can dramatically change peoples’ lives for the better. I am proud of the work I did to help Californians achieve their dreams of home ownership and I am excited to be able to help more Americans find stability and prosperity by moving into long-term housing.”

A recent profile of her in theGrio noted that Patterson “was raised in public housing, and her mother was only able to buy a house with the assistance of a first-time homebuyer program after the Fair Housing Act was passed. … having a home created stability for her entire family, and the leverage home-ownership brought allowed her and her sister to attend college.”

She is no stranger to working on large-scale projects. At CalHFA, Patterson helped more than 60,000 low- and moderate-income families find homes, and secured over $4 billion in loans for single families, according to OMB and the Grio. Her seven years leading CalHFA was the agency’s most successful stretch in its 46-year history. She credits her education with refining the skills she’s used to be a successful advocate.

“McGeorge provided me with a strong legal foundation, enhanced my critical thinking, and taught me to ask the right questions. These foundational skills assist me in having a balanced approach and driving toward practical solutions. The vigorous and well-rounded curriculum assisted me in formulating policy as well as, on the practitioner side, interpreting and implementing those policies.” 

Tia Boatman Patterson is a member of McGeorge School of Law’s Diversity Board and the Capital Center for Law & Policy’s Alumni Advisory Board. McGeorge offers a cutting-edge and highly-ranked JD Certificate of Concentration in Capital Lawyering. To learn more about what McGeorge’s alumni are doing, please visit our Alumni Updates page. If you are an alum and would like to get more involved with your law school, please contact our Alumni Relations team.