by Jerry Cornfield, Washington State Standard
January 8, 2026
A top adviser to Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson is back at work with a new title and portfolio.
Sahar Fathi, Ferguson’s policy director when she went on a six-month leave July 1, is returning to a newly created post of chief impact officer. Fathi will report directly to Ferguson and remain a member of his executive leadership team. She had reported to the chief of staff.
Fathi’s focus will be on developing “progressive policy solutions” and she will serve as the primary contact with community organizations and local government leaders. She will also supervise the federal policy team, according to the governor’s office.
“This new role will allow Sahar to focus on progressive, proactive policy work, in direct partnership with community and elected leaders,” Ferguson said in a statement Thursday.
Kenneth Martin, interim policy director during Fathi’s absence, will succeed her in that post.
“I believe policy is a powerful tool in the governor’s mission to make government center the people,” Fathi said in a statement issued by the governor’s office. “That means all the people — especially those who have historically been left behind, and those targeted by the Trump administration. Creating a leadership position explicitly focused on this goal is exactly the kind of innovation that makes me excited to be part of his administration.”
Fathi served as Ferguson’s policy director when he was the state’s attorney general. She was one of the first people he hired after getting elected governor in November 2024.
As policy director, she oversaw a 20-person staff responsible for developing policy initiatives in support of Ferguson’s agenda.
Her lengthy resume of public service includes working for King County, the Seattle Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs and as a legislative aide to former Seattle City Council member Mike O’Brien, according to online biographies. In 2013, Fathi made The Stranger’s list of The Smartest People in Seattle Politics.
Martin served as deputy policy director for issues related to the environment, transportation and infrastructure until filling in for Fathi. He led the American Indian Environmental Office in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Joe Biden and served as deputy assistant secretary for tribal government affairs in the U.S. Department of Transportation under President Barack Obama.
Ferguson’s communications office declined to share Fathi’s salary for the newly created position. She earned $195,000 a year as policy director, according to public records obtained by The Standard. The governor’s office also did not share Martin’s salary.
With Thursday’s announcements, Ferguson will have new leaders in place for his legislative and policy shops when lawmakers return for the 2026 session that begins Monday.
In May, Ferguson named Debbie Driver as legislative director. She served as a transportation policy advisor to former Gov. Jay Inslee and also worked as an analyst with the state House of Representatives.
She replaced Joyce Bruce, who resigned in March, not long after her deputy, Shawn Lewis, had quit. That left the governor without a legislative team in the final stretch of his first legislative session.
At the time, the governor’s policy team absorbed the legislative work and Fathi served as the primary contact for legislative leadership.
Ferguson cited the added chores when Fathi, whom he said had been “a crucial member” of his team since 2019, took leave.
“After six years and a particularly intense legislative session, in which she took on more than one full-time job, she’s taking a break,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ferguson will be losing a member of his cabinet this month as Joe Nguyen is leaving as director of Washington state’s Department of Commerce to become the new leader of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber.
Ferguson has not announced who will fill that spot.
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