Hattie B. Dorsey, ANDP’s founding President and CEO. Hattie passed a week before her 85th birthday. Hattie was a tireless pioneer and advocate for affordable and mixed-income housing in Atlanta and beyond. Her tenacity, vision, and leadership laid the groundwork for ANDP’s 33-year history of providing affordable housing options to thousands of metro Atlantans.

Hattie broke gender and race barriers throughout her career, including roles with the U.S. Department of the Interior, Mayor Ivan Allen, U.S. Representative Charles Weltner, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and as the executive director of Stanford Mid-Peninsula Urban Coalition. In the 1970s and 80s, Hattie began to solidify her life’s purpose — affordable and mixed-income housing as a strategy to build families and communities. 

In 1984, Hattie returned to Atlanta and was named Vice President at the City’s Atlanta Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) – known now as Invest Atlanta – and was involved with increasing minority participation during the redevelopment of Hartsfield Airport. She leveraged her position at AEDC to win hearts and minds to address declines she witnessed in the neighborhood she grew up in and others impacted by decades of systemic racism in highway placement, housing delivery, and other systems. With help from Shirley Franklin, the Neighborhood Development Department at AEDC was created. Her life’s passion was beginning to bloom. Soon after, Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson announced the merger of AEDC’s Neighborhood Development Department and the Chamber of Commerce’s Housing Resource Center to form ANDP.

As the founding President & CEO of ANDP, Hattie devoted 15 years to supporting the growth of the CDC network and the broader affordable and mixed-income housing ecosystem. Her efforts resulted in coordinating over $15 million in capacity-building funding for 20 regional CDCs. In 1998, she led the establishment of ANDP’s U.S. Treasury Certified Development Financial Institution (CDFI) subsidiary. She piloted innovative public-private partnerships and was recognized as a champion for mixed-income housing. Her work laid the foundation for not only ANDP’s work today but also for an array of housing and community-focused efforts. After retiring from ANDP, she continued her work with passion on boards, as a consultant, advocate, and mentor.  

Atlanta’s current housing renaissance is, in many ways, directly attributable to the seeds Hattie planted decades ago. While we mourn Hattie’s passing and hold her daughter Michelle and extended family in our hearts, we also pause to reflect on her incredible journey and legacy. 

I am personally so grateful and thankful for Hattie’s extraordinary life.

John O’Callaghan
President & CEO
Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, Inc