Announcing our 2025 Honored Citizen, Ernesto Fonseca!

Ernesto Fonseca, 2025 Honored Citizen

March 20, 2025

Every fall, AFO brings together the Oregon architectural and building community to celebrate the significant impact individuals and organizations have made to the built environment. Our 2025 Honored Citizen, Ernesto Fonseca, has empowered communities and built meaningful public and private partnerships across the state of Oregon through his role as CEO of Hacienda CDC.

Ernesto Fonseca joined Hacienda as CEO in April 2017, bringing his passion for community development and a belief in the power of connecting families to opportunity. Ernesto’s own story reflects the potential that can be unleashed by investing in all our community members. Raised in a low income but loving family in central Mexico, Ernesto watched his parents take advantage of educational opportunities and their own initiative to build careers in construction and nursing. They passed on their values of hard work and education to their children, and Ernesto embraced those values to gain a foothold in this country by initially working in kitchens and restaurants as he pursued his educational goals, culminating with a Ph.D. from Arizona State University in Environmental Design and Planning.

During his time in Phoenix, he spearheaded initiatives to assess the health impacts of community development including gentrification, access to public transportation, and affordable housing, and helped to create the Stardust Center for Affordable Homes & the Family.

Portland Mercado, Scott Edwards Architecture & PLACE Studio

Ernesto believes it is Hacienda’s job to help all families access the critical ingredients they need to achieve their goals: a stable, affordable home, a healthy family life that allows youth to learn and grow, opportunities for economic success, and access to affordable health care and healthy neighborhoods. He believes in the power of social enterprise to bring increased investment into breaking the cycle of poverty. He joined Hacienda because he shares the same values and experiences with this community and is eager to empower families to flourish like his own has.

Ernesto is infused in impactful community work through his current board service with the Oregon Community Foundation and the iSector, as well as past board service with the Prosperity Agenda, the Energy Trust of Oregon, Housing Oregon, and more. He is also one of the Gubernatorial Appointees for Governor Tina Kotek’s Housing Production Advisory Council, a council of experts charged with developing an action plan to meet ambitious housing construction goals. He has received numerous awards and recognitions for his work in Oregon, Arizona, Mexico, and beyond.

Las Adelitas, Salazar Architect & PLACE Studio

Ernesto’s own story reflects the potential that can be unleashed by investing in our communities. Ernesto has two kids, Emma, 19, and Emiliano, 17. Ernesto enjoys hiking, camping with his wife Susan and kids, photography, carpentry, and politics.

"Ernesto is a transformative leader and champion for community development, housing, education, equity, and social justice. As the CEO of the largest Latino-led housing and services social organization in the NW, Ernesto is elevating the built environment to improve lives - specifically of the underserved, marginalized, and historically underrepresented Oregonians including the Latino community."

- Carol Kekez & Mauricio Villareal, PLACE Studio

Save the Date

Evening of Thursday, October 16

The Nines Hotel Ballroom

Downtown Portland

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Oregon's Next

AFO's award for emerging professionals

Oregon's Next is back! At our annual Honored Citizen celebration, AFO will recognize 3-5 emerging professionals that have shown an outstanding dedication to the designed and built industry through community service and collaboration.

We welcome you, our community, to nominate individuals for Oregon’s Next. As we collectively work towards welcoming more voices into the architecture, engineering, and construction fields, who stands out as embodying this welcoming, inclusive mindset?

Nominations will open in May, and we encourage statewide recognition.

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