Leadership Feature: Denise Stiffarm

Denise Stiffarm, managing partner at Pacifica Law Group, understands the power of opportunity.

Even though no one else in her immediate family had an advanced degree, as a child growing up on the Fort Belknap Reservation in Montana as a member of the Gros Ventre (Aaniiih/White Clay) Tribe.

And while early on in her life she didn’t have a lot of exposure to possible professional career paths, her family moved to eastern Washington where she spent her high school years. She went from a more isolated area in north central Montana to a small town that felt big and the world started to open – more was possible. She seized the opportunity to earn her undergraduate degree at Washington State (earning a BA in sociology and criminal justice) and knew it was time to move to Seattle where more opportunity was waiting.

“I knew I was never going to stay in a small town, so I slowly moved west,” Stiffarm said. “When I got (to Seattle), I knew I wanted to go to graduate school, but I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, and I wasn't really in a position to dive into anything. So, I took a couple of years off just to work and figure things out.”

She took a job at a law firm working as a clerk. It was full-on immersion in the demands of a professional workplace and understanding the practice of law. The experience unlocked the possibility that becoming a lawyer just might be an attainable goal.

“It somewhat demystified what lawyers are,” Stiffarm said. “I got to know the people. They were very gracious and kind to me. They have a bit more education, they work hard, but they're just normal people. And that gave me the confidence to feel like I could do something like that.”

Stiffarm got to work. She sat for the LSAT, applied to law schools, and ultimately chose to attend the University of Washington’s School of Law.

After earning her secondary degree, Stiffarm got a job at Preston Gates & Ellis. Her first year there was full of opportunity. New associates worked in all the different practice areas within the firm and then were able to settle into the one that suited them best.

“It was really nice because it allowed me to figure out what I wanted my career to look like,” Stiffarm said. “I knew I wanted to do something where there was some policy aspect to it because I always had had an interest in public policy type work. That led me towards a land use focus and then that eventually led me to do a lot of land use and real estate related work for public school districts in the greater Puget Sound area, which is what I have been subsequently doing for 29 years now.”

But there was a deeper opportunity woven into the fabric of the firm that fed Stiffarm’s sense of community. They had a stated policy emphasizing public service.

“That was important to me because I came from a Native background, a reservation community where it's all about community,” Stiffarm said. “That has always been my core driver - thinking about community. …Getting there and seeing so many examples of people who had really thriving legal practices but at the same time had deep engagement in different public service type activities; (People) had actually been able to marry the two and do good work and do good. That allowed me to start stepping into that community-level work which has been an important priority for me all throughout my career.”

One glance at Stiffarm’s body of work over the years shows just as much commitment to excellence as a lawyer as there is to serving in the community. She has served on multiple boards throughout the greater Seattle area including the YWCA, Seattle Art Museum, and the YouthCare Board as well as the Chief Seattle Club where she not only was a member, she acted as board president for a number of years, ultimately having an annual honor – the Chief Seattle Club Stiffarm Visionary Leadership award – named for her as its inaugural recipient.

Stiffarm blushes at the mention. She feels the award’s existence is bigger than her. Her father’s cousin, Ben Stiffarm, was very involved in the Seattle Native community and was one of the founders of the Chief Seattle Club. She sees her involvement with the club, and the award, as a continuation of her family’s work and a way to honor the Stiffarm name.

And just as her time with the Chief Seattle Club was coming to a close, a new opportunity arose. Stiffarm had first met Mari Horita, the executive director of the One Roof Foundation when both were in law school. The two connected once again and Horita shared the work going on within the Kraken, Climate Pledge Arena, and the Foundation.

“When everything was starting to happen with the organization, I was excited about it, but not necessarily too much in the know,” Stiffarm said. “(In talking more with Mari), I was so impressed that the ownership had identified that (the work of the Foundation) is something they wanted to integrate with the team and the arena.”

Horita extended the invitation to join the newly formed Foundation’s board.

“As we were forming One Roof Foundation back in 2020, recruiting smart, experienced, and highly credible Board members with impeccable character was a key part of the formula,” Horita said. “Denise was at the top of our list, and we are grateful she said yes.”

Stiffarm is proud of all of the work One Roof does, but it may not surprise you that of the three pillars that crystalize the Foundation’s focus, it is the one that provides an opportunity that she connects with most strongly.

“The youth access to play was something that I immediately had a passion for,” Stiffarm said. “Just thinking about kids who otherwise don't get the exposure, or the opportunity or the attention, having really concerted efforts to reach children in those communities was so appealing.

“I always try to go to those events. They are just so great, especially going into their community, and seeing what's being brought to them and how they're embracing it. its exposure – because after all, if you don't see it, you don't know that you can do it.”

Opportunity for communities that haven’t always had them is something Stiffarm feels deeply about. She is proud of her Native heritage – she is the first Native American to be named managing partner of a major Pacific Northwest law firm - and she is reflective when asked about the upcoming Indigenous people’s night at the Kraken’s game on Dec. 10 that is part of Kraken Common Thread.

“There's so much invisibility for Native people,” Stiffarm said. “Whether that is systemic and reflective of the trauma inflicted on Native people over generations, or the fact that we are a very small percentage of the population in general. There are quite a few tribes in this area, and yet I don't know that many people who live here who actually know Native people. So, to be presented in a way that is so positive and elevated is just not something that our people often experience.

“I have appreciated that so much about the Kraken organization. It's not just lip service. It's not parading folks when they need them, but it's actually doing the substantive work and making sure that there's consultation happening. The Muckleshoot partnership has been a huge part of that, and it goes back to the formation of the land acknowledgment, the work that went into that…it's really been a meaningful relationship.”

And while Stiffarm’s impact continues to be vast and deep, it is fueled by lessons from her community and her family to care for others and to present and seize opportunity. Her father has since passed, but she remembers how proud he was of her - telling all of his colleagues and friends that his daughter was in law school.

“Having that kind of support and pride invested in me certainly propelled me to make something of it,” Stiffarm said. “it’s also just nice to have support like that and to know that you're doing something that you didn't do alone - there were others with you.”