Biography

Patricia A. Fahy was elected in November 2012 to represent the 109th Assembly District from the City of Albany, and the Towns of Bethlehem, Guilderland, and New Scotland. Pat successfully ran on a platform of education and jobs, bringing over two decades of experience at all three levels of government and extensive community service.

Pat served as Associate Commissioner of Intergovernmental Affairs and Federal Policy for the state’s Department of Labor from 2007 to 2012. As lead advocate and liaison for the Department’s federal and congressional relations, Pat advocated for federal funding for New York in the economic stimulus package, extended unemployment benefits, grant proposals, and youth training initiatives. While at the Department of Labor, Pat served as co-chair of the Disconnected Youth Work Group of Gov. Paterson’s Children’s Cabinet from 2009 through 2010.

In December 2005, Pat completed a four-year term as a citywide elected member of the Albany Board of Education, in which she was unanimously elected by the school board to serve as President in 2003.

Before moving to Albany in 1997, she served as Executive Director of the business-led Chicago Workforce Board, overseeing Chicago’s workforce-related programs. Prior to her work in Chicago, Pat spent over nine years in Washington, DC, in a number of capacities, including:

• Serving in the Clinton Administration as the Associate Director for Employment and Training, in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Congressional Affairs Office headed by Secretary Robert Reich.
• Senior legislative analyst in the U.S. House of Representatives, for the Labor Committee’s Subcommittee on Employment.
• Legislative assistant in the U.S. Senate, for the Committee on Health, Education and Labor’s Subcommittee on Employment, then chaired by Sen. Paul Simon (D-IL).
• President Management Intern (PMI), competitively selected in 1985 for a two-year federal agency appointment.

Pat has also served as a consultant on education and workforce training issues for Big Brothers Big Sisters, the AFL-CIO Workforce Development Institute and the National Commission for Education and the Economy (NCEE).

Pat is active in the community, including: the Board of Directors, the Boys and Girls Club of Albany (2005 to present), Interim President in 2007 and chair of the 2006 annual fund drive; Board of Directors, Center for Women in Government & Civil Society, SUNY Rockefeller College, (2009 to present); as a member and former Co-Vice President of the PTA for Hackett Middle School and PTA member at Albany High; and as a Founding Member of Albany PASS (People Advocating Small Schools), a grass roots advocacy organization formed to promote rebuilding Albany’s public schools (2001- 2006).

Pat and her husband, Dr. Wayne Bequette, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at RPI, have two children attending Albany High and Hackett Middle Schools. Pat has a master’s in public administration from University of Illinois at Chicago and a bachelor’s in political science from Northern Illinois University.

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