Meet Carrie and the Other Griffin
Driving Change Through Expert Guidance
At CoDesign Works PLLC, our mission is to amplify the power of the social impact sector and ensure that solutions to our toughest problems are designed with the expertise of community. As a woman- and disabled-owned firm, we are deeply committed to equity, innovation, and collaboration. From providing strategic consulting to delivering tailored legal services for tax-exempt organizations, our work is grounded in a passion for fostering meaningful, systemic change.
Championing Inclusive Solutions Across Sectors
We’re former executive directors, government agency leaders, and law professors who understand the stress of working for social impact and navigating bureaucracy. We’re like having a second executive director for your most challenging problems or getting a 2-for-1 with an experienced director who is also a licensed lawyer in Washington State. Not every problem is a legal problem, but not all lawyers have led nonprofit and government programs, managed millions of public funds, taken over for directors of 30-40 years, hosted federal agency visits while in the middle of an office move, or been through audits in the first few weeks. We hope not all those things are true in your life, but we’re here for any of them.
Carrie Griffin Basas, Esq., MEd
Founder & Principal
Carrie Griffin Basas (she/they)Carrie Griffin Basas (she/her or they/them) is an attorney (licensed in WA State) and organizational consultant. She is the founder of CoDesign Works. From 2022-2024, she led Disability Law Colorado and Disability Rights Washington. Prior to those executive director roles, she served as Governor’s Inslee’s Director of the Washington State Governor’s Office of the Education Ombuds for seven years. In addition to nonprofit and public service, she has been a law professor, specializing in disability rights, employment law, criminal justice, and ethics. Carrie is also a graduate of Swarthmore College (B.A. with Honors), University of Washington (M.Ed.), and Harvard Law School (J.D. ‘02).
Carrie is a disabled person, mother of a disabled high schooler, and first-generation college graduate. Carrie has served as an advisor to the National Association of Law Students with Disabilities, a Commissioner on the American Bar Association’s Commission on Disability Rights, and a board member for nonprofits and foundations focused on human rights, gender justice, and youth success. As part of her desire to merge research and practice, she published a book of mentoring advice (“Lawyers, Lead On”) from the current generation of lawyers with disabilities to the next generation. She has also published extensively on issues of accessibility, incarceration, health stigma, advocacy fatigue, and racial justice.
Carrie founded her first nonprofit at the age of 26 with just $10K. She doesn’t recommend that as a startup plan. She has served on nonprofit and foundation boards for more than twenty years– which she highly recommends.
Mr. Griffin
Unpaid Assistant (not licensed to practice law or do much)
Mr. Griffin (aka Griffy, Griff, “We’re Not Body Shaming You”, My One True Love, Zoe’s Brother) is one of the two resident cats of CoDesign Works. Griffin came to our family by way of Loveland, Colorado, where he promptly ran under a recliner upon meeting us. We appreciated his commitment to introversion and promptly put him in a too-small carrier for a long car ride because our family knows how to have fun. He is often heard snoring serenely in the background of Carrie’s calls, or huffing at the absurdities of the world. #Solidarity
PS: Mr. Griffin is in no way related to Carrie biologically. He came with his name and no backstory. Carrie did not take his name as her middle name because that would be a poor choice and we’re all about helping you make better decisions.