Andre Nicholas Pettigrew

Andre Pettigrew - Beloved Father, Community Builder, Visionary Leader

January 26, 1953 - July 11, 2025

With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of Andre Pettigrew, a devoted father, loving husband, and transformational leader whose life was defined by service to family and community.

Born in Detroit, Michigan to Clara Cotton and Thomas Pettigrew, Andre attended Junípero Serra High School in Los Angeles before earning his economics degree from UCLA. As a student-athlete, he played basketball under the John Wooden program, an experience that shaped his lifelong commitment to teamwork and excellence. At UCLA, he met the love of his life, Malaika, beginning a 50+ year love story that would touch everyone in and around their orbit.

Andre and Malaika were true partners in every sense. Building a beautiful family while also dedicating themselves to working in their local communities. Andre's entrepreneurial spirit emerged early when he co-founded TEM and Associates, an energy technology and environmental consulting firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area, that grew to over 200 employees serving clients including Pacific Gas & Electric, NASA, and the Electric Power Research Institute.

He would later move the family to Colorado, where he served in leadership roles including Vice President for Economic Development at the Boulder Chamber of Commerce, senior positions in Colorado state government under Governor Roy Romer, and Assistant Superintendent of Denver Public Schools where he developed the "Denver Plan" and "ProComp" systems. As Executive Director of Denver's Office of Economic Development under Mayor John Hickenlooper, he guided the city through the Great Recession while launching sustainability initiatives.

From 2010 to 2017, Andre led national climate and economic organizations Climate Prosperity, Inc. and Clean Economy Solutions. Since 2017, he served as Director of Economic and Workforce Development for Durham, North Carolina, leading the "Inclusive Innovation Initiative." He held fellowships including MIT CoLab Mel King Fellow and SEED Fellow with the National League of Cities, and attended Harvard Kennedy School.
Music was Andre's passion and refuge - jazz, soul, and Black music filled their home. His love of culture extended globally through travels to Ghana, Tokyo, Bahia Brazil, and Kenya, perspectives he brought to his economic development work.

Andre believed deeply in education and opportunity, serving as a founding member of the African American Leadership Institute in Colorado and board member of Greenhouse Scholars alongside Malaika. His work on KB Home's board focused on sustainability initiatives.

The complete picture was a man who danced with his wife in their kitchen, cheered at his children's events, shared stories of his travels over family dinners, and never forgot his roots.

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