CELTC Events

This session explores how “active social disasters”—such as civil unrest, workplace threats, or misinformation campaigns—disrupt operations and business continuity. 

Participants will examine: 

• Workforce safety and access challenges
• Communication and leadership under uncertainty
• Cascading impacts on supply chains, reputation, and infrastructure 

The session emphasizes proactive planning, situational awareness, and coordinated response strategies.

Recommended Resources

• Video: Business Continuity in Times of Civil Unrest (60 minutes) 

Speaker Bio
Jackie LaVerne

Jackie LaVerne is the Emergency Management Program Specialist for The Evergreen State College with more than 15 years of experience in safety, emergency management, preparedness, training, and response. A combat veteran and certified ICS/NIMS field instructor, she also serves as a CERT program manager/instructor.

Jackie leads campus-wide preparedness initiatives and oversees emergency management plans. She also supports emergency management and safety for Special Olympics of Washington and Seafair through EMGWA. She is actively involved with the Washington State Emergency Management Association (WSEMA), serving on multiple planning committees, and is an award-winning Emergency Management Associate.

This session explores how creativity and emotional intelligence can support healthier individuals and communities.

Using the Hero’s Journey as a framework, participants will:

• Navigate resistance to change
• Integrate physical, mental, and emotional health
• Build stronger relationships and purpose-driven lives

Recommended Resources

• “The Maiden King” (Russian fairy tale)
  From The Maiden King: The Reunion of Masculine and Feminine

Speaker Bio
Maia O'Brien

With over 30 years of experience as a dance teacher, physical therapist, and creative arts and community health specialist, Maia O’Brien brings a multidisciplinary approach to personal and social transformation.

This interactive session uses art and participatory mapping to uncover hidden systems of labor exploitation in global supply chains.

Participants will:

• Visualize “wicked patterns” of injustice
• Identify intervention point
• Explore how creative methods deepen systems thinking

The session emphasizes proactive planning, situational awareness, and coordinated response strategies.

Recommended Resources

• Art and systems thinking 
• Environmental justice
• Visual mapping in global politics

Speaker Bio
Jeannie Morgan

Jeannie Morgan is a lecturer and researcher at Roskilde University (Denmark) and part of the Critical Edge Alliance with Evergreen. Her career spans investment banking, grassroots migration work, and humanitarian projects across Africa.

She holds:

• LL.M. in Human Rights Law (University of Edinburgh)
• MSc in International Development

Mack shares insights from building a nonprofit from the ground up.

Including these topics:

• Cross-sector partnerships
• Resource constraints and adaptability
• Designing resilient organizational structures

Recommended Resources

• Nonprofit Responses to Financial Uncertainty
• The Role of Nonprofit–Private Collaboration for Organizational Resilience

Speaker Bio

Mackenzie Kleiva is an Olympia-based environmental leader and co-founder of Metamimicry, a grassroots bioremediation organization. She has worked across nonprofit and government sectors and currently works with the Washington Department of Ecology.

This session explores how authentic storytelling and community-building create powerful, human-centered marketing.

Topics Include:

• Building audiences through connection and vulnerability
• Turning followers into long-term supporters
• Creating resilience in a rapidly evolving digital landscape

Recommended Resources:

• Podcast (39 minutes)

Speaker Bio

Aramis O. Hamer is a Seattle-based visual artist whose work blends fine art and pop art, centering spirituality, nature, and Black cultural narratives. Her work has been exhibited at MOHAI, Bellevue Arts Museum, Climate Pledge Arena, and MoPOP.

This panel offers an overview of regulatory compliance in Washington State

Featuring representatives from:

• Secretary of State (Corporations & Charities)
• Labor & Industries
• Department of Revenue
• Employment Security Department
• Office of Regulatory Innovation & Assistance

Recommended Resources:

• Small Business Guide (business.wa.gov)
• Labor & Industries Small Business Essentials
• Young Entrepreneur Academy (mystartup365.com)

This session explores sustainability through craftsmanship, longevity, and ethical production.

Themes include:

• Designing products for durability and repair
• Balancing cost, quality, and environmental impact
• Building community through storytelling and tradition

Recommended Resources:

• The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman, Chapter 11, pages 441-474
• Let My People Go Surfing, free excerpt
• Company websites:
  • Northfield Mandolins
  • Shubb

Speaker Bio

Adrian Bagale is a musician and entrepreneur with 30+ years in the global instrument industry. His work spans product development, international manufacturing, and cultural exchange, including extensive work in China. He is currently based in Michigan.