About the Speakers

Emily Adams, M.F.A. is a member of the Evergreen Art and Printmaking faculty and a multimedia and installation artist. Adams earned her BFA from the Columbus College of Art & Design (2005), and her MFA from the University of Wisconsin (2015). She is a recipient of the David and Edith Sinaiko Woman in the Arts Award, and her work has been featured in New American Painting Magazine. Adams has a breadth of printmaking experience having worked with artists and master printers at the highly respected Pace Editions and Tandem Press.

Session: Hands-On Screen Printing Workshop

Jennifer M. Allen serves as CEO of Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii, protecting and promoting reproductive health, rights, and justice in Washington, Alaska, Idaho, and Hawaii. She previously served as CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, leading that team to major election victories in 2017 and translating those victories in Virginia in the 2018 legislative session into successful Medicaid expansion and increased access to long acting, reversible contraception. Before Virginia, Jennifer served 14 years as Policy Director for Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii, building on her prior career focus on social justice, particularly women’s and LGBTQ rights, in non-profit organizations and on political campaigns. Jennifer grew up in Berkeley, California and also lived in Montana and Massachusetts before graduating from the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington in 1997. She currently lives in Olympia with her partner and two cats in a home about a mile from her first Evergreen student apartment.

Session: Women Making Waves

Diana Arens ’93, MPA ‘15 is a former Olympia Riot Grrrl, KAOS Radio Program Director (1992-93), host of Free Things Are Cool (1991-2008), all-ages show organizer, photographer, and audio engineer at Dub Narcotic and Yoyo studios. She is a double Greener, graduating from Evergreen in 1993 with a BA in Political Science, Communications, and Psychology; and earning a Master of Public Administration in Public and Nonprofit Administration in 2015. While an undergrad, Diana was elected to serve on the Presidential Search Committee, resulting in the hiring of the first female college president in Washington State, Jane Jervis. For more than 20 years, Diana has supported adults with autism and other disabilities to live in the community. She currently works as a Senior Budget & Forecast Analyst, receiving awards for work with the Washington State Combined Fund Drive. In Spring 2017, Diana organized a 17-person Evergreen alumni panel at the Washington State History Museum in celebration of the A Revolution You Can Dance To: Indie Music in the Northwest exhibit.

Session: Women Making Waves

Chris Baggott ’83 is an innovative entrepreneur who has co-founded many successful ventures including Tyner Pond Farm, the digital-marketing enterprise ExactTarget, Compendium, and his fast-accelerating food delivery startup, ClusterTruck. He is known by colleagues as an entrepreneur who can not only shape a vision, but also inspire others to support it. Using his problem-solving skills to fuel his approach to business development, he has successfully turned new and innovative ideas into realities. For example, the idea behind both ExactTarget and Compendium was 'marketing democracy' by using digital tools to level the playing field between large companies and small businesses.

As Chris has progressed through his entrepreneurial career, he has consistently looked at business through a moral lens and firmly supports the believe that ethics matter. With farming, he talks about a “hierarchy of goodness”. With ClusterTruck, he talks not only about being fair to restaurants, but also about treating delivery drivers “with dignity.” Learning from both his successes and mistakes in business, he maintains an optimistic perspective and maintains that despite failures, “you can recover from it and control your own destiny.

Making Change: Innovation, Creativity, Entrepreneurship, and Intrapreneurship

Len Balli moved to Olympia, Washington, from Brownsville, Texas, in September 1994 to attend Evergreen, which she read about in Sassy Magazine. After experimenting in a variety of subjects, she finally focused her studies in history. After graduation she started working for a small environmental consulting firm. In order to fulfill her interests in history and education she started volunteering at the State Capital Museum.

Her volunteering turned into gainful employment working in the education department giving tours and helping develop public programs. Throughout her career she has worked creatively and collaboratively to develop programs like Movies at the Mansion: A Classic Film Series and History After Hours Pub Trivia. In 2016 she curated A Revolution You Can Dance To an exhibit on the Olympia music scene and in 2017 collaborated on the exhibit Loyal Opposition.

She currently resides in Olympia and can be seen walking her dogs around the eastside.

Session: Women Making Waves

Kandi Bauman is double alum (BAS '06 & MPA '16) and member of the 2002 First Peoples Scholars summer cohort. With over ten years of experience in higher education, she returned to Evergreen in November 2017 as the Interim Director of First Peoples. Kandi is currently serving as a First Peoples Project Manager until she starts her doctoral studies at the University of Washington this Fall in higher education policy and organizational leadership.

Session: Experience First Peoples: Past, Present and Future

Biography of George Bridges

Session: Parents and Family Council Fall Meeting

Amira is a queer, nonbinary, generation 1.5 Pilipinx immigrant, first generation college graduate, of Bikolano and Ilokano ancestry. They grew up Caloocan City in the Philippines and migrated to Las Vegas, Nevada, when they were 10 years old. They slowly made their way up north to Olympia, WA where they currently live with their partner Alé and their cat Chac. Their commitment to equity and social justice was ignited through their work as a student organizer at Mt. Hood Community College, where they advocated for the DREAM Act, tuition equity for undocumented college students, and gender neutral restrooms in all public colleges and universities in Oregon. Amira completed their master’s degree in social work at University of Michigan and became part of the First Peoples team in 2016. They want to thank and honor their parents, family, friends, and community by continuing the work of deepening the paths of equity and social justice that First Peoples staff before them have created!

Session: Experience First Peoples: Past, Present and Future

Keri graduated from Evergreen in 1992 with coursework spread evenly across the hard sciences and the arts. After initial employment with the Washington State Department of Ecology in water rights adjudication, Keri worked as a consultant with the Department of The Army at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (then simply Fort Lewis) working on environmental and business process improvement initiatives. For the past 21 years, Keri has been employed with the Intel Corporation. Keri considers herself to be the Swiss Army Knife of skills which has allowed her to have a fulfilling and varied career of life-long learning.

Currently, she is the Chieftess of Staff for Intel Sports which enables leagues and broadcasters to share content they can’t create on their own. Her group captures and computes exponential amounts of data, that can then be delivered to fans, who that can then live the magic of sports in ways they can’t in real life. It allows them to see athletes from a view that puts them in the middle of the action and from unique views. Their technology is used by the NFL, MLB, NBA, European Soccer Leagues, the U.S. Tennis Association, the PGA, and at the Olympics.

Keri served on Evergreen’s Foundation Board of Governors from 2010 through 2018 and was chair for two years.

Keri lives in Portland, Oregon, where she enjoys all the City of Roses has to offer with her husband, Miles, and their high school-aged daughter, Amalia.

Session: Telling Evergreen's Story: Campus Tour and Workshop

Ron Charles’ public service career spans tribal, federal and state appointments over more than five decades. Ron Charles served as tribal chair of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe for a total of twenty-three years divided into two periods of service. Ron is a veteran of the United States Navy and was also one of the first tribal employees hired in 1972. He also served as Commissioner to the Northwest Indian Fish Commission and as a member of the Fraser Panel of the Pacific Salmon Commission, a fisheries management agency that manages sockeye and pink salmon fisheries shared with British Columbia.

Ron is recognized as a visionary leader who helped the Port Gamble S’Klallam tribe navigate rapid change and growth after the Boldt decision in 1974 restored tribal access to fisheries in Washington State. Ron helped to safeguard the tribe’s treaty rights and was instrumental in diversifying the tribe’s economy through the development of a casino, hotel and other business ventures.

In the 1990’s, Ron attended Evergreen’s Reservation-Based Community Determined program and focused his studies on tribal governance and financial management.

Even in retirement, Ron continues to serve on several committees for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe while keeping up with a busy family life with his wife of over fifty years, Sharon Clements, their four daughters, seventeen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Session: Evergreen@50 Lunch

Daniel Cherniske is the co-founder at Symbiotic Cycles LLC, an Olympia-based company dedicated to the application of regenerative food production through aquaponics. He is passionate about facilitating community growth and resilience. Daniel is currently working on Entimago, his insect farming project.

Session: Sustainable Living in the Northwest

Krishna Chowdary has been helping students learn math and physics at Evergreen since 2007. Hoping to help students get the most from their interdisciplinary liberal arts education, Krishna has team-taught in programs that have included animation, biology, botany, chemistry, classics, computer science, drama, ecology, geography, linguistics, mathematics, music, philosophy, and physics. Krishna is also committed to access, inclusion, and equitable outcomes for all students, particularly in math and science classrooms.

Krishna completed undergraduate work in physics at the Johns Hopkins University and graduate work at Carnegie Mellon University, completing a Ph.D. in experimental condensed matter physics working on nanoscale magnetic materials. Krishna also taught as a visiting assistant professor at Bucknell University before coming to Evergreen.

Session: Weaving Arts and Math

Stephanie Coontz has taught history and family studies at Evergreen since 1975, now faculty emeritus. She also serves as Director of Research and Public Education at the Council on Contemporary Families. Coontz's publications include The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap revised in 2016): The Way We Really Are; Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage; and A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s.  She has been published in every major national newspaper (see www.stephaniecoontz.com) and is a frequent radio and tv guest, including appearances on the Colbert Report and Oprah.

Session: The Changing Landscape of Love, Sex, Marriage and the Life Course

Christine Corey is a musician, song writer, dancer, artist, DJ, and organizer.

Christine has been an entertainer for over 30 years. Highlights include, working with The Uncola, Ladyfest, Camp Jitterbug, Seattle Lindy Exchange, Maui Party, and Olympia Film Society. She Played in bands Slip, Butcher Holler, The Muffin Cups, The Lost Keys, The Dog Walkers, and as a solo artist. 

In 2002 she assumed responsibility of a weekly swing dance her teacher started and founded OlySwing Dance. Soon after Christine spear headed an Olympia Eagles Club revival to save The Olympia Eagles Ballroom. After over 15 years Christine passed the dance on to her student and it remains is the longest running all ages event in Olympia.

Session: Women Making Waves

Michael Corrigan’s (’77) path has led him to pursue his calling as an Episcopal priest at Trinity Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara, California, and continue his career as a corporate executive where he is Chairman and CEO of Corrigan & Company, a specialty insurance and corporate benefits firm that works with banks across the western United States.

Session: Living a Righteous Life in a Secular World

Cali Mortenson Ellis is a Member of the Faculty in the Master of Public Administration Program at The Evergreen State College. Cali teaches several MPA courses including 2nd year core, homeland security policy, international drug policy, and negotiation through a feminist lens. Cali received her PhD in Public Policy and Political Science from the University of Michigan in December 2015. She has a BA in economics from Bates College and an MPP from the University of Michigan Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. She previously worked at the RAND Corporation, the Homeland Security Directorate of the Michigan National Guard, and the Michigan Governor’s Office. Her main research interests are in quantitative analyses of international security, homeland security and intelligence. She is an author of Why Leaders Fight (Cambridge University Press, 2015) and has published in the Journal of Applied Security Research (2008), PS: Political Science & Politics (2012, 2014), Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (2013), International Interactions (2015), Enterprise Development and Microfinance (2015), and Michigan War Studies Review (2013, 2014, 2015).

Session: All the Bricks in the Wall: Politics and Policy at the Southern U.S. Border

Sarah Eltantawi is a professor of Comparative Religion at Evergreen, a scholar of Islam and author of the book Shari’ah on Trial: Northern Nigeria’s Islamic Revolution. Dr. Eltantawi has been published in the New York Times, Reuters, Newsweek, and regularly appears in the national and international media.  She hosts the radio show Contemporary Islam Times Considered for Marginalia Review of Books, a channel of the Los Angeles Times Review of Books.  Eltantawi earned her PhD in the Study of Religion in 2012 from Harvard University.  

Session: Living a Righteous Life in a Secular World

Ahniwa is a Pacific Northwest native who came to Evergreen as the Associate Dean of Library Operations in December of 2017. Prior to Evergreen, Ahniwa found himself working in library roles of many different kinds at all types of institutions, including Grays Harbor College, WebJunction, Saint Martin’s University, and the Washington State Library. Ahniwa received his BA from Evergreen in 2002 with a focus on Comparative Literature and Francophone Studies, and in 2008 he received his Master of Library and Information Studies degree from McGill University in Montreal.

In his spare time, Ahniwa enjoys playing games of all kinds, including board games, card games, Magic, D&D, video games, darts, and bocce. Outside of gaming, he spends his free time riding his motorcycle, playing guitar, and writing. He lives in NE Olympia with his wife, two kids (ages 17 and 7), and two dogs.

Session: Playing to Learn: Using Game Design to Teach

After many years as a tenured math faculty at Pierce College, Vauhn came to Evergreen in 2003 as Director of the Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning Center. In addition to directing the Center, Vauhn has team-taught in a variety of programs. Vauhn also teaches math courses to support students’ entry into the sciences and to promote quantitative literacy. Annually, Vauhn teaches Tutoring Math and Science Across Significant Differences to foster equitable outcomes across all barriers. Together with Dr. Chowdary, Vauhn led a summer faculty institute on inclusive excellence in 2017.

Vauhn holds a Master of Science in Mathematics and a Master of Education in Exercise Science (Biomechanics); both earned at Western Washington University where she taught as an adjunct professor in both the Physical Education and Mathematics departments. Vauhn holds Bachelor Degrees in Special Education and Physical Education. Current research interests include math education and ocean atmosphere interaction dynamics in the North Pacific Ocean.

Session: Weaving Arts and Math

Pete is a fourth-generation Seattle resident who came to Evergreen as a second year student the year it opened in 1971 and graduated from Evergreen in 1976 with a Bachelor’s degree and an interest in environmental studies, land use and urban planning and political science. After a two-quarter internship and upon graduation, he was hired by the Thurston Regional Planning Council as an entry-level planner--beginning a career that spanned over three decades.

He has worked as a city planner and county planner in the areas of land use, urban design, shoreline management and environmental review in location spanning the greater Olympia area, the Olympic Peninsula, a growing Seattle suburb and small communities on Whidbey Island. After moving with his wife to Idaho to be closer to grandchildren, he worked for Ada County and the city of Meridian, the second largest city in the state.

Over the years he has served on two city planning commissions and a number of citizen advocacy groups. He points out that during those years “critical thinking was a huge take away from my Evergreen experience.”

Session: Telling Evergreen’s Story: Campus Tour and Workshop

Laura Grabhorn is a member of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. She is from the Gaanax.ádi clan, and is the youngest daughter of Pearl Peratrovich of Klawock, Alaska. Laura has been working at the Longhouse as Assistant Director since 1999. From 1994-1999, she served as a Financial Aid counselor and Director of Student Employment. Before she came to The Evergreen State College, she worked in Multicultural Affairs at Kansas State University, and was the Assistant Dean of the University Graduate School at Indiana University-Bloomington. She has a Masters Degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs, and a B.A. in Sociology from Indiana University.

Session: Exploring the Arts at the New Longhouse Fiber Arts Studio

Kim Gaffi is the Co-Founder, former Co-Director/Executive Director, and current Director of Programs of GRuB, a non-profit organization whose mission is to grow healthy food, people, and communities.

GRuB has grown a simple after-school project into a robust summer and school year program combining Career Technical Education, dropout prevention, and job training for youth who are hungry and/or struggling in school. This replicable model is now embedded in three school districts (Olympia, Tumwater, and Eatonville), serving 6 high schools and impacting 490 youth to date. Since 2001, GRuB has also built 2,500 free gardens for low-income families.

Kim graduated from Evergreen in 1997 with a B.A. in Community Development and a B.S. in Environmental Studies. Her studies at Evergreen led directly into co-founding GRuB in ’97. According to her colleagues, Kim's leadership walks-the-talk, inspires vision, promotes candor, and honors relationships as something of immense value. She also has a wonderful ability to make others laugh and to laugh at herself.

2013 – YWCA Woman of Achievement

2009 - Honored with Gladys Burns Human Service Award by United Way of Thurston County

Session: Making Change: Innovation, Creativity, Entrepreneurship, and Intrapreneurship

Ph.D., University of Johannesburg; MBA, Edinburgh Business School; M.A.F.M., DeVry University; CPA (CA).

Dion is a member of the business management and entrepreneurship faculty at Evergreen. Highlights of his life so far included being assistant of the President of the National Health and Allied Workers Union during apartheid South Africa, starting and operating a management consulting firm for many years and appointed by the South African government for several years to address the representation of all population groups in the aviation sector by developing an employment equity and training plan for the entire sector. In Angola he was appointed to coordinate and manage a project involving the capture of family groups of elephant and other wildlife families in South Africa and to relocated these, for the first time ever by airlift, to Angola. As Director of a 1.2-million-hectare park in Angola he established its wildlife management and tourism infrastructure and drafted enabling national parks legislation. In 2001 he immigrated to the United States, obtained a CPA license and started and operate a public accounting firm in California. He left the US Virgin Islands after working there for seven years as an Associate Professor of Accounting and held the positions of Chair of the Department Accounting and Finance and Assistant Dean of the School of Business. In 2016 he received the SBDC Small Business Champion of the year Award and a Certificate of Special US Congressional Recognition for his contribution to society. On his academic path he prepared himself as an accountant, obtained an MBA from Edinburgh Business School, a Doctoral Degree in Strategic Management from the University of Johannesburg and a Master’s Degree in Accounting and Finance from Keller Graduate School.

Session: Aspiring Entrepreneur’s Workshop

Rachel Hastings has been teaching math and linguistics at Evergreen since 2005. She has taught in interdisciplinary programs incorporating mathematics from precalculus to upper-division pure math, as well as language and culture, linguistic structures, and Andean languages. She has taken student groups to the Andes of southern Peru for studies of culturally-embedded linguistics and knowledge systems. Thanks to a recent sabbatical, she has begun the study of backstrap weaving from Peru and Guatemala. This area of study illuminates mathematics embedded within different cultural contexts, and Rachel is excited to bring this interdisciplinary work to help a broader range of students identify as mathematical thinkers.

Rachel has a B.A. in physics and mathematics, and graduate degrees from Cornell University in linguistics and in mathematics. She taught linguistics and mathematics as a visitor at Cornell University and Syracuse University before coming to Evergreen.

Session: Weaving Arts and Math

Jami Heinricher graduated from The Evergreen State College in 1991 with an emphasis in philosophy and history. She is owner of The Sherwood Press, an historic letterpress print shop and design studio in Olympia where she began volunteering in 1989. Jami inherited the business after 14 years of apprenticeship with founder Jocelyn Dohm. She continues today to design and print for the community while endeavoring to maintain and enhance the historic property. Jami founded WIND•EYE Handmade Paper, and teaches letterpress and paper making at Arbutus Folk School.

Session: Making Change: Innovation, Creativity, Entrepreneurship, and Intrapreneurship

Steven Hendricks (’97) is an Evergreen alumnus and has been a member of the Evergreen faculty since 2002. He teaches writing, literature, and book arts. His work has appeared in The Denver Quarterly (2000), Conjunctions (2001), Fold: The Reader (2002), and The Encyclopedia Project, Volume 3 (Sidebrow, forthcoming). He earned his MFA in Writing at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2000. His novel, Little is Left to Tell, was first published by Starcherone Books in 2014 and is being republished now by Campanile Books.

Session: Hands-on Letterpress Printing Workshop

Audrey Henley is the Executive Director of the Olympia Film Society (OSF). She joined the OFS Staff Collective in 2005 as the Live Events Coordinator and shortly thereafter became Operations Director, handling all aspects of events, rentals, and facility needs. She was instrumental in purchase of the Capitol Theater by the Olympia Film Society. Audrey has spearheaded several high profile projects in the preservation of the theater and has increased their visibility and viability as a venue.

Audrey is recognized by OSF volunteers, local media, and patrons of the Capitol Theater as a community leader and the friendly and outgoing face of OFS. Her active participation and experience of more than 8 years at OFS has given her a thorough understanding of the Olympia Film Society and the community.

Session: Women Making Waves

Bridget has a diverse performance and visual arts background. In the late 1980s to mid-1990s, she sang with punk and metal bands such as Rainshadow, No Cash Value, Lice, and The Slatternlies. During 2001-2009, she also toured with Dr. Frockrocket and later the Sex Workers Art Show, sang with Aurora Gorealis, played drums for SECS, and performed with the 12 Minutes Max experimental arts program.

She has also shown films and videos worldwide, curated and juried film and video programs for large events, including original Ladyfest (2000) and Olympia Film Festival's CINE-X, and has taught film/new media studies at different colleges and universities.

Session: Women Making Waves

Session: Experience First Peoples: Past, Present and Future

Serving as an American diplomat from 1986 to 2013, Kaiser managed U.S. embassies and directed public affairs operations around the globe and at the U.S. Department of State, working with presidents from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama. 

More recently, she served as communications director for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which manages more than 5 million acres of state-owned lands and fights wildfire on behalf of the people of Washington. The proud parent of a 2018 Evergreen grad, Sandy joined the college as Vice President for College Relations in January 2017.

Session: Telling Evergreen's Story: Campus Tour and Workshop

For over 20 years, Malika has worked to address social determinants of health. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Xavier University of Louisiana and holds a Master of Public Administration degree with a focus in Public Health Policy and Nonprofit Management. Malika has worked as a licensed Adolescent Counselor and Family Care Coordinator in Tacoma, the Washington Initiative for Supported Employment, Thurston County Public Health and Social Services with the Syringe Exchange Program, and as a Project Manager at the Public Defenders Association with Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion. She is a founding member of the Washington Association of Syringe Service Programs and Full Circle United, and is also involved in other movements for social good. She helped start the Olympia Free Clinic, is a board member of Behavioral Health Resources, and co-chairs the Thurston County Safety Net Council, and is the Vice-Chair for the Thurston Asset Building Coalition. Throughout Malika’s career and life, she has worked with vulnerable populations to increase health and improve social conditions, by being a foster parent, advocating for people and intentionally choosing positions that can create change. Malika presents as a subject matter expert for organizations, to students working to become health care professionals, and in other academic settings. She volunteers with her daughter in the community, is on the St. Martin’s BSN program advisory board and is a student mentor, is a member of Zonta International, and does street outreach as her schedule permits with Emma Goldman Youth Homeless Outreach Project EGYHOP.

Session: Women Making Waves

Dr. Carri LeRoy is a freshwater ecologist and her research focuses on how riparian forests interact with streams and provide energy through leaf litterfall. She is the recipient of a new National Science Foundation grant to study the evolution of streams and the development of algal, invertebrate, and riparian plant communities following the eruption of Mount St. Helens. She has provided research opportunities to over 100 undergraduates and published peer-reviewed scientific articles with over 25 undergraduates, 20 graduate students, and 3 formerly incarcerated Evergreen students since 2006. Dr. LeRoy has published over 50 articles, book chapters, and books on a variety of topics. Her research has shown that both the species diversity and genetic diversity of leaf litter inputs from riparian trees can affect in-stream leaf litter decomposition rates, aquatic fungi, and aquatic macroinvertebrates. Her current research focuses on how leaf litter differs between male and female willows, how herbivores can alter litter quality, inputs, and decomposition, and what drives global patterns of leaf litter decomposition. She spent most of July 2018 in the field with undergraduates and US Forest Service scientists doing field work to support the NSF-funded research project that you will learn more about on this field trip. Carri co-Directed the Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) between 2011 and 2017. She has interests in sustainable living practices, science-art linkages, and issues of women and underrepresented groups in the sciences. Carri has been a member of the faculty at Evergreen since 2006 and has taught in broadly interdisciplinary programs, science programs, and the Master of Environmental Science program.

Session: Mount St. Helens Ecosystem Field Trip

Ricardo is a Student Affairs Professional currently working for Seattle Colleges district as Seattle Central College’s Dean of Student Development, formerly at South Seattle Campus as Director for the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. During his tenure working in higher education he has promoted equal access, equity and social justice. His career in higher education began in the state of California where he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Religion and a Master of Arts degree in Social Science with an emphasis in Student Development. Ricardo also serves on the Board of Directors for the American Friends Service Committee, an international organization recognized for its work in peace and social justice.

With experiences in both the community/technical college and baccalaureate sectors, he served as president of the Multicultural Student Services Directors Council, one of eight student services related councils within the Washington State community college system. Ricardo has also worked, in various capacities, with the Washington Center, a nationally recognized organization committed to the improvement of undergraduate education.

Additional experiences include directing TRIO, advising, and multicultural programs, programs aimed at first generation, low income, multi-ethnic, multi-generational, students with disabilities and culturally diverse students. He also brings experience with developing curriculum and teaching courses offered to traditional and non-traditional audiences as a way to introduce them to the college environment.

Ricardo was born in Cuba, and lived in Seattle for almost 30 years. He has shared his life with his husband of 32 years.

Session: Experience First Peoples: Past, Present and Future

Pam MacEwan, Chief Executive Officer at Washington Heath Benefit Exchange Group has been in the national spotlight, featured on National Public Radio as well as radio and newspaper reports across the country. This isn’t the first time Ms. MacEwan has been involved in health care access reform. In 1993, Governor Mike Lowry signed a new Health Services Act, which gave access to health care coverage to almost all Washington residents. Governor Lowry tapped Ms. MacEwan to serve as one of five commissioners in charge of making sure the Health Services Act was implemented effectively. She also serves on The Evergreen State College Board of Governors as the Chair for the Committee on Governors.

Session: Evergreen@50 Lunch

Tanner began building at a young age, working with his father in a small town. He came to Evergreen for wood shop and after graduating proceeded to build sustainable and eco-friendly tiny homes. He believes building is an intimate process, like therapy. To build is to see the value in what you have accomplished throughout the day reflected in your work. At the end of the day, you can see what you have accomplished.

Session: Sustainable Living in the Northwest

Jeremy Mohn just recently joined The Evergreen State College as Director of Government Relations and is currently enrolled in our Master’s in Public Administration program.

Previous to Evergreen, Jeremy worked for legislators in the Washington State Senate since 2013. He also has experience working on a number of local and state-wide political campaigns.

Jeremy has spent most of his life in the Puget Sound region and currently lives in Tacoma with his husband.

Session: Telling Evergreen's Story to Legislators: Campus Tour and Workshop

Scott Morgan is the Director of Sustainability and Interim Director of Entrepreneurship for The Evergreen State College. Evergreen’s Office of Sustainability coordinates and guides on-campus sustainability efforts as well as institutional collaborations with community-based groups. Scott has worked in agriculture and private industry, founded and managed a small non-profit, and has spent the past few years immersed in the public sector. This diverse set of perspectives informs his recognition that long-term sustainability will require a dynamic harmony between environmental, social, and economic health. Among his many projects, Scott currently supports efforts to develop and support sustainable business practices to strengthen our local economy. This work has led to emerging opportunities and innovations in entrepreneurship programming to support student and alumni success and benefit our local communities.

Session: Aspiring Entrepreneur’s Workshop & Making Change: Innovation, Creativity, Entrepreneurship, and Intrapreneurship

Yuh-Line Niou has spent her career working on legislative and advocacy campaigns. In 2016, Yuh-Line was elected to serve the 65th Assembly District, representing the following lower Manhattan neighborhoods: the Lower East Side, Chinatown, South Street Seaport area, Financial District and Battery Park City.

Yuh-Line Niou began working on state policy issues while in college, eventually accepting a position with the Washington State House Health Committee Chair. While there, she helped develop policies to expand senior access to prescription medication, improve women’s health care, and expand health coverage for low-income families. Yuh-Line then went on to work as an advocate and organizer on anti-poverty issues, where she helped build a broad coalition to fight predatory lending and assist low-income families build financial assets.

She then served as Chief of Staff for New York State Assemblymember Ron Kim, where, under her leadership, the office assisted thousands of immigrants, small-business owners, teachers, seniors, workers, and students. She has drafted legislation to expand language access for immigrant communities, and has fought for more affordable housing and expanded services for seniors.

 In the Assembly, Yuh-Line has continued her advocacy work around financial empowerment. She has pushed to improve financial protections for consumers, particularly for unbanked communities. On housing, Yuh-Line has worked to secure funding for New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) repairs.

Yuh-Line graduated from The Evergreen State College where she worked in the housing program and participated in the Washington State Legislative Internship program. She completed her Master’s degree in Public Administration at CUNY Baruch College as part of the National Urban Fellowship program, where she worked on regional and international environmental issues. Yuh-Line lives in the Financial District, in lower Manhattan.

For more information:

https://www.vogue.com/article/yuh-line-niou-assembly-new-york

https://spotlight.tap-ny.org/2018/06/17/making-a-difference-an-interview-with-nys-assemblymember-yuh-line-niou/

Session: Telling Evergreen's Story to Legislators: Campus tour and Workshop

Craig's formal training is in higher education and policy analysis. He earned a Bachelor's degree from The Evergreen State College and a Master's degree from Dartmouth College; he is 'all but dissertation' status at the University of Southern California for his Ph.D. Craig's professional background is in communications, marketing, client management, and education. Before founding OrgSupport, Craig worked as a communications coordinator and grant manager for the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges.

In addition to his work with OrgSupport and as a member of many nonprofit boards, Craig served as a publicly elected member of the Olympia City Council. His work as an elected official afforded a unique opportunity to learn the needs of both municipalities and organizations that serve the communities within which they operate. His extensive service to the community has uniquely positioned Craig, and the OrgSupport and EventSupport family of companies, to provide the acumen and experience organizations need to succeed in their marketplace.

Session: Making Change: Innovation, Creativity, Entrepreneurship, and Intrapreneurship

Leslie Owen is a 1977 graduate of Evergreen. Ms. Owens served as a Vista Volunteer with Thurston County Rape Relief and subsequently as Director of the Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs. She went on to become Director of the NW Women's Law Center (now - Legal Voice). She graduated from Seattle University Law School in 1994 and worked as a legal aid lawyer with Columbia Legal Services and Northwest Justice Project for the past 20 years. She has volunteered with the Crisis Clinic, Dispute Resolution Center of Thurston County and as Chair for the most recent Safeplace Capital Campaign. Leslie was recently appointed to the Evergreen Foundation Board of Governors. Leslie has two children who live in the Bay area.

Session: Evergreen@50 Lunch

Bruce Pavitt is a music historian, DJ and the founder of Seattle’s Sub Pop record label. A legend in the music industry, he is recognized in music history books, documentaries and museum exhibits. Bruce currently works as Creative Director at 8Stem interactive media in Seattle, and is the author of Experiencing Nirvana and Sub Pop USA.

Session: Making Change: Innovation, Creativity, Entrepreneurship, and Intrapreneurship

Elena Perez started at Evergreen the first year it opened in 1971 and studied Counseling and Public Administration. Elena described her Evergreen experience as follows: “My father is an immigrant and I am a first generation college graduate. Most people of color were in the Contemporary American Minorities Program the first year of TESC.”

Following graduation, Ms. Perez went to work for Employment Security and worked in Investigations, Benefit Policy, Legislation, and Tax. She managed offices in Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver, and Olympia. She retired as special assistant to the Director of the Unemployment Insurance Program.

Session: Experience First Peoples: Past, Present and Future

Emily Pieper is a graduate of Evergreen and as a student spent much of her time working with various student groups on campus as well as supporting other on and off campus community organizations. Prior to working at Evergreen, Emily worked as the Program Director for a local grassroots nonprofit, Stonewall Youth. She is particularly interested in supporting students to find connections between the work they are doing in Student Activities to make the campus thrive and how it can affect and support the larger community outside of Evergreen. She is very excited to be working with such a variety of creative and inspired students!

Session: Experience First Peoples: Past, Present and Future

Session: Experience First Peoples: Past, Present and Future

Roy Plaeger-Brockway is the founder and owner of Lean Diffusion, a public-sector consulting firm. He teaches public sector leaders and teams how to apply scientific problem-solving to government problems. He is on the faculty of the Lean Enterprise Institute, a leader in organizational improvement. As a state agency assistant director, Roy formed the first team in Washington State government that taught Japanese management and scientific problem-solving skills to over 200 public sector executives, senior leaders, and over 2,000 employees. As leader of a statewide health insurance program, Roy was the co-founder and led the design of Washington’s successful Centers of Occupational Health and Education. The program now has 3,200 participating physicians dedicated to improving quality of health care for Washington citizens. As manager of health care program development, Roy founded and developed a state agency’s first heath care research and development team. He led and piloted one of the country’s first integrated health care delivery systems for workers with on-the-job injuries. He is a recipient of Washington’s Governor’s Distinguished Leader Award. Roy was educated at The Evergreen State College (BA), University of Washington (MPA), and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (Strategic Leadership).

Session: Evergreen@50 Lunch

Jerry Price teaches U.S. History and Washington State History and Government at Ridgeline Middle School in Yelm, Washington. Jerry has been a member of the Social Studies Cadre since its inception, and also worked on the revision of the Social Studies Grade Level Expectations. Additionally, Jerry is a middle level writer and presenter for the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s “Since Time Immemorial” Tribal sovereignty curriculum and Tracher Consultant for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. Jerry lives in Yelm with his wife, a fourth grade teacher. His youngest daughter is a senior at Yelm High School and his oldest daughter graduates from Western Washington University soon with a degree in Political Science.

Session: Going beyond the Classroom: Teacher’s Impact on Their Community

Renata is a writer/poet, community advocate, and current member of the Olympia city council. She's the oldest of 5 siblings, Scorpio, queer, and lives with invisible disabilities. Her personal mission is "building the Beloved Community, a world where many worlds fit."

As a councilmember Renata is concerned with personal, relational, institutional, and community transformation. She hopes to use her time in this unique role to help transition between the world we live in now, and the world that needs to be.

Renata worked in a variety of fields before being elected to the council last fall, including journalism, public relations, team management, in-home caregiving, street outreach and peer support counseling. In 2013 she became one of the first Olympia Downtown Ambassadors, and went on to co-found numerous local groups and projects in Olympia, including the Outreach Workers League, Well Wishers, and Just Housing, where she helped develop the Legalize Survival campaign. She is board chair of Partners in Prevention Education (PiPE), a local nonprofit serving young survivors of violence who are homeless, LGBTQ, street-dependent or otherwise marginalized, in their needs for safety, survival and healing. She has been involved in politics and social justice movements since high school.

Renata lives in Olympia with her partner Walker, their friend Katie, their dog Mabel, James the bunny, and a small flock of chickens.

Session: Women Making Waves

Rhys Roth is Director of the Center for Sustainable Infrastructure which is helping to bring innovation, new tools, and sustainability excellence to infrastructure planning and investment in the Pacific Northwest. Rhys authored CSI’s influential inaugural report, Infrastructure Crisis, Sustainable Solutions and the first two installments in the ‘5 Big Goals for 2040’ CSI report series: Rewiring the Northwest’s Energy Infrastructure and A Northwest Vision for 2040 Water Infrastructure. Prior to founding CSI, Rhys co-founded and helped lead for over 15 years the non-profit group Climate Solutions. He graduated from Evergreen’s Master in Environmental Studies program in 1990.

Session: Making Change: Innovation, Creativity, Entrepreneurship, and Intrapreneurship

Joli Sandoz holds three master’s degrees, which inform her teaching and explorations of creative nonfiction, community studies, and game design for learning. She has worked as an editor and researcher for state government, taught recreation administration, and coached intercollegiate track and field before coming to Evergreen.

Session: Playing to Learn: Using Game Design to Teach

Guy Simpson teaches Science at Ridgeline Middle School in Yelm, Washington. He coached football, wrestling, and boys’ basketball over an eleven year period, and has been an ASB advisor for over a decade and presents at conferences on subjects as varied as ASB Law to social-emotional learning. He has served two-terms as an executive board member of the Washington Activity Coordinators Association; he was recently elected president of the organization, and will preside over their 50th annual conference in 2020. Additionally, Guy is the Amazon bestselling author and award winning illustrator of the Brotherhood of Olympus Saga, he is currently finishing the third book in the series. He attends numerous Comic Cons and other pop culture events as an artist and author. He lives outside Rainier, Washington, with his wife, three adult children, one son-in-law, one fiancé, his first grandson, and a plethora of dogs, cats, and dragons—at some point they can all move out.

Session: Going beyond the Classroom: Teacher’s Impact on Their Community

Dr. Trevor Speller currently serves as one of Evergreen’s Academic Deans,
co-managing the undergraduate curriculum and leading first-year initiatives.
He holds Bachelor’s degrees in both English and Psychology from University
of Calgary, a Master’s degree in English from York University in Toronto,
Canada, and a PhD in English from the State University of New York at
Buffalo. His academic research focuses on British literature of the long
eighteenth century. Dr. Speller has taught Anglophone literature at Evergreen
since 2010 in a variety of team-taught, interdisciplinary programs. He began
his tenure as an academic dean in 2016.

Session: Parents and Family Council Fall Meeting

Eirik Steinhoff has been a visiting member of the faculty at The Evergreen State College since 2013. He teaches and co-teaches intensive interdisciplinary programs with titles like, “How to do things with words,” “Forensics,” “A New Middle East,” “Words/Woods,” and currently “Gateways for Incarcerated Youth: Critical Literacy + Critical Numeracy.” He has also taught Shakespeare, critical theory, rhetoric, poetry, and poetics at the University of Chicago (where he received his Ph.D. in English), Bard College (where he received his B.A.), and Mills College. In the early 21st century, he edited Chicago Review, and in 2009 his translations from Petrarch’s Rime Sparse appeared as Fourteen Sonnets from Albion Books. In 2010, he taught at Green Haven Correctional Facility under the auspices of the Bard Prison Initiative, and in 2014 he co-facilitated a weeklong reading and writing seminar with faculty at Al-Quds University in Palestine. A series of pamphlets he curated in late 2011 and early 2012, called A Fiery Flying Roule, has just been published in book form with a 60-page afterword. He co-edits Black Box: A Record of the Catastrophe, and his essays have appeared in Arcade, Chicago Review, Counter-Signals, Floor, postmedieval, and elsewhere. He works with incarcerated teachers and students in collaboration with the Black Prisoner Caucus’s T.E.A.C.H. program (“Taking Education and Creating History”). The bulk of his study in the classroom (and beyond) revolves around two questions: “What needs to be the case for things to be otherwise?” and “How do we make our knowledge common?”

Session: Mount St. Helens Ecosystem Field Trip

Richard Weiss likes to combine mathematics and computer science.  He studies computer security, computer vision, robotics, and computer architecture.  His research currently focuses on how to teach computer security though hands-on exercises.  Some of his previous projects included using inertial sensors on smartphones for indoor localization and applying differential geometry to construct 3-D models of curved surfaces from multiple camera images.  His teaching interests include the combination of mathematics and computer science with music, art, linguistics, biology, and cognitive science.  Since 2012, he has been funded by National Science Foundation grants to develop educational cybersecurity games.  He has an AB in mathematics from Brandeis University and a PhD in mathematics from Harvard University.  He also worked as a software engineer and computer architect for Digital Equipment Corporation.

Session: Teaching Cybersecurity Through Games

Bobby Williams ’11 is the Executive Director and Founder of The Bridge Music Project, a groundbreaking program in Thurston county that helps at-risk youth face life’s challenges through hip hop music and collaborative song writing. Bobby graduated from Evergreen with an interdisciplinary academic focus that included psychology and entrepreneurship combined with a professional background in social work. His program has helped over 300 youth develop life-changing interpersonal skills through music and performance.

Session: Collaborative Song Writing Workshop

Shizuno, aka Lucifine Presents, is a long time performance artist, activist, mentor and organizer educated through on going participation in cultural front lines. Experience with a diverse range of organizations like BassCoast Project, The Man Kind Project, NARAL ProChoice WA, Stonewall Youth, Ladyfest, while performing and promoting local and touring artists, requires a vast knowledge of progressive shifts in cultural values, skills in group leadership and open communication. Through the anti-oppression and consensus trainings of the Free Radio Olympia collective, Shizuno gained a foundation to cultivate such values in herself and her communities.

Graduate of The Evergreen State College, critical thinking, inclusion and collaboration are engrained in all her work. In her daily life she has been a Direct Care Giver for individuals with various disabilities since 2001, is currently managing Resistencia Coffee House in South Park, Seattle and otherwise continues to work towards advancing independent music, arts and festival culture to intentionally redefine community to reflect the ever evolving values of our world.

Session: Women Making Waves