Past Speaker

Eric Ellingson represents third-generation family leadership as the Executive Vice President of Bargreen Ellingson. Prior to joining Bargreen, Eric graduated from Seattle Pacific University with a degree in Finance, working in private wealth management as well as institutional portfolio management for 6 years. A move to the east coast [...]

Co-Founder, Bellevue Brewing Company James Whittaker spent his career in tech working on world-changing products first at Microsoft and then Google. He holds the distinction of being the first computer programmer hired at the FBI after he graduated with his BS and later earned a PhD in computer science [...]

Ana Mari Cauce is the 33rd president of the University of Washington where she has been a member of the faculty since 1986. A graduate of the University of Miami and Yale University, she is a noted scholar on risk and resilience among adolescents and has received numerous awards for her [...]

Kim Wyman is Washington’s 15th Secretary of State. First elected in 2012, she is only the second female Secretary of State in Washington’s history. Prior to being elected to this office, Kim served as Thurston County Elections Director for nearly a decade and served three terms as the elected [...]

Sharon Lee is the founding Executive Director of the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI), a non-profit organization based in Seattle founded in 1991.  LIHI develops and operates housing for low-income and homeless people and provides supportive services to assist residents in maintaining stable housing and increasing self-sufficiency. Sharon oversees [...]

President & CEO – Prevencio, Inc. Rhonda Rhyne has more than 25 years of C-suite level medical technology experience and is currently CEO and Board Director for Prevencio, Inc., a Kirkland-based company developing highly accurate, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven, multi-protein blood tests for heart disease and 1 year risk of [...]

Frank Blethen is publisher of the Seattle Times/seattletimes.com, the second largest newspaper/website on the West Coast. The Times is known for its strong local coverage and its aggressive investigative reporting.   The Times has won 11 Pulitzer Prizes and has been a Pulitzer finalist 14 other times since 1982. The [...]

To date, Alvaro’s career has been centered in banking, finance, private equity, tech, and venture capital. In the early days he started in banking in London working at the third biggest Spanish bank at the time, participating in its European corporate expansion. After receiving a full scholarship for graduate [...]

Kathryn Sherrill, MSW, BSN - Deputy Director, VA Puget Sound Health Care System Kathryn Sherrill was appointed VA Puget Sound Health Care System Deputy Director May 13, 2019. She brings with her 25 years of VA experience in leadership and health care administration in roles such as VA Puget [...]

Dr. Karen A. Johnson (she/her pronouns), goes by Dr. J, is the inaugural Director for the newly created Washington State Office of Equity, established by the legislature and signed into law in April 2020. The office will work with agencies to increase access to equitable opportunities in order to bridge opportunity gaps [...]