Updates & Insights

1. As the new Managing Partner of Uncommon Bridges, how do you feel about this new chapter?

I'm excited to take on this new leadership role, building on my many years in operational management. Adding financial and people management responsibilities is particularly thrilling.

For the future of Uncommon Bridges, I hope we continue to be a great place to work. I'm incredibly proud of the small business award we received from King County for workforce development last year, especially since I was cultivated and grew within the company. I'd love to foster a culture where people can continue to grow with us.

Right now, my focus is on sustained growth and truly delivering for our clients. We live by our values, and our goal is to build trust through our work with communities, both externally and internally.

2. How do you see the role of Uncommon Bridges in our region? What would you like to contribute to our community?
Our approach to facilitation and engagement truly centers community voice. We have rigorous practices in place to ensure community perspectives are at the heart of the process, not just adjacent. Because of this, we're seeing better quality outcomes for our clients and the processes we're involved with.

As a company that conducts meetings for a living, we had to do a full pivot when COVID hit. Now we live in a world where online meetings are the norm, but we still love in-person for the human connections that are formed. As communication evolves, our team is always looking at best practices in collaboration and challenging assumptions of what works and what doesn’t in the context of equitable engagement practices. Ultimately, we’re driven by helping communities connect effectively with their governments and local institutions.

3. What client projects are you excited about right now?

I’m particularly excited about the Best Starts for Kids Childcare Wage Boost Pilot with King County. Like many industries, childcare faces significant workforce challenges. Workers who want to be in the field, raising and helping to teach our littlest learners, could frankly be making more money working for a retail or other large corporate establishments. They want to be in the classroom with these young children, but it's hard for them to afford it.

We're proud to be facilitating the advisory committee overseeing this pilot's implementation. Our role involves telling the story, collecting data, and observing the outcomes when we pay these frontline childcare workers closer to a livable wage. We want to understand what this means not only for the workers themselves, but also for the children and families.

4. You have a unique perspective as a part-time legislator and managing partner. How do you see these roles complementing each other?

I am one human being who has all parts of my life in my brain at one time, and I really treasure opportunities where I get to bring to bear all of the information I have from my 25 years of working in politics, policy, and the nonprofit space here in Washington state. 

But also, because I am engaged in legislative activities on a day-to-day basis, I'm tracking things differently than other members of the community might. And so, when I sit in a room with a client or community members, something said may immediately spur, "Oh, we just did something on that topic, let me go think about that," or, "We'll go track that down." So I love that.  And then, wearing my legislator hat, our projects often give me an opportunity to deep dive into a topic that I might not be as familiar with in my normal day-to-day work.

For example, I've never served on the healthcare committee in the legislature, but the Washington State Department of Health hired Uncommon Bridges to do research on the Death with Dignity Act. As part of that project, I had the opportunity to learn about the law and how the recent changes affect health care providers and impact access to medical aid in dying. As a legislator, I might have read the final report, but I actually got to be part of some of the engagement work with physicians and others. I really appreciate these learning opportunities to go deeper.

I also love seeing the laws that we pass in Washington get implemented. Implementation is not in the scope of the legislator, but as a consultant, being hired to do some of the implementation work for laws that we pass is cool. I also get to see how local governments are implementing things, and not just the state.

5. We work near Pike Place Market. What's your favorite tasty spot?

Michou Deli, for grab-and-go sandwiches, salads, hot meals, and treats like beignets and doughnuts. I love the long glass case, which can make me very indecisive because there are so many delicious choices! 

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