King County Executive Shannon Braddock has appointed King County’s Director of Office of Labor Relations (OLR), Megan Pedersen, to the Chief People Officer role for the remainder of the Executive’s term. This follows Whitney Abram’s announcement that she is departing to Sound Transit. Whitney’s last day was June 2, 2025. 

We are fortunate at King County to have built a strong team with deep experience and talent, ensuring continuity, stability, and a seamless transition when employees and leaders depart. We continue to lead with our King County values, and our priority is always the people we serve and the people who serve with us. 

As Chief People Officer, Megan will bring stable leadership and continuity to the role and provide oversight of the employee culture strategy to make King County a place where all employees have the tools, support, resources, and opportunity to do their best work for our community.  

Megan is a results-oriented and people-centered leader with over 15 years of experience in operations, labor relations, people strategy, and employee engagement. She joined King County in 2010 as a litigator in the Office of Labor Relations (OLR). In 2012, she moved into leadership as the Deputy Director of the Records and Licensing Division, where she furthered operational excellence through labor-management partnerships. She was appointed by Executive Constantine in 2016 as OLR Director. Since that time, she has led total compensation negotiations for the County with the Coalition of Unions, including bargaining the first Coalition Labor Agreement covering 60+ unions. She has also led the county’s benefits strategy and bargained agreements covering health care for the County’s largest benefit groups, the Joint Labor Management Insurance Committee (JLMIC) and ATU. From 2022-23, Megan served as Special Liaison to the Executive, supporting DAJD’s new leadership team with alignment across the enterprise. 

Angela Marshall, Deputy Director of OLR, has been appointed Director of OLR for the remainder of the Executive’s term.  

Again, we thank Whitney for her service to the employees of King County, and are grateful for the skilled leaders in King County who will provide stability – and continue to lead with King County’s True North.