Texas-bound employee volunteers with refugees and immigrants
Megan Holmes, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, has roots in public service. Growing up, her parents worked with children who experienced trauma in Belfast, Northern Ireland and her mother traveled to the Soviet Union to work with teachers. Megan herself spent six months as a volunteer in Guatemala in 2005. In her work with King County she pursues this passion every day as a senior social worker with the Child Care Health Program. Here she helps children develop the social and emotional skills needed to build positive relationships. Her role also takes… Read More
From deckhand to climate change manager
Crossposted from Inside Transportation What Alex Adams saw in the waters of Southeast Alaska, and closer to home in Elliott Bay, impressed upon him the urgency of confronting climate change. “It became clear to me that globally, we’re in deep trouble, and we need to work collectively to change the course we’re on to ensure our oceans continue to host a diversity of species, and to ensure people on land are able to lead productive, happy, and healthy lives. The direction in which we’re headed is putting those things in jeopardy.” Adams was… Read More
Profiling amazing women working throughout King County: Gabriela Aranda, KCIT IT Systems Specialist Entry
This article is featured courtesy of Jamie Holter, Communications Manager, Department of Information Technology Gabriela Aranda, KCIT IT Systems Specialist Entry How did you get your start in IT? Growing up I have always enjoyed working with computers and learning about them from a user standpoint. I always had the feeling that’s what I would do for a living and it wasn’t official until I decided to pursue IT while attending community college. I had no previous experience in IT as far as building computers or knowing how to code. I am very… Read More
From the Hip: Martha Cohen, Manager, Office of Interpreter Services
A voice for all King County ranks nationally as a top county in numbers for refugee and immigrant resettlement. Indeed, 98198 is one of the most ethnically diverse zip codes in the U.S. It can be said that what New York City was to cultural diversity in 1905, Seattle/King County is today. Since 1992, this office has provided interpreters in 161 different languages including ASL for all Superior Court departments: civil and criminal cases, deaf jurors and court related programs at the KCCH (Seattle), MRJC (Kent) and Youth Services Center (12th and… Read More
National Women’s History Month profiles trailblazing women in King County labor and business
This article is featured courtesy of Jamie Holter, Communications Manager, Department of Information Technology Profiling amazing women working throughout King County: Tamara Davis, KCIT IT Project Management How did you get your start in IT? I started in GIS as an analyst and quickly realized I had two choices: one, pursue GIS as an IT career developing databases and applications, or two, pursue using GIS as a helpful tool in support of a particular line of business most likely transportation planning. I picked number one. Do you bring a different perspective to IT? Female employees bring different… Read More
King County Sheriff’s Deputy recently featured on Q13FOX
Jamie Deer, a Sheriff’s Deputy who has been with King County 19 years, was profiled on Q13FOX for sharing his personal journey in the hope of helping others. Jamie is one of the first openly transgender law enforcement officers in Washington state. And he went through his transition later in life, in a very public way — on the job. “I can’t imagine working anywhere else. I love and respect the men and women I work with. I don’t want to go anywhere else. So, I just decided to take a chance on these guys,” says Jaime…. Read More
Public Health Division Director featured in Green Line Series Interview
GoGreen, one-day sustainability conference focusing on green practices, recently profiled Ngozi Oleru, Division Director of the Environmental Health Division for Public Health Seattle and King County. Our Green Line Series interview this week features Ngozi Oleru, Division Director of the Environmental Health Division for Public Health Seattle and King County. She is responsible for leading and managing the environmental health programs serving a population of over 2 million residents and has been instrumental in bringing a public health and equity focus to the impacts of the built environment both locally and nationally in… Read More
ESJ book winners and the continuing conversation on racism, new series to begin March 21
By Rowena Johnson, Department of Natural Resources and Parks Earlier this year an Equity and Social Justice (ESJ) project team in the Department of Natural Resources and Parks held a drawing to give away five books by poets featured in the 2016 “Reflecting on Race and Racism through Spoken Word, Story, and Conversation” series. To be eligible for the drawing, King County employees were asked to submit their reflections on the 2016 reading series, particularly on what they had learned and what they hope to see in future ESJ literary events. Those… Read More
Water Taxi’s Ron Panzero wins national safety award
Crossposted from The Captain’s Blog Keeping riders and crew safe is Job 1 for us here at King County Water Taxi, so when a national organization recognizes one of our team member’s efforts, we humbly accept the accolades. Ron Panzero, Operations and Maintenance Manager for the Marine Division, was awarded the Roger Murphy National Marine Safety Award, for his work to improve safety by demonstrating, enhancing and contributing to the Water Taxi’s overall safety efforts. He received the award Tuesday at MariTrends 2017, the Passenger Vessel Association’s (PVA) Annual Convention held this… Read More
Employee navigates “hire-to-retire” transition for others
Working in benefits planning to help those who are retiring can be a challenging job. With an aging workforce, there’s always work to be done and a new person to transition into retirement. Carmen Johnson, a Retirement and Benefits Navigator, has happily taken on this task, enjoying the work she does to help outgoing King County employees start a new adventure in their life. “I find it so rewarding,” she said. “It’s an emotionally and mentally challenging time for people and I get to help them through it.” With an average of… Read More
Employee News 