Rovy Branon, vice provost, leads UW Continuum College, an institution serving over 50,000 learners annually through 400 programs spanning youth to senior offerings. He is co-editor of the upcoming Oxford University Press book The Governance of Adult and Continuing Education at Research Universities. Branon holds a M.Ed. in Instructional Systems Technology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Technology with a minor in Human-Computer Interaction from Indiana University. He’s widely published on the many benefits of lifelong learning as the new reality for a rewarding, extended career and the role of technology in that future.

Coleman Bryant is a Washington native from Lynnwood and a Master of Science in Technology Innovation candidate at the University of Washington’s Global Innovation Exchange (GIX), graduating in March 2027. He earned a B.A. in political science on a pre-law track from Washington State University, where he played Division I football. He spent several years working across Washington small businesses in business development, operations management, and construction project management before choosing to retrain in technology rather than attending law school. At GIX, he works at the intersection of applied machine learning and product strategy, while serving as an AI/ML engineer intern at the Kashmir World Foundation and a product management intern at IpserLab. For his capstone, he is developing AI-powered smart glasses that teach CPR. He plans to build a career in AI product management.

Jolenta Coleman-Bush is the Director of Education, Workforce, and AI Skills for the Washington State team at Microsoft Philanthropies. In this role, Jolenta oversees education partnerships and investments, driving initiatives that enhance educational opportunities and workforce development in the region. With over 20 years of experience in policy and program administration within the education and workforce sectors, Jolenta has extensive experience in philanthropy, nonprofit management, and corporate responsibility. Before joining Microsoft, Jolenta worked in education policy at the City of Seattle and the League of Education Voters, where she supported initiatives such as college and career readiness, education funding, and early learning. Jolenta is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and holds a master’s degree in education policy from the University of Washington.

For the last six years, Katie has served as the CEO for WorkForce Central, Pierce County’s local Workforce Development Board. WorkForce Central aligns the needs of employers and jobseekers to build a robust talent pool of workers for local, quality jobs. Katie has spent the last twenty years working across the Pacific Northwest to strengthen education and workforce systems at local, state, and national levels. She received her MA in Sociology from the University of Notre Dame and her BA from the University of Puget Sound.

Dr. Tafona Ervin is a nationally respected executive leader, strategist, and advocate for transformative educational equity. With more than 15 years of experience advancing opportunities for historically marginalized communities, she serves as CEO of EdCollaborative, championing cross-sector partnerships, systems transformation, and educational and economic mobility.

Known for bridging vision with action, Dr. Ervin brings strategic insight, authentic collaboration, and an unwavering commitment to equity. Guided by her belief in the power of collective agency to reshape systems, she also serves as a trusted advisor to executives, policymakers, and educators nationwide, helping organizations strengthen leadership and achieve meaningful, sustainable change.

Arif Gürsel is a creative and technical executive. As the founder and managing director of 8genC, he consults influential creatives, brands, and technology companies through fractional leadership and strategic execution, helping clients capture new opportunities and scale rapidly. Previously, he held multiple global roles at Fortune 500 companies, including Microsoft, Salesforce, Netflix, and Google (YouTube). His extensive experience includes developing numerous impactful products and services that have reached billions of consumers, reflecting his international reach and impact.

He graduated from the MBA program at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and is a proud alum of Tuskegee University’s Computer Science program. Beyond his professional pursuits, he founded a Seattle-based non-profit that creates workforce development programs and supports entrepreneurship, the arts, media, health, and wellness in underserved communities. As an investor, he is a general partner at Unified Capital, a VC firm investing in pre-seed to Series A startups. His focus on technology strategy, creative direction, and business development for enterprise and venture-backed companies reflects that commitment.

Nate Humphrey serves as executive director of the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, the state agency that administers Washington’s system of 34 public community and technical colleges. In this role, he provides leadership for the State Board’s work in setting policy, allocating state operating and capital funds, strategically guiding the system’s mission, and approving educational programs.

Appointed in August 2025, Nate is an accomplished executive leader in higher education policy and workforce development, dedicated to advancing student success, economic vitality, and social justice through strategic partnerships, innovation, and collaboration. Prior to coming to the State Board, Nate was Director for Workforce and Regional Economies at Jobs for the Future (JFF), leading large-scale national initiatives, including Communities of Practice for the US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration’s Good Jobs Challenge, and the US Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration’s Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Program, helping more than 60 regional partnerships strengthen career pathways and expand access to quality jobs.

Nate previously served as the associate vice president for workforce and continuing education at the North Carolina Community College System and as the workforce education director at the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, a master’s degree in Public Affairs from UNC Greensboro, and is currently completing his Doctorate in Community College Leadership at North Carolina State University’s Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research.

Seth Jacobsen is the Director of Technical Training at Aviation Technical Services (ATS). Since joining ATS in 2018, he has overseen the launch and continued growth of the company’s Apprenticeship Program, which began in 2019 and is widely recognized as a pioneering workforce development initiative within the aviation maintenance industry. The program continues to expand and graduates an average of 40 aircraft mechanics annually.

Seth’s aviation experience includes roles in airline maintenance and operations, providing a practical understanding of both the technical and operational aspects of the industry. He holds degrees in Intercultural Studies and Business and is an FAA-certificated Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) Mechanic. This combination of technical expertise, industry experience, and business perspective enables him to lead innovative training programs that support the development of the next generation of aviation maintenance professionals.

Outside of work, Seth enjoys spending time with his wife and three children and can often be found outdoors climbing, riding, skiing, and pursuing other adventures with his family.

Devin Johnson is Senior Manager, AI Learning & Workforce Enablement at Nordstrom, where he leads enterprise AI and workforce transformation initiatives focused on AI adoption, workforce readiness, responsible AI, organizational change, and the future of work. Across roles at Nordstrom, Amazon, Amazon Web Services, and Caterpillar, Devin has led initiatives spanning early-career and talent pathways, employee experience, workforce strategy, AI enablement, and enterprise transformation across technology, retail, and industrial environments. His work focuses on how organizations, workforces, and talent evolve through transformation, connecting business strategy with workforce strategy, organizational design, capability building, employee experience, and the future of work. Devin holds an MBA from Washington State University, an M.Ed. in Human Resource Development from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and a bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Management from Western Illinois University.

As Senior Associate Vice President and Vice Provost for WSU Statewide Campuses Academic and Student Affairs, Kate provides leadership for academic programs, student success initiatives, and academic operations across the statewide system. She is committed to fostering opportunity, belonging, and accessible learning environments for all students. Dr. McAteer earned her bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from Ulster University in Northern Ireland and her Ph.D. in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of South Carolina. Prior to joining the faculty in the School of Biological Sciences at Washington State University Tri-Cities, she served as a postdoctoral fellow in Structural Biology at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and as a Postdoctoral Teacher Scholar in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Washington. Dr. McAteer served as the workforce development and stakeholder relations lead for the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub and currently oversees these efforts for WSU’s Institute for Northwest Energy Futures.

As Washington STEM’s Chief Executive Officer, Jenée Myers Twitchell leads statewide efforts to ensure every student has equitable access to STEM literacy, belonging, and pathways to family-sustaining careers. She advances policy, research, partnerships, and investments that strengthen systems and empower young people to shape their futures.

Previously Washington STEM’s Chief Impact Officer, Jenée co-founded and led the University of Washington’s nationally recognized Dream Project and conducted statewide research on education-to-workforce pathways.

A first-generation college graduate from the Yakima Valley, Jenée knows how mentorship and STEM learning open doors. Her experiences reinforce her conviction that talent is universal, but opportunity is not.

Jenée holds a Ph.D., M.Ed., and B.A. from the University of Washington, where she also teaches. She lives in Shoreline with her loving partner and is a proud mother of two, one of whom died from DIPG brain cancer, deepening her belief in science’s life-saving power.

Sen. T’wina Nobles represents the 28th Legislative District, which includes Fircrest, University Place, Lakewood, Steilacoom, DuPont, Elk Plain, Camp Murray, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord. At the time of her initial swearing in in 2021, she was the first Black state senator to serve in a decade.

Nobles brings two decades of experience in education and community leadership to her roles as chair of the Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee and vice chair of the Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee. She also sits on the Transportation Committee.

His system-of-systems perspective and intense curiosity is based in experiences across senior roles in VC-funded tech startup and Fortune 100 global aerospace organizations, and as full-time university faculty teaching supply chain strategy, change management and entrepreneurship to students who are often from disadvantaged communities. In his current role, Rob works alongside a team of passionate experts dedicated to reimagining and realigning economic competitiveness and the anchoring of innovation for living wage jobs in communities across the State of Washington. Their publications and peer-reviewed research focus on improving our understanding of the barriers communities face and identifying more effective and more accessible metrics and decision data for local and State leaders seeking to understand what winning looks like.

Dr. Oliver is the Director of the Research Division at the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC), Washington State’s higher education agency. He leads his staff and partners in developing the state’s higher education research agenda. The overarching goal of his career-long research is to create social impact by providing objective evidence on topics related to human capital development. His peer-reviewed work has been published in journals such as Economics of Education Review, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, and PLOS ONE. Dr. Oliver earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Before beginning his doctoral studies, he taught secondary mathematics for 10 years in San Antonio, Texas.

Dr. Bish Paul has spent his career helping legislators, employers, funders, and educators to collaborate and work on the same plan. Most recently he led policy, advocacy, and communications for Washington State at the Gates Foundation. Before that, he ran 50-state advocacy at TechNet, worked on education pathways at Washington STEM, and was staff in the California State Legislature. As Global Head at Snap, he brought together more than 30 technology companies to widen the onramps into tech careers. Trained as a scientist, Bish starts with the data and pushes for the decisions it supports, especially when those are the choices that are hard to make.

Amelia Ransom, SPHR, is an accomplished DEI and HR leader with over 30 years of experience driving culture, strategy, and leadership development. As former Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Smartsheet, she led DEI initiatives and Corporate Social Responsibility efforts. Previously, at Avalara, Amelia crafted their first DEI strategy and boosted company engagement. Her career began at Nordstrom, where she held leadership roles in store management, learning, and inclusion.

Dedicated to community impact, Amelia serves on the boards of The Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion, Leadership Tomorrow, and YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish.

Before joining the Technology Alliance in 2019, Laura served as Interim PAC Director for the Children’s Campaign Fund and represented the 45th District in the Washington State House of Representatives. During her legislative tenure, she was elected Vice Chair of her party’s caucus and served as Vice Chair of the Technology, Telecommunications, and Energy Committee.

Her professional experience also includes leadership roles at Microsoft and extensive work as a fundraising professional for a wide range of nonprofit organizations. Laura has served on numerous boards, including the King County Library System Foundation and Ventures, a Seattle-based nonprofit that empowers aspiring entrepreneurs.

Committed to advancing equity and opportunity, Laura chairs the board of Ada Developers Academy, and serves on Washington State’s Digital Equity Forum as well as the Puget Sound Public Radio board of directors.

Rachel Smith serves as president of the Washington Roundtable, a role she assumed in October 2025 after leading the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce for nearly five years. At the Chamber, she grew membership, collaborated with local governments on major initiatives focused on regional recovery, transportation, and housing, and championed small and minority-owned businesses. She also launched The Index, a now-essential resource to understand where business and voters’ views align.

Smith brings more than two decades of experience in government affairs, policy, operations, and advocacy, including 13 years in local and regional government. She served as deputy county executive and chief of staff to King County Executive Dow Constantine, in key positions at Sound Transit, and in the administration of former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels.

She currently also serves on the boards of the Seattle Convention Center, United Way of King County and the Seattle Aquarium.

A career-track scholarly professor in the Department of Psychology and a WSU alumna, Swindell has dedicated nearly three decades to advancing undergraduate education and student success at WSU.

As vice provost for undergraduate education, Swindell will help shape the academic experience for undergraduate students across WSU. Working collaboratively with deans, faculty, and student support teams, she will guide curriculum enhancements and policy improvements that support student success, expand access and opportunities for learning, and help create an educational experience in which every student can thrive.

Prior to serving as vice provost, Swindell was the associate dean for undergraduate studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, where she led efforts focused on curricular development, assessment of student learning, evidence-based teaching practices, and student success. Her leadership included efforts to improve outcomes in foundational courses across disciplines, as well as work with colleagues to develop the college’s Career-Ready, World-Ready initiative, which helps students recognize and articulate skills developed through their academic experiences.

Throughout her career, Swindell has played a leading role in initiatives designed to strengthen undergraduate education at WSU. As co-principal investigator and institutional leader for WSU’s Transformational Change Initiative, she helped develop an integrated approach to student success centered on faculty development, peer mentoring, family engagement, student well-being, and academic resilience. The initiative earned national recognition from the American Council on Education as a model for advancing student success.

In addition, Swindell has been recognized for teaching excellence on multiple occasions in her professional career, including the President’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2014. She has also held leadership roles in undergraduate program assessment, including serving as a faculty assessment fellow and helping establish assessment of student learning as a formally recognized faculty activity. In 2025, she received WSU’s inaugural Assessment Champion Award in recognition of her longstanding leadership in undergraduate program assessment.

An experimental psychologist by training, Swindell applies the science of learning to evidence-based practices in teaching, training, and mentoring. She has taught courses spanning introductory psychology, research methods, motivation, self-control, and principles of learning, as well as graduate-level preparation for instructors teaching introductory psychology. Earlier in her WSU career, she served as undergraduate program director in the Department of Psychology, where her work included curriculum development, student recruitment and retention, program assessment, and undergraduate research opportunities.

Swindell earned her Bachelor of Arts with honors in psychology from the University of Puget Sound in 1993 and her master’s and doctoral degrees in experimental psychology from Washington State University in 1995 and 1998, respectively.

Initially appointed, Alex Ybarra was later elected in 2019 as the state representative for the 13th District, covering parts of Central Washington, including Kittitas, Grant, and portions of Adams and Douglas counties.

Alex’s legislative priorities include protecting taxpayers, adequately funding schools, fostering the creation of more family-wage jobs, addressing water issues, and supporting agriculture. He advocates for economic growth and works to broaden the avenues of opportunity for the residents of the communities he represents.

Alex is the ranking member of the Postsecondary Education and Workforce Committee, the assistant ranking member of the Labor and Workplace Standards Committee, and also serves on the Environment and Energy Committee. Although deeply committed to civil debate and willing to work across the aisle, he remains true to his conservative roots.

Alex graduated from Central Washington University with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and also holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. He spent 14 years working for the Rocket Research Company as an engineer for military and aerospace products and 16 years working for Grant County Public Utility District in various leadership and analyst roles.

Alex has worked on several legislative task forces and state commissions, including his 2016 appointment by the governor to the State Commission on Hispanic Affairs. Active in his community, Alex is the former director of the Quincy School Board and also served as the vice president of the Washington State School Directors Association.

Alex is a lifelong resident of Quincy. He has one grown daughter, Micaela.