walw, Author at Evans School of Public Policy & Governance

Event Recap | Dean’s Forum on Race & Public Policy: How Bidenomics Targets Systemic Inequities

Dean's Forum of Public Policy & Governance

The Dean’s Forum series focuses on the intersection of race and public policy in support of the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance’s mission to host community conversations that inspire public leaders.

On October 30, 2023, Dean Jodi Sandfort hosted a conversation with Heather Boushey, a member of President Biden‘s Council of Economic Advisers and Chief Economist to the Investing in America Cabinet, about how addressing racial inequity underpins “Bidenomics” – the President’s agenda for sustained and equitable economic growth. Heather is co-founder of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, where she was President and CEO from 2013 – 2020. She previously served as chief economist for Secretary Clinton‘s 2016 transition team and as an economist for the Center for American Progress, the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and the Economic Policy Institute.

Review Resources

Event Speakers:

Heather Boushey
Chief Economist to the Investing in America Cabinet

Jodi Sandfort
Dean
University of Washington
Evans School of Public Policy & Governance

Event Recap | 2023 Leadership Awards & Celebration

On October 18, 2023, the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy & Governance hosted the Public Leadership Awards & Celebration at Town Hall.

Honoring Public Service

Thank you everyone who joined us for the Public Leadership Awards & Celebration. We launched the Public Leadership Awards in conjunction with our 60th Anniversary in 2022, and we will continue it annually going forward. In these times, it is important to acknowledge and celebrate the courageous leadership happening to improve our communities and transform our public systems. It’s a moment to celebrate and to learn together, and to recharge for the continued work ahead.

Throughout the evening, we had the opportunity to honor the work of our three Public Leadership Awardees Pa Ousman Joof, Anne Levinson, and Dr. Brent Jones. As Dean Jodi Sandfort shared in these challenging times, “it is important to acknowledge and celebrate the courageous leadership happening to improve our communities and transform our public systems.”

Celebrating Community

Awardee Pa Ousman Joof and Guests at Leadership Awards

Expanding Pathways to Public Service

We also had the opportunity to watch a short video about Alex and Arielle’s experiences with the Evans School’s Junior Summer Institute (JSI) program this summer. We believe that access to a world-class public policy education should not be for the privileged few, yet we know many barriers exist and historical inequities persist. JSI is just one of the programs that Evans School is leading to expand pathways to public service and support students along a continuum of growth and learning.

Awardees

It was an honor to celebrate the 2023 Public Leadership Awardees: Pa Ousman Joof, Judge Anne Levinson (ret.), and Dr. Brent Jones.

Dr. Brent Jones, Anne Levinson, and Pa Ousman Joof

Community Catalyst Pa Ousman Joof

Research proves grassroots leadership is a critical component of any community’s wellbeing. The Community Catalyst Award recognizes a leader whose efforts impact not just any community, but one which they call home, too. This individual is celebrated for their consistent efforts to foster collaboration, amplify local voices with special attention to historically underrepresented groups, and maintain proximity to those who are impacted most by their work.

Pa Ousman Joof is the founder and Executive Director of the Washington West African Center (WAWAC). Since founding WAWAC in 2017 from his living room as a volunteer-run organization, he has worked to build the organization’s capacity, which now offers 10 key programs and serves more than 5,000 community members annually with a staff of six and a program center in Lynnwood. WAWAC provides culturally relevant services to the West African community in Washington, offering an After-School Program and Summer Camp for children, monthly Grandma hangout for seniors, Weekly Food Drive (Washington West African Market), Emergency Transportation, Language Interpretation/Translation, Outreach and Advocacy, A Drop-In-Center with case management with support for the West African community to apply for resources, including scholarships, jobs, unemployment, medical insurance and other government benefits.

Prior to founding WAWAC, like many immigrants, Pa worked various menial jobs and faced many struggles including eviction, disconnection of utilities, and no means to buy food or diapers for his children. Pa Ousman struggled and lived in fear of being deported for 18 years, only becoming a US citizen on September 7, 2022. These experiences inspired Pa Ousman to establish WAWAC to provide the services and support he needed but could not find as an undocumented immigrant to his people. Currently, Pa sits on several boards, including the Snohomish County Racial Equity Housing Advisory Board, City of Lynnwood Parks Love Co-Design team and Washington State Department of Health Collaborative Thought Partner, where he champions and advocates for Racial Equity.

Systems Changemaker Awardee Anne Levinson

The Systems Changemaker Award recognizes a leader with remarkable sensitivity to the future and courageous determination to do what is necessary today to inspire a better tomorrow. They use strategic and pragmatic leadership as a medium to create change. And while their individual influence can move mountains, this changemaker intentionally shares power and responsibility. They understand systems change is most achievable when conducted as a collective effort and are a trusted convener and facilitator of collaborative action.

For nearly two decades Judge Anne Levinson (ret.) has been an advisor to governments, non-profits, and foundations on issues including child welfare and juvenile justice, police accountability, campaign finance and disclosure, gender based violence, and gun violence prevention. Learning from research and the experiences of those most impacted, Judge Levinson leads multi-disciplinary reviews, builds coalitions, and recommends ways to redesign and improve systems, strengthen laws, policy, and training, and ensure effective implementation. She shepherded creation of a first-of-its-kind regional unit to more effectively implement court-ordered firearms removal from DV abusers and those at risk of harm to self or others; and comprehensive reforms of laws on protection orders, unlawful firearm possession, and oversight of law enforcement.

Previously, as a judge, Anne founded and presided over the country’s first municipal mental health court. She led consumer protection reforms and partnered with others to stop efforts to deregulate energy markets as chair of the Utilities and Transportation Commission. She chaired the Public Disclosure Commission, spearheading passage of legislation to strengthen the state’s Fair Campaign Practices Act, and co-chaired a bi-partisan blue-ribbon commission that recommended creation of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families. She served as a Special Assistant to Mayor Royer and as Deputy Mayor, Chief of Staff, and Legal Counsel for Mayor Rice, where she led several initiatives, including developing the first families & education levy, the first self-managed transitional housing for the homeless, the first transitional housing for women, enacting domestic partner benefits, reform of finance and contracting systems, and helped lead efforts to address the AIDS epidemic.

One of our state’s first openly LGBTQ public officials, she advocated for state laws providing rights and protections for LGBTQ individuals and families and chaired several campaigns that defeated attempts to roll-back those laws. During the litigation about relocation of the Sonics, she put together an all-female ownership group and led the negotiations to secure the Seattle Storm’s future in Seattle.

Anne graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Kansas and received her law degree from Northeastern University School of Law. She is also a graduate of the University of Washington Cascade Institute’s Senior Management Program.

Dean’s Leadership Awardee Dr. Brent Jones

The Dean’s Leadership Award celebrates an individual or group committed to equity, radical courage, and uncompromising servant leadership. This leader is not afraid to run against the grain where required to support human dignity, embrace diversity, and foster democratic ideals.

Dr. Brent Jones is a visionary educational leader committed to fostering the success of all students through transformative cultural shifts and the revitalization of PreK-12 educational systems. As the superintendent of Seattle Public Schools, he oversees Washington state’s largest school district and champions an environment where every student can flourish.

With an extensive background in the public sector, Dr. Jones has cultivated a profound expertise in strategic planning, community engagement, change management, and human resources. His leadership roles span across notable institutions including King County Government, Kent School District, Seattle Colleges, Green River College, and the Seattle Public Schools system.

Notably, Dr. Jones has been instrumental in propelling Seattle Public Schools towards greater equity and innovation. He masterminded the implementation of a district-wide racial equity strategy, forging impactful public-private collaborations to expedite student advancement. Furthermore, his leadership culminated in the integration of racial equity considerations within collective bargaining agreements, the establishment of the Civil Rights Compliance Office, and pioneering initiatives in talent development and recruitment aimed at enhancing workforce diversity and employee engagement.

Dr. Jones has deep community roots and is a proud product of Seattle Public Schools and the University of Washington. He has earned master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Education Administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Jones’ unwavering dedication to educational excellence, combined with his dynamic leadership, has left an indelible mark on the landscape of education in Washington state. His commitment to equitable, innovative, and inclusive education continues to shape the lives of students and educators alike.

Thank you for supporting the Evans School!

The evening helped raise critical funds to support the school’s mission of educating leaders, generating knowledge, and hosting communities to co-create solutions to pressing societal problems. It’s not too late to give and support this work – gifts of every size make a difference and are greatly appreciated!

Please visit our YouTube Channel to view the full program or select segments

Thanks you to our generous event sponsors

Student Consulting Lab Project Shapes Wildland Firefighter Compensation Policy Conversation

Recent MPA grads Mohammed Alkhars, David Lu, Sam Perkins, and Evan Pierce are helping shape the conversation around wildland firefighter compensation through their capstone project. Not only have they talked with senate and congressional staffers about the report, it’s been picked up by media outlets including the Guardian, Al Jazeera, Washington Post, and NBC, among quite a few others.

Check out their Student Consulting Lab report.

UW Center on Risk and Inclusion in Food Systems (CRIFS) Launches with Support from the Evans School and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Panelists discussing SSP Commercialization and Income Diversification under Risk. From left to right, June Lukuyu (UW), Ana Paula de la O Campos (FAO), Saweda Liverpool-Tasie (MSU), Avinash Kishore (IFPRI), and Ken Giller (Wageningen)

We are excited to announce the launch of the Center on Risk and Inclusion in Food Systems (CRIFS) a partnership of the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), and the Evans School Policy Analysis & Research Group (EPAR).

CRIFS’ mission is to generate policy and action-focused research for improving the lives and livelihoods of small-scale agricultural producers (SSPs), inclusive of women, in low- and middle-income countries, through increased contributions of social, climate, and other scientists to advancing cost-effective strategies for managing risks and volatility as food systems transform.

The CRIFS launch kicked off on the UW campus with a technical workshop on measuring resilience in collaboration with UC Davis Professor Michael Carter and his USAID Feed the Future Lab on October 16. A day of small working group meetings was followed by a learning event co-hosted by CRIFS and BMGF, focused on topics central to investing in food systems facing heightened climate and associated risks in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The event brought together a blend of donors, practitioners, and researchers to provide a common grounding in key concepts and definitions, current and projected climate risks faced by food systems actors, and the state of applied research.

From left to right, Amaka Nnaji (UW), Nnemeka (Edith) Ihegwuagu (Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ACRN), Nnenna Ogbonnaya-Orji (UW), and Peter Agamile (UW)

Learning Event Sessions

The six sessions of the learning event covered the broad themes of risk measurement, sub-national heterogeneity, statistical vs. perceived risk, and decision-making under uncertainty, with a strong emphasis on perspectives and methods that embed gender and nutrition dimensions.

Session 1: Risk Fundamentals 1 – Biophysical food system risks and SSPs
- Chris Funk (UCSB), Mario Herrero (Cornell), Tess Russo (BMGF), and Heidi Webber (ZALF)
Session 2: Bringing Risk, Nutrition, and Gender into South Asian Climate Platforms and Policies
- Pramod Aggarwal (Borlaug Institute for South Asia), Prabhu Pingali (Cornell), and Shelly Sundberg (BMGF)
Session 3: Risk Fundamentals 2 – Decision-making and Behavior Change: Risk Perceptions, Poverty, and Risk Communication
- Ann Bostrom (UW), Alison Cullen (UW), and Crystal Hall (UW)
Session 4: SSP Commercialization and Income Diversification under Risk: Institutions, Infrastructure and the Enabling Environment
- Stanley Wood (BMGF), Ana Paula de la O Campos (FAO), Ken Giller (Wageningen), Avinash Kishore (IFPRI), June Lukuyu (UW), Saweda Liverpool-Tasie (MSU), and Shelly Sundberg (BMGF)
Session 5: Advancing Measurement of Post-Shock Resilience
- Peter Agamile (UW), Michael Carter (UC Davis), and Jenny Frankel-Reed (BMGF)
Session 6: Can Increased Food Security Strengthen Inclusive Institutions?
- Didier Alia (UW), James Long (UW), Sameer Shah (UW)

CRIFS to Address Key Elements of Decision-Making

There has been a steady supply of innovative agricultural technologies over the last few decades, but the rate of sustained uptake remains stubbornly low. This is due, in part, to technical knowledge about potential adaption strategies outpacing our understanding of SSP decision-making facing risks. Addressing this disconnect is urgent as climate change increases many SSPs’ exposure to flooding, drought, and extreme temperatures, which compromises rural household production and leads some families to cope by dipping into savings, selling livestock, or reducing food intake.

Stanley Wood (BMGF) closing the learning event with reflections

Which is why CRIFS is interest in the bio-physical and political economy of food systems that matter as SSPs make daily decisions on risk/return trade-offs that affect their enterprise and livelihood trajectory. CRIFS is concerned not only with decisions made for managing extreme events, or climate shocks, but with the ongoing communication and choices that may either expose SSPs to excessive risk, or limit their investment potential and, in aggregate, hinder inclusive agricultural transformation.

New Research on Public Investments in Community College Baccalaureate Degrees Will Investigate Program Approval and Development Data

In recent years, the landscape of higher education has witnessed a significant shift, marked by the proliferation of Community College Baccalaureate (CCB) degrees across 24 states that now award more than 25,000 bachelor’s degrees annually, and growing. Advocates of CCB degrees argue they cultivate talent and bolster state and regional economies, at the same time providing access to baccalaureate programs of study for adult learners and others who are rooted in communities where they work and care for family members and friends.

The University of Washington, in partnership with the firm Bragg & Associates and the Community College Baccalaureate Association is pleased to announce a new $250,000 grant from the Strada Education Foundation to research the data that states and colleges use to make the case for CCB degrees, identifying the strengths and limitations of current CCB policies and program approval processes. Phase one of this multiphase study occurs over the next 18 months and allows the research team to investigate program approval and development processes for new CCB programs in two states. By leveraging mixed methods and data-driven insights, results of the study will inform higher education decision-making and, ultimately, fortify state and local economies by ensuring adults and others served by community colleges gain opportunities for well-paying careers and lifelong learning. While the focus is on CCB degrees, the implications extend beyond community colleges to public investments in higher education.

Dr. Elizabeth Meza, Principal Investigator at the University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy and Governance described this study as “the first to systematically investigate data used for decision-making about CCB program approval and development. If colleges get this right and can provide quality degrees that students want and the labor market demands, all for an affordable cost, it can be a big win. However, the challenge is that’s a lot of moving pieces to consider.”

Dr. Meza, working in partnership with co-Principal Investigator Dr. Debra Bragg of Bragg & Associates, Inc., will examine data used for supply and demand analysis, curriculum and instructional design, partnerships involving colleges and employers and community-based organizations, and equity in student access and program outcomes. According to Dr. Bragg, “an important question the study will ask is how the case for new CCB programs address whether these programs create more equitable baccalaureate pathways for racially minoritized and other under-served populations.”

The Community College Baccalaureate Association (CCBA) is partnering in this project to ensure a robust network of colleges is involved and results are shared nationwide.

Evans School research team studies ballot rejections to improve voter experience

Vote by mail ballot, envelope and pen on table

Registered voters in Washington State will be receiving their vote-by-mail ballots in the next few days. Washingtonians have been voting by mail for over a decade and voter turnout in Washington routinely is among the highest in the country. Despite the success of vote-by-mail, a research study by the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Washington has been examining why ballots are rejected to improve the voter experience and inform efforts by state and county leaders to continue to reduce the number of ballots rejected in any election.

For a ballot to be valid and counted, it must meet three conditions: Completed ballots must be placed in an official ballot drop box by 8 p.m. on election day or postmarked by election day. Ballot envelopes must be signed by the voter. And, that signature must match the voter’s signature on file with their county elections office. For most voters the signature to match is the one on your driver’s license or state ID, because people commonly register to vote when getting or updating their driver’s license and the Department of Licensing.

County elections offices process ballots and decide whether the signature from the ballot envelope matches what is on file. Ballots without a signature or without a matching signature are thus “challenged” and voters have the opportunity to “cure” or correct their ballot. Counties send out ballot cure letters within 24 hours of a ballot being challenged, which invites voters to submit by mail or in-person a signature verification that cures the ballot. If voters have a phone number on file, they also should receive a phone call from their county election office. Challenged ballots are rejected if they are not cured at the time election results are certified, which occurs about three weeks after election day.

Study director and Evans School Professor Scott Allard reports that roughly 98 to 99 percent of ballots cast in November elections since 2012 have arrived on time with an envelope signature that matches the voter’s signature on file. “Even with this level of success, far too many ballots are rejected each election,” according to Allard. Although each general election is a little different, the study finds that about one-half of rejected ballots in November elections without a presidential or midterm congressional election (a.k.a. off-off-year elections) are simply received late. “Off-off-year elections like those this November get less media attention and less public discussion, which makes it easier to forget to return your ballot on time,” Allard notes.

Project team member Calista Jahn observed several counties processing ballots in November 2022, “it is clear from watching county election offices work that they process ballots carefully and securely and receive training in signature matching that ensures integrity in the voting process. Our election workers are focused on ensuring elections have integrity and that all valid ballots are counted.” The study finds that about 1 in 8 rejected ballots lack a signature, with roughly one-third of rejected ballots challenged for signature mismatches in off-off-year elections.

UW researchers found, however, that about 60 percent of all challenged ballots in November elections are cured before counties certify their final election results. “While this shows that ballot curing processes work, we should still have it be a goal to reduce the number of ballots needing to be cured,” Allard said.

The Evans School study team final report will be delivered to the Secretary of State in early November, but other key findings stand out as voters prepare to fill out their ballots in the next few weeks.

With these results in mind, the study team offers three simple guidelines for voters this election season. “First, sign your envelope,” notes Professor Allard. “Second, when you sign your envelope – sign your name as you do on your driver’s license or state ID. Third, mail or deposit your ballot early – ideally the week before election day, which this year is on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. This will ensure your ballot arrives on time and that you have time to cure your ballot before election day, just in case you forget to sign the envelope or signed too quickly for there to be a good match.”

Voters can go to the Secretary of State elections website and follow their ballot through processing. Allard recommends that voters contact their county election offices with any questions they have about their ballot. He notes that voters also can go to their county election office websites to learn more about vote-by-mail and about ballot curing processes. “Sign your envelope, sign with your license signature, and return your ballot early,” encourages Allard.

Evans Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC)

Co-design actionable solutions to complex societal problems

David Suarez receives grant from Surdna Foundation

Evans faculty member and nonprofit scholar David Suarez received a research grant from the Surdna Foundation for a project entitled, “What is Effective Participatory Grantmaking? A Comparative Assessment of Four Initiatives.” This project extends Suarez’s growing expertise and research program in participatory grantmaking, a power-sharing approach to grantmaking, which a number of private foundations have pursued in recent years. Since few foundations have evaluated their efforts to share power with stakeholders, the purported benefits of adopting such innovations remain unproven, and insufficient knowledge has accumulated in the field to elucidate critical questions such as whether some practices shape outcomes more than others. To begin to fill this gap, Suarez will complete a field scan of participatory grantmaking practices and initiatives in institutional philanthropy. Then, building on that work, as well as the literature on participation in nonprofit organizations, he will utilize a comparative case study approach to investigate four participatory grantmaking initiatives.

Art of Hosting and Harvesting 2024 Cohort

Leading Courageously in Higher Education: The Art of Hosting and Harvesting Conversations That Matter (affectionately called ‘Art of Hosting’) was called for leaders within and partners of the university and by the Evans School to support fundamental systems redesign.

The Art of Hosting is both a methodology and a world view. It is held by an international community of practitioners who share with each other tried and true ways of engaging people in dialogue, understanding complex systems, and designing ways forward together. It is a powerful approach for actually walking the talk and guiding systems change in this era when we are striving to unlearn old practices and become anti-racist leaders of groups, organizations, and institutions.

Throughout the 3-day training, participants learned hands on and participatory methods to explore powerful questions about both our personal leadership and goals for conversations that matter in our work and communities. The training was centered around the following purpose: to grow our capacity to be curious and courageous leaders who strive to make every space and system anti-racist, through our individual and collective actions that put humanity at the center as we navigate complexity. These methods and frameworks can be used to fuel innovation in higher education and public governance, helping us to understand more deeply how to decenter traditional sources of authority and invite in more voices to engage communities authentically.

Alumni Spotlight: Channing Nesbit, MPA ’20

We recently connected with Evans alum Channing Nesbit, who shared about his path from student-athlete on the Husky baseball team to pursuing an MPA at Evans. He also shared about his journey after Evans to the tech social impact sector, and more recently, to the Venture Capital space with Salesforce Ventures and how his experience at Evans has shaped his commitment to equity.

Describe your journey towards pursuing your degree at Evans. What inspired you to pursue a career in public service?

Towards the end of my time on the UW baseball team, it became clear that I would not be able to pursue baseball as a career and I began considering what was next for me. Although I had two great internships at King County (thank you Leesa Manion!!), I realized I wasn’t 100% sold on going to law school.

Around this time, I took Dorothy Bullitt’s Leadership class in 2017 and she ended up becoming a mentor and has since remained a great friend. We would often talk about politics, civic engagement, public policy and what it would mean to operate across all of these spaces. She encouraged me to look deeply at the Evans School program and as I did, I started shifting academic focus towards economic policy and opportunity building. Along with this shift, my long-standing interest in social impact and my desire to serve within my community is what ultimately led me to commit to Evans. The Evans curriculum centered around themes addressing systemic issues that have led to the degree of economic disparity we see today – this shaped my focus on how I can help close this gap to serve communities long-term.

Describe your journey to the work you’re currently doing and how your MPA helped you get there.

The journey started with my Evans internship, which focused on social impact with Tableau and Tableau Foundation. This internship gave me experience in grantmaking, project/program management, and an understanding of technology for good that allowed me to learn and grow as a professional and leader. I joined Tableau Foundation after graduating from Evans. Much of my work focused on partnering and collaborating with organizations that were heavily focused on combatting issues that spurred the beginning of the 2020s, such as racial, economic, and educational equality, and criminal justice.

After a few years of growth and organizational changes, I pivoted and wanted to learn and work more closely in the impact investing space. Impact investing focuses on providing avenues for directing capital towards efforts and innovation that provide benefits for larger society through efforts in sustainability, climate, education, and economic opportunity building, especially at scale. This is an industry and space that I believe will play a pivotal role in society going forward by helping to provide a sustainable and equitable future for all.

I understand that my current role with Salesforce Ventures may not be a typical role where most folks with an MPA may find themselves. But I find it fascinating, especially given the AI innovation we’re seeing. Understanding how these monumental developments will need to be regulated, made accessible, and ultimately used for good is a huge focus for our team and Salesforce at large and something that evolves daily.

You were involved in leading efforts in student interest groups like the Black Student Athlete Group and EPOC (Evans People of Color). Can you share more about your experiences being a part of these groups as a student? 

Along with other student-athletes, I was a part of starting the Black Student Athlete Group during my time in undergrad, and it’s great to see it is still thriving at UW. As a grad student, I was drawn to fellow classmates who were also passionate about demonstrating a commitment to diversity through our work and leadership on campus, and that led me to become a part of Evans People of Color (E-POC).

As a member of E-POC, I was able to play a part in helping to organize the UW Evans School Coalition Summit on Race and Equity. It was exciting and energizing to see our community come together to discuss tangible policy and community solutions to the critical issues we’d learned about at Evans and were watching play out in real time. The Summit provided an opportunity for us to learn from experts in the field, share our own experiences, and network with leaders focused on addressing the racial, economic, and educational disparities being perpetuated throughout communities. It was great getting to collaborate with my fellow classmates and see many of their respective lights shine through their leadership, and it seemed to foreshadow of a lot of the amazing work that Evans folks are pursuing today.

The Evans School’s values are equity, courage, and service. In what ways have these values shaped your time as a student?

In general – these are all values that are core to how I aim to show up in everything I do, and have kept me inspired and energized as I wake up every morning. Through the early stages of my career, my role was specifically focused on working with organizations across the country whose missions centered around these themes and more. During my time with Tableau Foundation, we were focused on building and expanding the equitable use of data/data tools. This framed our partnerships with organizations, who were on the ground working with communities to combat injustice and inequity. My time at Evans prepared me to look at every part of my work through the lens of equity, courage, and service. Regardless of what rooms I enter or paths that I will navigate through my life and career, equity, courage, and service are a part of the few constants that I hope will always shine through my actions and energy.

Author: walw