Awardee Veronica Very
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.
Veronica Very is founder and visionary of Wonder of Women International and the nation’s newest cultural destination experience, WOW Gallery. She is the visionary creator of the ‘Dear Sista, I See You,’ Healing Art Exhibition that unapologetically centers Black Women, Black Love, and the Black Community in the heart of Downtown Seattle’s economic corridor in Pacific Place Mall. Very inspires and encourages the healing of systematic and racial trauma in Black people by using an ancestrally guided framework of storytelling which builds community and spaces for reflection, renewal, restoration, and rejuvenation. Very is a force of a nature and the commitment she has demonstrated to justice and healing for the Black community is nothing short of incredible.
Awardee Kymber Waltmunson
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.
Kymber Waltmunson is a 2004 graduate of the Evans School Masters of Public Administration program and currently serves as King County Auditor. In this role, Waltmunson has become a powerful agent for racial equity and systems change, completing impactful audits related to jail safety, the County’s paratransit program, the Sheriff’s Office traffic stop patterns, public defense management, homelessness, and more. Her commitment to changing the systemic issues that beguile our community from within her sphere of influence is remarkable.
Awardee Washington State Supreme Court, Represented by Chief Justice Steve C. González
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.
The Washington State Supreme Court is receiving this award for their work towards creating a more just legal system within the state of Washington. Beginning with a signed letter in 2020 pressing for change after George Floyd’s murder and continuing into today, the State Supreme Court is making strides toward racial justice by invoking policy change directly aimed at dismantling institutionally racist legal systems. Over the past two years, the Court has taken swift action; overturning decades-long hateful precedents, vacating tens of thousands of criminal convictions, ruling that law enforcement’s history of racial bias must be considered when determining whether police stops and seizures are legal, ordering pay raises to immigrant farm workers, and more.
Awardee Vicki Aken
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.
Vicki Aken serves as Country Director of the International Rescue Committee, based in Kabul, Afghanistan. Since earning her MPA from the Evans School in 2008, Aken has been an unrelenting leader for public service in countries like Sudan, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Syria and Afghanistan. Before the collapse of the government in Afghanistan, Aken and the IRC worked with the Afghan people to increase community development, healthcare, education, and access to clean water and nutritious food. After the government collapse, Aken has remained in Afghanistan and tirelessly, despite personal safety concerns, committed to restarting and adapting programs so that her staff – primarily female and nearly 99% Afghan – can continue to work and attend school. Aken’s courageous service work makes her a leader to be impressed and inspired by.
