Evans Expertise: Nonprofit Management and Philanthropy

The Evans School has helped graduates develop life-long skills, launch careers, and build networks. It’s also helped spark several romances. Erin Murphy MPA ’11 and Jon Hickey MPA ’08 share their memories of meeting at the Evans School and the different career paths they’ve taken.

Was there a Parrington Hall “meet cute” start to your relationship?

Erin: We met at a school dance! The Evans Spring Prom in 2009. Jon was a recent graduate but his prom photo booth was so popular that the student government had brought him back for more photography. I showed up way too early and spotted a guy eating at a table all by himself. I sat across from him and said, “Can I talk to you so I don’t feel awkward?” and the rest is history. There’s no photo of us at that first prom but it took place at the Burke Museum. We made sure to visit with our babies right before the Burke was renovated for old memory sake!

What are some of your fondest moments about your time together while you were at the Evans School?

Erin: I was a concurrent student with the Jackson School and my studies took me to Kenya most summers. Jon came and visited me which was quite the commitment as broke grad students! The vast majority of our dates the first year of our relationship were simply doing homework together.

Jon: When Erin realized I was “The Love Memo” guy, she asked me for help with some videos she was producing from her time in Kenya. We got to know each other while editing together those videos, and I finally got the courage to ask her out to a movie after bringing her some chai at her student office.

Though you both have MPAs, you’ve also had very different career paths. Where did your interests take you after school? What has stuck with you from Evans?

Erin: Since Evans School, I have been in both nonprofit and public sectors. I started in advocacy work and quickly realized good communication was the key to anything being successful. So I pivoted to focus on communications. I use my memo writing skills all the time! I was part of the Seattle – King County Public Health communications team during COVID and have stories to last me multiple lifetimes. Maybe you saw the masking posters around town? I helped develop those – those were Evans skills at work! Some of my most practical skills stem from the frameworks that I learned at Evans. I appreciate how frameworks are a tool for critical thinking and analysis. In my current role at Seattle Children’s as a communications manager, I introduced communication specific frameworks that were integrated into our editorial style guide for more robust guidance around equitable language and content development.

Jon: I graduated in 2008, which was a very difficult time for public sector grads (the great recession was rough on government jobs!). I spent a couple years working for the Department of Global Health, building websites and helping out with content development. By a somewhat random twist of fate, I found a marketing job at Wizards of the Coast, which makes my favorite game ever – Magic: The Gathering. Since then, I’ve worked in various tech and gaming roles. While I ended up in the private sector, my time at Evans was invaluable. My ability to lead teams and clearly communicate my ideas stemmed from Evans (Active voice!). I also use statistics on a daily basis, which I credit to my Evans classes (regression analysis and statistical significance ftw!). No matter where you end up, your Evans education will be a major help!

What’s life like these days? Still writing memos with all your free time?!

Erin: We stayed in Seattle post-graduation but love to travel! We took our six- and eight-year-olds to the Paris Olympics last summer and made amazing memories. Jon still ran track when he was at the Evans School and it was a dream come true for him to be there in person!

Jon: Erin showed me the joys of travel, and now I’m hooked! In addition to what Erin mentioned, I’ve also had an amazing time taking the kids to UW sporting events. We also spend a ton of time outside in our yard landscaping and gardening.

What advice would you give to Evans students today (romantically or otherwise!), particularly amidst a great deal of change, challenge, and uncertainty in our civic and public spaces?

Erin: Different roles are needed and important for influencing change, both inside and outside of systems. Reflect on where your strengths lay and embrace them. I’m grateful that I realized early on that my strengths are contributing to change from within systems. Evans students are needed more than ever today as we will need to rebuild and reinforce our institutions on the other side of whatever is happening now. I’m also a big advocate of setting boundaries, personally and professionally. Practicing boundaries is a muscle that needs to be built to sustain us through hard times.

Jon: There are a million things going on around, and you can’t predict how things will change in the next year (or even the next month!). Focus on what you can control. If you get caught up with the things out of your control, you’ll end up frustrated, bitter, and burned out. By narrowing in on what you control (your own actions, decisions, and how you treat others around you), you’ll have a much more positive impact on what matters most. And if you do that every day, that positive impact you have on those around you will spread and lead to bigger change than can you imagine.

Elyse Ke‘ala Rickard, MPA ’18, is driven by a passion for equity, justice, and service. As the Membership Manager at Washington Nonprofits, she works to ensure that nonprofit organizations in Washington have access to the resources they need to prosper.

What contributed to your decision to pursue a career in support of the public good? Was there a defining moment in particular?

I grew up in the Los Angeles Harbor area in a blue-collar union family, where I learned to identify how different institutions perpetuate racist, sexist, and classist policies and was encouraged to speak out against these injustices. As I moved through my higher education journey, I majored in sociology and knew that I wanted to enter a field that worked on addressing and dismantling inequities through structural change. During my senior year of undergrad, I had a mentor who was also a Pacific Islander woman and a first-generation student who encouraged and supported me in applying to graduate school. Because of the support of my family and other BIPOC mentors, I wanted to pursue a career that builds upon the work of those who came before me and continue to carry on their work of creating a more equitable society.

Can you share a bit about the work you are currently doing and what a typical day in your work looks like?

I was promoted to Membership Manager at Washington Nonprofits earlier this month and have been with the organization since August 2021. Right now, my work focuses on fostering relationships with our current members and connecting with other nonprofits across the state who may benefit from being a member of our organization. My daily work is composed of providing assistance to our members (that could range from membership renewals, answering questions about member benefits, etc.), promoting our programs and events, and working with colleagues on how to increase access to memberships for nonprofits across the state.

What’s one thing you want everyone to know about your work?

I believe that listening to my intuition has helped me to carve the professional path that I am currently on. If you are doing work that you do not feel connected to or does not align with your values or goals, do not be afraid to speak out or seek out new opportunities that will allow you to grow.

Looking back on your time as an Evans student, do you have any memorable experiences that really stand out to you?

To be honest, I’ve had a variety of experiences at Evans. I met people who are now lifelong friends, learned skills that I sought out, and conducted an impactful capstone with colleagues, which is currently being used in a lawsuit to address racial and gender inequities in the Seattle Parks and Recreation department.

I also faced barriers that graduate students from historically marginalized communities must navigate, including speaking out against curriculum and practices that perpetuate white supremacy. I remember a meeting that I and four other students held with a professor to discuss how they framed the Department of Justice’s report for the City of Baltimore’s police department—their framing felt insensitive to BIPOC students because they did not want to address the historical impact of race and policing. I remember having another meeting with a white professor who had a kapa moe (Native Hawaiian quilt) in their office who was teaching about Indigenous environmental policy who told me they would not, and did not, want to discuss Native Hawaiian environmental issues. However, despite these difficulties, I was able to connect and build relationships with other students, faculty, and staff who did advocate and support for marginalized people in our program and that is something that I will always remember from my time as a student at Evans.

How does your Evans education inform how you approach your work today? Are there two or three things that directly impact your work?

My time at Evans has heavily influenced my career path. I work in an organization that focuses on providing nonprofit education courses across the state, which I feel is a continuation of my own education as well. I have worked on projects where I utilized my analysis and evaluation skills, ranging from implementing new systems, improving administrative procedures, and conducting policy research. Finally, the most important skill that I have learned from Evans is project management because I am collaborating with other people and entities frequently, which includes keeping track of several tasks and deadlines, as I did in most classes during my time as a student.

In what ways are Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion part of the work you have done and continue doing?

As a mixed Native Hawaiian/Latina woman, holding these identities radicalized me from a young age to speak about racism and other societal inequities. During my undergraduate years, I took part in student organizing around a variety of issues and worked in positions that focused on providing support to other BIPOC students.

While at Evans, I became involved in Evans People of Color and worked with other Student Interest Groups (SIGS)–later known as the Coalition–to organize around addressing issues within the Evans school and public policy issues beyond the campus. I am proud of my colleagues, the alumni who laid down the work before us, and the current students who are continuing the work to create a more equitable environment for Evans ’students and beyond.

In the work that I currently do, there are a lot of nonprofits in Washington State that are doing amazing things in their communities, especially those whose work is guided and led by marginalized communities. However, there are several barriers that these organizations face, which can hinder their growth and ability to provide programs or services they are offering to their constituents. Some of these barriers can range from lack of financial resources to unclear guidance from local, state, and federal partners. I hope that in my role I can serve as a point of contact for people to access the resources they may need so that these organizations can continue to focus on serving and thriving in their communities.

What are one or two resources that inspire you personally or professionally?

I recently finished From a Native Daughter by the late Dr. Haunani Kay-Trask. As someone who is a mixed Native Hawaiian woman, I have felt, seen, and heard many of the things discussed in her book, especially in the latter half, where Dr. Haunani Kay-Trask discusses her experiences with the University of Hawai’i. I feel inspired that her work remains relevant in 2022 and will continue to do so beyond my lifetime. I am also very into listening to podcasts and a favorite of mine that I recommend to folks is Code Switch by NPR. Every week they focus on a different story, connect the story to larger themes of race, and connect listeners to resources they can follow up on if they want to learn more about that week’s topic.

As the Executive Director of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, what are one or two things you’d want everyone to know about your work?

Some know the Jackson Foundation through our grantmaking at UW, including the Jackson Environmental Fellowships at the Evans School. Fewer are aware of our other climate, human rights and civic leadership work. For instance, we were an early contributor to efforts linking climate change with national security, as a method to bring bipartisan support to climate action. President Biden’s climate agenda, with a climate seat on the National Security Council, is an exciting embodiment of this idea that we helped incubate. In addition, six years ago the Foundation started the Jackson Leadership Fellows program, to support early- to mid-career civic leaders through a program based on values-based leadership. The Jackson Fellows Network now includes over 50 Jackson Leadership Fellows, who are individually and collectively making a big impact in the community.

What’s a new, fresh approach you have brought to your job?

It’s relatively easy to gauge your effort, and harder to assess the difference you’re making, especially with big issues like climate change. Through strategic planning, we’re starting to articulate the impact we hope to make and assess how we’re doing. This is new for most of us, and it’s exciting to approach our work in a learning mode, rather than focus on perfection.

What do you think the state of your field/organization will be in 2030?  What will be the same, and what will be different? 

So much has changed in the last year, predicting 2030 is tough! I believe many aspects of the nonprofit and public sectors will be forged or influenced by this past year. I am hopeful that root causes and solutions will become the main focus of these sectors, to address the existential threats that we are facing, including systemic racism and climate change.

What contributed to your decision to pursue a career in support of the public good? Was there a defining moment in particular?

My family was oriented towards service (my father was a priest and my mother a teacher), and I expected to follow suit. Tutoring high school students while I was in college crystallized this for me. The students were risking a great deal for their education (under a regular threat of gun violence at a rough time in New York), and I was so inspired by them. It shaped how I think about education, my unearned privileges, and how individuals can make a difference.

What is your favorite podcast these days? What is a great book you have read recently? Or the “GOAT” (greatest of all time) book you’ve read?

I first read James Baldwin’s Another Country when I was just out of college and living in Russia. I was thirsting for English, and this book was so beautiful and crushing; it’s the only book I reread immediately on finishing it the first time. I read it again last year, and continue to find it startlingly modern and insightful about sexuality, race, art and relationships.

How does your Evans education impact how you approach your work today?

I took an elective on technology and nonprofits, which influences how I think about an organization’s resources. Once, the instructor described a client that was touting their use of a broken stapler, to prove fiscal responsibility. However, that stapler wasted staples, paper, and – most importantly – time, and replacing it would have cost ten dollars. Often staff time is not valued like things you go out and buy. Yet it’s central to how we accomplish our mission. I now try to be mindful about how we spend our time, and value small, low-tech changes that can better use our time and treasure.

If you could give Evans School students one piece of advice, what would it be?

My career path hasn’t been linear, and I’ve been wary of long-term career plans (I did the concurrent Jackson School program in Russian Studies and associate them with Soviet Five-Year Plans). Frequently, I had seemingly random responsibilities or jobs that felt like they were going nowhere, only to discover that I had gained experience that eventually opened doors. I highly recommend taking advantage of even short-term opportunities to gain new experiences and skills. They can be interesting challenges, and I wouldn’t have gotten my last several jobs without them.

We’d love to learn more about you and your tremendous contributions to the public good, so we can share your story as we connect, learn, and reflect. Share your story!