February 21, 2018 The Skanner Seattle Page 3
News
that they did and what
the mission of the Forest
Service was, and how the
job of the contracting of-
ficer helps support that.
She pretty much sold me
on it. I wanted to make
sure I did a job that was
helping people, and she
definitely showed me
that this position does
do that,” Fuller told The
Skanner.
“
One of
the most
import-
ant things
for me is
when I get
a chance
to see the
finished
project
Fuller works out of the
Forest Service’s Vancou-
ver, Washington office,
managing internal and
external contracts that
help the Forest Service
do its work. That in-
cludes both non-emer-
gent infrastructure proj-
ects – like repairing a
bridge on Forest Service
land that needs to be up-
dated for public access
– as well as managing
contracts during emer-
gencies like forest fires.
This can mean bringing
outside contractors in
where necessary, con-
tracting with caterers
to make sure firefight-
ers at base camp are fed,
lodged and have access to
fire, and other tasks that
accompany assembling a
base camp.
Fuller
recommends
young people who are
interested in doing sim-
ilar work to pursue an
MBA, which is required
for some allocation cer-
tificates she needs to
do her job. She said her
work requires a high
Start-Ups
degree of flexibility and
open-mindedness.
A
self-described “city girl,”
she had never spent
much time in the out-
doors before taking her
current job, and atten-
tion to detail and custom-
er service are needed.
“It really is a fun job.
I think one of the most
important things for me
is when I get a chance to
see the finished project
and that actually, the con-
tract is complete,” Fuller
said. “Now I can see that
this bridge has been con-
structed, and it’s going to
help the public be able to
access some of the areas
that are very popular.”
Fuller has worked out
of the same office since
2009, but it’s common for
Forest Service employ-
ees to move to different
agencies and divisions,
and often it’s encour-
aged since seeing how
different regional offices
work can help employ-
ees grow. She’s also re-
quired to take 80 hours
of continuing education
every two years to keep
her certifications cur-
rent. Typically she takes
courses that are specific
to her role – for example,
contracting law or ethics
in contracting.
Forest Service spokes-
person Shandra Terry
said anyone interested
in finance, accounting or
contracting should con-
sider a career path like
Fuller’s.
“I think it’s super im-
portant for [readers] to
know what’s attainable,”
Terry said. “In the sense
of discipline and educa-
tion and career track, we
need more of, we need
our little girls to know
that it is attainable -- that
you become a success and
that and that you can start
off here, but you never
know where you’ll end
up with that education
and that inspiration.”
Michelle J. DePass Named
Meyer Memorial Trust’s
New President and CEO
Meyer Memorial Trust, Oregon’s second-largest foundation,
today announced Michelle J. DePass as its new president and
chief executive officer. She will succeed Doug Stamm, who
has led the $800 million trust since 2002. DePass is currently
the dean of the Milano School of International Affairs,
Management, and Urban Policy and Tishman Professor of
Environmental Policy and Management at The New School in
New York. Previously, she was appointed to the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) by President Barack Obama, where
she served as assistant administrator for International and
Tribal Affairs. Prior to joining the EPA, DePass was a program
officer at the Ford Foundation. Her portfolio focused on the
environment and community development, including green
economy and climate change, environmental health and
justice, and indigenous environmental rights. DePass holds a
bachelor’s degree from Tufts University, a Juris Doctor from
Fordham Law School, an honorary doctorate from Fordham
University and a Master of Public Administration from Baruch
College, where she was a National Urban Fellow.
Housing
PHOTO COURTESY OF PRICHARD COMMUNICATIONS
cont’d from pg 3
cont’d from pg 1
the housing proposal. The first of
several public hearings is set for
Monday night.
“If we make no changes to zon-
ing, those buildings will be built,
and they will be built without af-
fordable housing components to
them,” he added.
Cities such as San Francisco,
New York and Washington, D.C.,
have policies that require devel-
opment to include affordable
units. Philadelphia is among
those weighing similar mandates.
Friction over growth is playing
out in other cities grappling with
housing shortages. In Portland,
Oregon, the city’s plan to accom-
modate growth partly by allow-
ing taller buildings downtown
has stirred opposition. In Cali-
fornia, a controversy is brewing
over a state bill that eases build-
ing restrictions around transit
hubs and corridors and end park-
ing requirements.
In Seattle — a city of about
714,000 bordered largely by wa-
ter — growth has been explosive.
Fueled by Amazon and other
tech giants, Seattle added near-
ly 75,000 jobs between 2012 and
2016, and 87,000 people in the past
five years.
The city subsidizes housing for
the poorest, and the market is ex-
panding for top-income brackets.
But little has been done for those
in the middle who already spend
too much of their wages on rent,
Johnson said.
Seattle’s median home price
has skyrocketed to $757,000 —
the highest ever, according to the
Northwest Multiple Listing Ser-
vice. Average rent for a one-bed-
room apartment has increased
35 percent over five years, but
recently started to dip.
The changes have led to angst
and soul-searching.
“It’s forcing us to have a hard,
divisive conversation about what
we want to be as a city,” Coun-
cilmember Mike O’Brien said.
Critics say the plan gives away
too much to developers and isn’t
the best way to add affordable
housing. They also say it will lead
to older and theoretically cheap-
er apartments and homes being
torn down.
A coalition of groups is chal-
lenging the city’s environmental
review of the plan, saying it didn’t
adequately consider issues such
as the impacts to schools, traffic,
parking and trees.
“It’s being sold that we have to
change the zoning in order to ac-
commodate the growth. Are the
zoning changes the best way to get
affordable housing?” said Susan-
na Lin with Seattle Fair Growth,
a neighborhood group opposed to
the plan. “You increase the rate of
displacement. You lose the histor-
ical character, and communities
are uprooted.”
Supporters say more housing
closer to transit, schools and ser-
vices would limit sprawl and ac-
commodate surging demand. Op-
tions beyond pricey single-family
homes — such as duplexes, cottag-
es, tiny apartments and high-ris-
es — would allow those with
more modest incomes to live in
desirable neighborhoods. Exist-
ing homes are already being torn
down and replaced by expensive
McMansions, they said.
“People are afraid of the un-
known, but they won’t see as
much change as they’re afraid
of,” said Jay Lazerwitz, an archi-
tect who has lived in Seattle for
33 years and supports the plan.
“We’re not losing huge swaths of
single-family homes.”
From his two-story Craftsman
home, Greg Flood points down
the street to where a yellow crane
looms above a construction site
of a 40-foot (12-meter) apart-
ment complex in the Wallingford
neighborhood just minutes from
downtown.
cont’d from pg 1
again: lack of funding.
“Money creates a whole set of new
complex challenges, but it usually
solves an immediate problem,” said Mi-
chel — from paying a company’s rent to
paying its utility bills.
Their funding woes are not unique to
them, however.
In 2016, female-led companies made
up just under 5 percent of all venture
capital deals, while less than 1 percent
went to Black founders.
Michel said it’s a typical scenario
faced by most budding entrepreneurs
— one he compares a band scoring its
first short-sighted record deal. “You
start your own business as an entre-
preneur and you have so much control,
then you go to fundraise and you have
no control again.”
With their T-shirt campaign, Michel
is looking to change the trajectory. “My
dream with Fund a Founder is really
to create an alternative to traditional
funding and dismantle the status quo.”
The child of Haitian immigrants, Mi-
chel was born in New York City and
has traveled to over 30 countries. Be-
fore breaking into tech, Michel toggled
among the service industry, fundrais-
“
My dream with
Fund a Founder is
really to create an
alternative to tradi-
tional funding
ing for local charities, and corporate
sales. He’s also a sign language inter-
preter and speaks four languages.
And he’s excited for the future.
According to Michel, the next cohort
of TiE start-ups is majority minori-
ty-owned. “And it wasn’t on purpose,”
he said. “These are the companies that
are doing great and innovative things
and are thinking outside of the box.
We’re here — but we need the money
to make the dream
come true.”
Fund a Founder
recently launched
an additional T-shirt
design – the “naugh-
ty robot” for the tech
outlier, which is of-
ten how minorities
and females feel in
the start-up arena,
Michel explained.
And while Fund a
Founder is current-
ly raising capital for
his and Brown’s com- ‘Fund a Founder’ and ‘Black Founders Matter’ t-shirts.
panies, the goal is to
a Founder is slowly gaining traction,
expand the model to support his peers with the first few thousand dollars
on a larger scale.
raised.
The clothing is also meant to spread
“I think it has the ability to change the
awareness about the needs of minori- landscape of funding and also empow-
ty and female start-ups – think of each er other entrepreneurs like ourselves,”
t-shirt like its own social awareness said Michel. “We want to make it more
billboard.
hospitable and support people who are
Though still in the early stages, Fund trying this too.”
COURTESY OF FUND A FOUNDER
Forest