Advocacy
Jean Paul, Advocacy Sub-committee chair
Hello! My name is Jean Paul (he/him) a Shared Power Consultant with the Washington State Office of Equity. I am a committed equity, diversity, and inclusion professional whose background extends to exposing marginalized youth to STEM careers, helping at risk fathers with child custody and achieving economic freedom. I was born in the beautiful island of Haiti, and immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager. I am a proud husband, father of two, community leader and Doggy Dad. In my spare time, you can find me playing with my children, tending to my garden, bird watching and taking long walks with my Dog Onyx.
Area(s) of Professional Expertise: Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, Partnerships, Leading Initiatives, Customer/Stakeholder Relations, Change Management, Facilitation, Youth Development.
Ethnic Background: Immigrant born in Haiti. West African and Taíno.
Language(s) Spoken: Haitian Creole, French and English.
Nadia Damchii, Advocacy Subcommittee Co-Lead
Nadia is a Management Analyst at the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). She is a dedicated community leader, workplace equity advocate, and proud immigrant. Born and raised in Mongolia, Nadia immigrated to the United States in 2019 and has built her career and community connections around leadership, service, and creating opportunities for others. With 20 years of experience in leadership and management, Nadia has worked with internationally recognized organizations, including Deloitte and the Red Cross. Since 2021, she has been actively involved in advancing the Washington Immigrant Network and supporting and empowering immigrant communities. Outside of her professional and community work, Nadia is a proud wife and mom of two. She enjoys spending quality time with her family, practicing yoga, and meditation. She is passionate about building inclusive workplaces, strengthening communities, and helping fellow immigrants feel connected, supported, and empowered.
Ethnic Background: Mongolian.
Languages: English and Mongolian
Membership Outreach
There is no one in this position at this time.
Mentorship Program
Alex Countouriotis, Mentorship Program Administrator
Pronouns: he/him/his
I work for the Washington State Department of Transportation as the Program Manager for the Puget Sound Gateway Program. I joined WSDOT in 2006 after gaining several years of Engineering experience with smaller governmental agencies.
Area(s) of Professional Expertise: Project/Program Management and Transportation Engineering
Ethnic Background: Child of first-generation Japanese immigrant
Language(s) Spoken: English
Career & Professional Career Development
Laura Villegas, Career & Professional Development Co-Lead
Laura grew up with German Shepherds in a small town in the Colombian Andes and now lives in Olympia. She came to the US in 2007 with an athletic scholarship to study at Montana State University and since has lived in Montana, North Carolina, Washington DC, Idaho and now Washington state. She loves the outdoors and has a strong connection with nature.
Laura is an enthusiastic systems thinker and currently works with the Department of Ecology as market monitor of the state’s Cap-and-Invest program. Laura has a PhD in environment and development economics. She likes to think she remains mostly a sensible and compassionate thinker with a strong hunger for justice, peace, and integrity. Laura's education, along with her personal and professional experience, makes her skeptical of mainstream and hegemonic schools of thought and constantly leads her to question the ethical implications of economic analyses in policy making. She’s grateful to the state of Washington for the opportunity to contribute, through her work, to efforts that are aligned with some of her core values: service, justice, gratitude, and responsibility.
Anastassia Hunte Gardner, Career & Professional Development Subcommittee Co Lead
Anastassia Hunte Gardner is a Research & Outreach Program Specialist at Washington State Department of Enterprise Services (DES). Her role is working with procurement professionals to identify small, diverse, and veteran businesses, troubleshoot research barriers, tracks quarterly data and provide outreach training.
Anastassia believes in customer service and the importance of working together as a team.
Since 2022, Anastassia has presented at Alliance Northwest, American Contract Compliance Association’s National Training Institute, NIGP Forum and Washington’s DEI Empowerment Conference. Her work experience includes working at a public library and radio stations. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington.
She enjoys traveling, listening to podcasts, visiting museums, and watching K-dramas.
Gwen Willis, Career & Professional Development Subcommittee Co-Chair
Gwen currently serves as an eLearning Developer and LMS Administrator at the Employment Security Department (ESD). She has been with ESD for almost 4 years, and in previous roles taught business classes for job seekers. Prior to her work in state government, Gwen worked 17+ years for a non-profit organization partnering with a variety of colleges and community-based organizations, providing training in computer skills and professional development. Among the more impactful duties for Gwen, were those where she was able to help others acquire the skills needed to return to work or grow professionally.
Gwen came to America from Guyana, South America as a teenager. She attended public school in New York City. Being a military spouse brought Gwen to Washington State. She has been serving in the Washington Immigrant Network's (WIN) business resource group since 2018. She has served on the Events Planning Sub-Committee and as one of the editors for our Diversity Cookbook. Gwen earned her Master of Education, Learning and Technology from Western Governors University.
In her free time, Gwen enjoys family, movies, reading, and traveling.
Special Projects
Darchelle D. Burnett, Subcommittee Chair
Darchelle D. Burnett, M.A. is a DEI Learning Design and Delivery Professional/Human Resources Consultant 4 with the Department of Enterprise Services. Darchelle is a proven transformative leader and trainer who has overseen several diverse and multicultural teams. Before this role, Darchelle worked for The University of Washington at their Bothell campus serving in and studying DEI literature, curriculum, and communities. She carries her leadership and training experiences from her career at California State University, Monterey Bay, where she engaged in institutional politics, DEI event programming, and other various positions where she received many accolades. In addition to Darchelle's leadership and training experience, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social and Behavioral Science (CSU Monterey Bay), with a concentration in Anthropology and a minor in Peace Studies and has also earned a Master of Arts in Cultural Studies (University of Washington-Bothell). As she believes in lifelong learning and expanding knowledge outside of our environments, Darchelle has also studied abroad in Germany and the Netherlands, and many national conferences, collecting and presenting on multicultural and diverse experiences. DEI education and training is both her profession and her passion, and it is demonstrated in all that she does.
Lani Fowlkes, Special Projects Co Lead
Lani Fowlkes serves as the Equity Analyst and Relational Partnership Coordinator with The Department of Licensing’s Equity and Inclusion Office. She manages the Pro Equity Anti Racism (PEAR) Team and is the Language Access Coordinator. It’s this work that fills her heart and gets her up in the morning. As an Equity Analyst and Relational Partnership Coordinator, Lani has been able to put her MBA degree and DEI Certification to good use. She earned a Certified Diversity Professional Certification in May 2024.
Her strengths of building trust with partners have garnered concrete relationships with PEAR Team Community Partners.
Lifting and centering community voices and improving access to DOL services are the two areas Lani is the most passionate about.
Kuen Kuen Spichiger , Special Projects Co-Lead
Kuen Kuen Spichiger has been a Folk and Traditional Arts Program Specialist with Washington State Parks since February 2022. She is one of the members of Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) group in the agency and Washington Immigrant Network (WIN) in Statewide Business Resource Groups. She is also a nature-inspired artist, children's picture book illustrator and author, and art educator. She is an instructor with Arbutus Folk School in Olympia and serves on their board!
WIN Communications
Kirt Sanchez-Rincon, Website Coordinator
Kirt is the son of two immigrants who migrated to the United States from Mexico City. A proud graduate of Whitman College, he studied Film and Media Studies, graduating summa cum laude and earning special distinction for a film highlighting the Latino/a/x and Chicano/a/x experience. Dedicated to supporting others, Kirt has built a meaningful background as both a caregiver and a mentor. He has served as a DSHS Home Care Aide for a child with autism and worked as a one-on-one paraeducator in an elementary school setting. Beyond his educational and caregiving background, Kirt is exceptionally tech-savvy—often joking that he was born with a controller in his hands. Outside of work, he is an avid sports fan who closely follows baseball (especially his beloved LA Dodgers) and deeply enjoys professional wrestling, including WWE, AEW, and NJPW.
Todd Baker, Newsletter Manager
Todd Baker has been the Business Relationship Manager for the Department of Labor and Industries' since 2017. During his thirty years with the department, Todd has served as operations manager, project manager, and consultant in the areas of strategic and business planning, leadership development, and process improvement. Todd lives in Olympia with his wife. He is an author of three memoirs and enjoys running, grilling, and heavy metal music.
Volunteers
There is no one in this position at this time.