Past Events

-

Your Washington State VERG is excited to announce that we are preparing to launch the Inaugural Washington State Agency Hiring Event on Joint Base Lewis McChord on March 28, from 9:00 am to 7:30 pm. This event is open to current Washington State National Guard, transitioning Service Members, and their families. Your VERG is partnering with various state agencies, Hiring Our Heroes, Washington State National Guard, and other organizations to provide transitioning Service Members and their families an opportunity to speak with Recruiters, Hiring Managers, and current Veteran state employees and gain insight to the various roles and benefits within state government.

Registration for participants is now open (see attached flyer). We still have spots available for Washington State Agencies wishing to reserve a spot at the hiring event. If your agency would like to reserve a spot or if you would like to volunteer to please contact us at VERGInformation@dva.wa.gov. There is a VERG Membership Meeting scheduled for January 26, from 9 am to 11am, the Zoom link for the meeting will be posted here. Please join us and follow us on the below platforms.

-

Hi all – this is a friendly reminder that you are cordially invited to join Representative Farivar and Senator Trudeau for a celebration of Nowruz.

This Friday March 24th from 12-1:30pm in the Senate Rules Room.

The reception will follow resolutions presented and passed in both the House and the Senate. We will offer tea, traditional sweets, haft seen display, entertainment, as well as special guest speakers including Governor Jay Inslee.

IMPORTANT: Due to campus security and capacity constraints, RSVP is required and limited. Please complete this short form as soon as possible.

I hope you can attend!

-

Washington State's Dementia Action Collaborative (DAC) is hosting several virtual listening sessions. The DAC wants to hear about the special challenges that people living with dementia and their families face today, and ideas for addressing those challenges in the future.

Tuesday, March 21, 2023
(Spanish Interpreting Services available)
5:30 – 7:00 pm
Zoom Meeting Registration

-

The meeting will take place from 8:30 a.m. to noon March 21st via Zoom. Meetings are free and open to anyone, regardless of gender or employment status.

How to Register: Please visit our meetings page to register. Once you are registered, you will receive an email confirmation with instructions on how to join the meeting. Below is a summary of our scheduled presentations. Our meetings page has a copy of our current meeting agenda.

Description:

Topic 1: Building relationships and support networks

Too often, we've been conditioned to think that asking for support is a sign of weakness, and the only way to handle a situation is entirely on our own. That's not true!

This way of thinking is harmful leads to burnout. This session explores different types of support we can seek and how to use it to help us achieve personal and professional goals. 

Topic 2: Business Resource Group, BRG, panel discussion

Hear from several Business Resource Groups on how we can support them and their mission and goals. BRGs bring together groups of employees and their allies who have a common interest or characteristic. Per the governor's executive order, all employees may attend BRG meetings and be involved in BRG activities. View a FAQ about employee participation here.

Panelists from our state's BRGS will take part in a moderated Q&A panel about how we can all be part of their support network and a good ally.  

Washington state has seven BRGS (Blacks United In Leadership and Diversity - BUILD, Rainbow Alliance and Inclusion Network - RAIN, Veteran Employees Resource Group - VERG, Disability Inclusion Network – DIN, Washington Immigrant Network -WIN, Latino Leadership Network – LLN and Hawaiians, Asians and Pacific Islanders Promoting an Empowerment Network - HAPPEN). To learn more about each BRG visit click here.

About the Presenters:

Dr. Wendy Fraser believes in and mentors the collective wisdom in an organization by engaging the talents and hearts of people. Through leadership and organization development, she fosters and builds capacity through strengthening human relationships and systems so that groups and organizations thrive. She brings fresh approaches to her work with a flare of humor and can yield results.  

For more than a decade, Fraser researched trust behaviors and trust repair in groups. She is a speaker and consultant who helps groups and organizations thrive. She has more than 25 years of experience in organization development working with public, private, education, nonprofit, and tribal clients throughout the United States, Canada, Caribbean Islands and China.  

Fraser received the State of Washington Governor's Distinguished Managers Award for Sustaining Leaders and was also honored with an international humanitarian award for her work with developing leadership strengths in youth around the world. 

Fraser has doctorate degree and and three master's degrees and teaches at two universities. She lives in Olympia with her family and volunteers for local schools and community service organizations. 

Panelists:

Christina Pourarien – WIN Pourarien is the chair of the Washington Immigrant Network, WIN.

Pourarien is an information technology services division executive operations manager for the State of Washington Employment Security Department, ESD. While there, served as co-chair of the agency's Asian American Pacific Islander, AAPI employee business resource group.

Pourarien began her career in state service in 1999 at the Washington State Lottery. She has also worked at the former General Administration (now the Department of Enterprise Services), Department of Retirement Systems, the Evergreen State College, Department of Social Health and Services and the Department of Licensing and Labor Industries.

Pourarien was born in Great Falls, MT, and immigrated to South Korea with her family when she was 6 months old. Her family moved back to the US when she was a young child in the 1980s. Her father served in the US Air Force and her mother is originally from Korea. Pourarien attended public school in the North Thurston School District in Lacey. She received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Central Washington University and is the first person in her family to receive a formal college education in America.

Caleb Baldwin – RAIN Baldwin is a human resource consultant with ESD. Caleb champions policies related to equity, diversity and inclusion and helps revamp ESD's reasonable accommodations policy. Caleb is also member of two of ESD's employee resources groups, PRIDE, for ESD's LGBTQ+ community, and DERG, the agency's Disability Employee Resource Group.                                                                                                                                                  

Kristen Jenkins - RAIN Jenkins is the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission's equity engagement communications specialist. Jenkins works with underserved and highly-impacted communities to encourage engagement in UTC processes. Jenkins helps deliver vital information directly to the public. And works on language access and accessibility standards in government communications.

Jenkins has been a member of RAIN for 6 years and has served on its leadership team for the past 3. She was also one of the founding members of HAPPEN, the state's BRG for Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders and allies. Jenkins is a queer Asian-American Olympia, Washington with her 9-year-old pet ghost shrimp, Gojira.  

Larry Delgado - VERG Delgado is the diversity, equity, and inclusion manager with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. He also chairs VERG. Delgado was hired with the state in 2020. His roles in state employment include learning, design and delivery professional and the DEI Development Manager for DES.

Delgado retired from the US Army in December 2017 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. He served in the military for 20 years, achieving the rank of chief warrant officer. During his service, Delgado had increasing responsibilities as a human resources officer and had deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Panama.

Delgado is a first-generation Nicaraguan-American. He was born and and raised in Homestead, Fl. He got a bachelor's degree in organizational leadership from Brandman University and holds multiple certifications including intercultural development inventory, qualified administrator, facilitation and design master, racial equity and the law, inclusive and ethical leadership, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace Train-the-Trainer: helpful tips for leading and facilitating conversations on race.

Monica Hupp – LLN

Hupp is a project manager for the state Department of Health and is the co-chair for LLN. Hupp is an expert on managing large hospital projects and events in healthcare and community settings. She has a bachelor's degree in sociology from California State University Fullerton.

Hupp is passionate about project management and the profound social impact projects can have on communities, policies, and systemic change.

Receive our meeting and event notifications: Receive notifications of upcoming meetings as well as post-meeting summaries via GovDelivery. Notifications are also posted on our meetings page on icsew.wa.gov and on Facebook. We also have an at-a-glance calendar of all our events where you can register for them and add them directly to your calendar.

In Case You Missed It:

March 1 marks the beginning of Women's History Month. ICSEW is pleased to announce the winners of our Women's History Month virtual background contest.

We had six wonderful submissions. The ICSEW communications subcommittee members selected their favorite designs.

Congratulations to Julie Hyde from the Department of Health and Rebecca LaMar from the Washington State Health Care Authority!

Thank you to everyone who participated. Please enjoy these virtual backgrounds to use during your meetings throughout the month. Simply right click on the image to save them. These backgrounds are also available from our blog.

Sharing is caring! Please feel free to forward this meeting notice to your ICSEW executive sponsor, your agency's communications division and anyone else you think may be interested in ICSEW events.

Warmly,

ICSEW Executive Board

Source:: https://icsew.wa.gov/meetings/meeting-information/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
-

Register for Real Talk! 2023

The Office of Equity invites you to join us in 2023, beginning March 8, from 11:00 –12:00pm for our Real Talk! sessions and from 12:00–12:30 pm for our Post Talks, where we will have an interactive discussion on the Real Talk! Topic.

We invite you to lean in, be curious, and engage in honest dialogue about racial equity, justice, and belonging to co-create a state government system that works for everyone.

Centered in belonging, we will unpack truth, reconcile the past, learn from one another, connect, and together, experience healing from harm. We encourage you to lean in, be curious, and explore experiences different from your own.

This is the moment and place to have real talk to truly transform our agencies into places where real people experience equity, justice, and belonging every day, now and for generations to come.

Register for Real Talk and Post Talk 2023 Series

Subscribe to monthly Real Talk news

Watch the Real Talk Introduction for more background.

-

Blacks United In Leadership and Diversity invites you to join us in celebrating Black History Month

BUILD cordially invites and welcomes you to join us as we celebrate and recognize the historical contributions, culture, and great achievements of African Americans during the annual observance of Black History Month. During the month of February 2023, BUILD will present a series of programs, events, and discussions from planning efforts led by BUILD's History and Activities Subcommittee. The Black History Month 2023 theme, “Black Resistance,” explores the resistance of African Americans, in all forms, against historical and ongoing oppression.

Closing out the month will be our third Lunch and Learn event on Tuesday, February 28, from 12 pm to 1 pm.

"Black Joy Experience" with Guest Artist – OnRae LaTeal facilitated by: Masozi Nyirenda and Daisha Gomillion

Register Here

-

This is a difficult time for our Turkish and Syrian families and community.

WIN will host a “Community Solidarity Gathering” in partnership with the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

When: Thursday, February 23, 2023
10:00 am – 11:00 am

Join Zoom Meeting -
https://ofm-wa-gov.zoom.us/j/85981004711?pwd=Yk9qNGtmNWZKbjl2azVsK29hajNYQT09

7.8 Earthquake Devastates Turkey and Syria

Many of us woke up on February 6, 2023, shocked to learn about the disastrous earthquake that struck in southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria.

I was deeply saddened to learn of the devastation from the 7.8 earthquake that shattered thousands lives at 4:17am on Monday, February 6th, followed by nine-hours later by another magnitude 7.5 earthquake. More than 200 aftershocks have followed.

We have seen photos of neighborhoods in rubble and buildings flattened, while rescuers rushed to dig through concrete to pull survivors from collapsed structures, putting their lives at risk to save others, all while battling the brutal subfreezing weather conditions.

More than 20,000 lives of our brothers and sisters in Turkey and Syria have been lost in the devasting quake on Monday. Our hearts, love, and thoughts are with our Turkish and Syrian communities and WIN members, as this may be a challenging time. Our sincerest hope is that your loved ones are safe.

Christina Pourarien, WIN Chair

-

Hosts: Christina and Gwen, Professional Development

This is a supportive and inclusive environment where people should feel comfortable engaging in speaking and evaluation activities. Our goal is to help develop the professional skill of effectively speaking in front of groups of people in meetings or audiences. If you would like to practice public speaking, please sign up for Washington Immigrant Network's “WIN-Public Speaking Group”. The schedule will depend on the number of people we have signed up for each date. Please have a two-minute speech prepared that you would like to receive feedback on. Feedback will be provided by those who are in attendance through an objective evaluation.

Register in advance for this WIN workshop

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

-

This is a difficult time for our Turkish and Syrian families and community.

WIN will host a “Community Solidarity Gathering” in partnership with the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

When: Thursday, February 23, 2023
10:00 am – 11:00 am

Join Zoom Meeting -
https://ofm-wa-gov.zoom.us/j/85981004711?pwd=Yk9qNGtmNWZKbjl2azVsK29hajNYQT09

7.8 Earthquake Devastates Turkey and Syria

Many of us woke up on February 6, 2023, shocked to learn about the disastrous earthquake that struck in southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria.

I was deeply saddened to learn of the devastation from the 7.8 earthquake that shattered thousands lives at 4:17am on Monday, February 6th, followed by nine-hours later by another magnitude 7.5 earthquake. More than 200 aftershocks have followed.

We have seen photos of neighborhoods in rubble and buildings flattened, while rescuers rushed to dig through concrete to pull survivors from collapsed structures, putting their lives at risk to save others, all while battling the brutal subfreezing weather conditions.

More than 20,000 lives of our brothers and sisters in Turkey and Syria have been lost in the devasting quake on Monday. Our hearts, love, and thoughts are with our Turkish and Syrian communities and WIN members, as this may be a challenging time. Our sincerest hope is that your loved ones are safe.

Christina Pourarien, WIN Chair

-

Blacks United In Leadership and Diversity invites you to join us in celebrating Black History Month

BUILD cordially invites and welcomes you to join us as we celebrate and recognize the historical contributions, culture, and great achievements of African Americans during the annual observance of Black History Month. During the month of February 2023, BUILD will present a series of programs, events, and discussions from planning efforts led by BUILD's History and Activities Subcommittee. The Black History Month 2023 theme, “Black Resistance,” explores the resistance of African Americans, in all forms, against historical and ongoing oppression.

The BUILD February General Membership Meeting will be replaced with our main celebration event, which will be a hybrid in-person and virtual event, on Friday, February 17, 2023, from 2 pm to 5 pm.

“Blacks United In Leadership & Diversity presents Black History Month celebrating Black Resistance” at Evergreen State College – Tacoma Campus

Please register by February 15th to reserve your seat. Registration will close on this date or if room capacity is reached. The Lunch and Learn calendar appointments, which include the zoom link within, are attached. Please download and save it to your outlook calendar.

-

Blacks United In Leadership and Diversity invites you to join us in celebrating Black History Month

BUILD cordially invites and welcomes you to join us as we celebrate and recognize the historical contributions, culture, and great achievements of African Americans during the annual observance of Black History Month. During the month of February 2023, BUILD will present a series of programs, events, and discussions from planning efforts led by BUILD's History and Activities Subcommittee. The Black History Month 2023 theme, “Black Resistance,” explores the resistance of African Americans, in all forms, against historical and ongoing oppression.

Our second Virtual Lunch and Learn event on Thursday, February 9, from 12 pm to 1 pm. "Black Identity & Black Radical Tradition" facilitated by Terrence McCall

Register Here

-

Register for Real Talk! 2023

The Office of Equity invites you to join us in 2023, beginning February 8, from 11:00 –12:00pm for our Real Talk! sessions and from 12:00–12:30 pm for our Post Talks, where we will have an interactive discussion on the Real Talk! Topic.

We invite you to lean in, be curious, and engage in honest dialogue about racial equity, justice, and belonging to co-create a state government system that works for everyone.

Centered in belonging, we will unpack truth, reconcile the past, learn from one another, connect, and together, experience healing from harm. We encourage you to lean in, be curious, and explore experiences different from your own.

This is the moment and place to have real talk to truly transform our agencies into places where real people experience equity, justice, and belonging every day, now and for generations to come.

Register for Real Talk and Post Talk 2023 Series

Subscribe to monthly Real Talk news

Watch the Real Talk Introduction for more background.