With over 25 years of experience in public outreach and public policy, Cheryl understands what it takes to get the job done- and it often involves elected officials, community councils, regulatory agencies, labor unions, business leaders, or a group of residents. Cheryl is skilled at bringing diverse players and interests to the table and crafting compromises that work for everyone. She has a solid reputation for trustworthy stakeholder outreach and facilitation, having worked as a policy analyst for the House Democratic Caucus of the Washington State Legislature and with Seattle's Department of Neighborhoods. She has experience working in several policy arenas but she is most passionate about education, children and healthcare.
Penny is passionate about truly engaging people in projects that will affect their lives, their homes and their businesses. She understands the level of information needed to convey the issues and vigorously seeks out opportunities to involve and inform concerned and interested people - whether it is at a public meeting, at a construction site, or at a potluck social. Penny uses her ever-present sense of humor and smooth but firm touch in her group facilitation. She brings calm to agitated citizens, ensuring group members are heard and are hearing each other, and ensuring a process is honest, clear, and mutually beneficial for all parties, Penny is adept at moving group members through difficult conversations and to a place of mutual acceptance and dialogue. And she's crazy about her dog, too!
Chris has over 11 years of experience managing software development, Internet, and digital media projects, and has expertise in providing hands-on guidance and direction for multiple high-tech companies. Chris has created a broad range of software applications on different platforms using multiple technologies. He is able to help clients develop innovative web sites and complex databases plus anything in-between.
Linda has over 20 years of strategic communications and public sector marketing experience. Her broad background includes work in transportation, public works, water conservation and water quality issues, neighborhood outreach and parks and recreation at the state and local levels. Before joining EnviroIssues, Linda served as the Communications Director for the Washington State Department of Transportation. She brings valuable experience from her role at WSDOT, directing agency approaches to media relations, community outreach, Web communications, print materials, message development and branding initiatives. Linda has facility for creating high level communications strategies and for implementing grassroots outreach to build political and community support for projects. She can turn around a tough technical issue and make it understandable for the public, and she’s also expert at developing and implementing roll-out strategies for communicating sensitive issues and policies.
Suanne manages communications and outreach for the SR 520 Project, which has been an EnviroIssues project for almost a decade. Suanne’s team is busy throughout the east-west corridor and the region, delivering user-friendly communication materials, effective community outreach, local government coordination, catastrophic failure planning, design and pre-construction outreach, and environmental review. She is a strong project manager who integrates well into interdisciplinary teams, listens carefully to all of the issues, and provides clear strategic advice on how to engage and respond to the community.
When Sarah is not making three-point shots on EnviroIssues' basketball team, she is using her strong science and policy background to help clients navigate complicated regulatory arenas. Sarah helps our clients effectively integrate technical and policy work, and engages public and agency stakeholders in decision-making processes to achieve successful outcomes. From environmental permitting and land use decisions to natural resources planning and facilitation, Sarah is a key player on any team.
As a skilled communications and public involvement specialist, Paige has developed and implemented strategic public engagement programs and communications strategies that focus on enhancing the public’s understanding of programs and projects as they relate to natural and human environmental issues. With eight years of experience, Paige employs integrated communication techniques, such as product/service positioning, PR programs, public education efforts, media relations, marketing services, and community outreach activities that actively seek public participation and inform the public throughout the duration of the project.
As a Seattle native, Kristine knew she had to return to her hometown after a pilgrimage to Portland, where she completed her master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning. Kristine lends a planner's perspective to EnviroIssues' complex land use and transportation projects. Her most recent experience focuses on planning future safety and reliability improvements for regional transportation corridors in Washington. With her environmental policy background as well, Kristine is a valuable team member.
Elizabeth has a knack for absorbing technical information. She relies on her ability to process information about complex decisions and projects to effectively communicate the basics while always paying attention to detail. Her passion for planning events helps provide both organization and innovation to public meetings, and various communications and outreach activities. Elizabeth lends her skills to EnviroIssues' transportation, noise mitigation, regional transit and construction projects. In her spare time, her monster dinner parties have earned her the nickname of Mama Liz.
Emily’s strengths are in media relations and strategic communications. For the past three years at EnviroIssues, she has helped clients convey the region’s complex transportation and planning issues in a clear and meaningful way for the public. She’s worked to promote brownfields projects, helped communities understand the costs and benefits of annexation, and now devotes her time to communications for the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Program. That’s enough to keep anyone busy, but Emily is also pursuing her master’s degree at the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington.
Susan is a results oriented professional merging in-depth understanding of science and natural resource management with facilitation, mediation, and strategic planning. She has extensive experience with collaborative decision making and teamwork. Susan is accustomed to highly controversial projects with significant impacts and stringent deadlines. With 25 years of experience, Susan has well developed written and verbal communication abilities and is capable of execution as well as vision, with proven success in leadership, management, conflict resolution, analysis and public policy.
Translation of technical information, communication with neighbors, and ensuring information gets out to all interested parties - these are a few of Kristy's public involvement skills. Kristy has worked on projects from Portland to Anacortes, from major interchanges to wastewater conveyance systems and small town developments. Kristy knows how to manage projects, large and small, so that the community is engaged, aware, and ready to move forward. She not only loves talking about projects, she's also a big promoter of EnviroIssues as a natural marketing guru.
KaDeena joined EnviroIssues with years of experience implementing and managing commercial sector education and outreach for Seattle’s recycling ordinance. Her solid outreach skills and passion for the community make her the ideal team member to engage stakeholders in the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Program. Through community briefings, surveys and open houses, KaDeena helps clients understand and incorporate the desires and concerns of the surrounding community. When she’s not out talking to the community about the viaduct, she serves on the board of the Environmental Coalition of South Seattle.
Anne is a professional communicator who translates technical documents and analysis into lay language that a wide variety of audiences can easily comprehend. She is especially interested in using clear communications to ensure that parties interested in a project can make informed choices and provide input that is valuable to project managers. She played key roles in efforts to craft a wolf management plan for Oregon, improve communications with fish and wildlife conservationists, write a groundwater quality evaluation report in Idaho, and analyze environmental quality indicators in Indiana.
Mandy’s focus is providing public involvement, facilitation, and outreach for tough projects, with an emphasis on engaging traditionally underrepresented communities. Mandy is skilled in event planning, including public meetings and training and leading team-building exercises. Most recently, Mandy has put her formidable communications and outreach skills to work helping manage the SR 520 Project, while also serving as the vice president of the Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS) Puget Sound chapter.
From planning small neighborhood parks to developing design guidelines for interstate corridors, Erin is experienced in public involvement and communications for all types of projects. An excellent communicator with a keen understanding of public perspective and the issues facing communities today, Erin finds creative ways to engage people in the issues that affect them - whether brainstorming the future of transit with local students or working with local television and film makers to bring public meetings right to your living room.
A Seattle native, Erin has seen the region evolve, and works every day to prepare the public for the future. Whether explaining the merits of expanding our high capacity transit system for Sound Transit to fair-goers, or talking to community members in the City of Carnation about construction in their neighborhood, Erin is readying Puget Sound residents for growth from the bottom up. She does all this with an eye for detail on any task. When she’s not planning upcoming public meetings or writing a newsletter, you might find Erin teaching or performing her other talent – Irish Dancing.
Angie is a communicator at heart. Angie's clients value her ability to build real connections with community members and stakeholders, communicating complex issues in a clearly understandable way. Her project management and problem solving skills are critical as she works with a project team to understand and meet the needs of a community. Her projects range from the hills of the Cascades to the waters of the South Sound, and challenge her with the thorniest
of issues.