2024 HAPPEN Executive Leadership Team Elections
In case you missed it: The following positions are up for election on the HAPPEN Executive Leadership Team (ELT)!
Nominations have closed. Position descriptions can be found on the HAPPEN website. The confirmed nominees below are eligible for election.
HAPPEN members, as defined in Article IV, Section I in our bylaws, are encouraged to vote for their preferred candidates. Members may vote by completing this survey one time by August 21, 2024 (voting survey will close at 11:59 pm on Wed, Aug 21).
Meet our Nominees
Upon acceptance of their nomination, nominees provided the following information for your consideration.
Titu Hariharan - Treasurer nominee
Titu Hariharan (she/her) is an Information Technology Project Manager Senior Specialist/Supervisor for the IT Division PMO at the Department of Natural Resources. Titu began her state service in 2022 at DSHS/BHA and prior to that worked as an IT Project Management consultant for the government, healthcare, education, and defense sectors for over 15 years.
Titu looks forward to contributing to advocating policies that promote anti-racism, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the workplace, being a part of HAPPEN, serving the community and Washingtonians. She is an immigrant of South Asian descent, and loves to connect with people, from diverse backgrounds and experiences. “It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength” – Maya Angelou.
Melissa Cheesman - Co-chair nominee
Melissa Cheesman (siya/she/her), MPAC, is the Senior Policy Advisor for the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF). In this role, Melissa leads the early learning and child care legislative and policy portfolio. She advises on budget decision packages, legislative implementation, engagement and outreach, and develops agency request legislative to support the programs within her portfolio. Prior to these roles, she was the Assistant Policy Director after being promoted from Senior Accounting and Policy Advisor at the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (Commission). These roles provided opportunities to develop leadership skills that utilized a human centered approach to support an inclusive work environment that advances psychological safety and a sense of belonging. In these roles she provided guidance that promoted fair and equitable customer rates, the availability of essential utility services, and promotes equity and antiracist policy and decision making. This work was critical to supporting and ensuring that the commission’s decisions are informed by relevant accounting and ratemaking principles, standards, and policies. Through this work, she also identifies and advises on key issues and decision points that shape the policy direction of the commission and provides analysis and decision-making guidance to the commissioners, agency leadership, policy, and regulatory staff on accounting and financial issues, regulatory theory, and policy issues arising from contested cases and other matters before the commission. As a person of mixed-ancestry, who identifies as Filipina, Melissa graduated magna cum laude from Seattle University, Albers School of Business and Economics, in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and majored in accounting. In 2012, she earned a Master of Professional Accounting (MPAC) degree from Seattle University, Albers School of Business and Economics. The MPAC degree focuses on advanced accounting and organizational leadership. After earning the advanced degree, she began her state service in June 2012.
Evelyn Tuiaana - Co-chair nominee
Evelyn Tuiaana (She/Her) or better known as Eve is a native of Carson, California. Eve is a Pacific Islander of Samoan and Tongan descent. She is a combat Veteran of United States Army with more than 20 years of active-duty service. She retired from Joint Base Lewis-McChord and has made Washington her home where she is raising her family. She serves as a Veteran advocate in Pierce and Thurston Counties. She devotes her free time helping Veteran Service Organizations in her community. Eve is currently the VFW Post Commander 11402 Lacey-Tumwater for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. She currently works with the Department of Enterprise Services as a DEI Learning Design and Delivery Professional training our state employees on DEI. Eve served her country and continues to serve her community by assisting the homeless, passing out supplies or delivering food from the food bank. Wherever there is a need she continues to be a true servant leader. She is humble and believes that her actions will always speak louder than her words to get any job done.
Christina Pourarien - Administrative Liaison nominee
Christina Pourarien (she/her) is an Information Technology Services Division Executive Operations Manager for the State of Washington Employment Security Department (ESD). After graduating from Central Washington University, she began her state service career in 1999 at the Washington State Lottery. She has worked at General Administration (currently known as Department of Enterprise Services), Department of Retirement Systems, The Evergreen State College, Department of Social Health and Services, Department of Licensing, and Labor & Industries before joining ESD in January of 2022.
She is the past WIN BRG Chair as well as one of the first co-chair of the Family of Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiians, and Asians (FOPINHA) Employee Resource Group at ESD. She also served as the first chair for the Asian Pacific American Employee Resource Group at L&I.
Christina was born in Great Falls, Montana moved to South Korean with her family when she was six months old and returned to the United States as a young child in the early 1980s. Her father proudly served in the US Air Force and her mother is originally from Korea. She attended public school in the North Thurston School District in Lacey, Washington. She had the privileged to be the first one in her family to receive a formal college education from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She and her husband Cody have a teenage daughter, Sima.
Leilani Martinez - Administrative Liaison nominee
As a dedicated advocate with a rich multicultural background, I bring a unique perspective to my work. Being Japanese/Hispanic and a Child of a Deaf Adult (CODA), I have a deep understanding of diverse cultures and the challenges faced by the deaf community.
For the past nine years, I have served with a state agency, where my passion for advocacy and helping others has flourished. My colleagues and friends often rely on me for my empathetic listening skills and insightful advice. I am known for my ability to lift others' spirits and make them feel valued and appreciated.
I have an insatiable curiosity and a love for learning that drives me to delve deeply into subjects that intrigue me. Whether through reading, researching, or experimenting, I immerse myself in gathering comprehensive information. This dedication to understanding is not just a personal trait but a professional asset that enhances my ability to advocate effectively.
My approach to life and work is grounded in the belief that hard work and preparation create opportunities. I meticulously plan and execute my goals, linking together facts, incidents, and resources to understand and achieve success. I reject the idea that life is merely a game of chance; instead, I create my own good fortune through diligence and determination.
With a focus on thoroughness and a knack for making others feel heard and valued, I strive to make a positive impact in my community and beyond.
Denise Ross - Community Outreach Lead nominee
Denise Ross (she/her) is the Workplace Culture and Development Manager at the Puget Sound Partnership. She leads the cabinet agency in creating more human-focused employee experiences grounded in belonging and inclusion. Denise holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management and has been a public servant since 2011. She is one of the founders of HAPPEN, along with Nicholas Vann and other leaders, who helped transform a group of three passionate state employees into an official business resource group with hundreds of HAPPEN members now advancing that mission. Denise grew up in the Pacific Northwest in a multi-generational home infused with proud Japanese culture, food, and values of honor and respect. She is a Japanese American (Nisei Generation) and the daughter and granddaughter of Issei Generation immigrants. She holds ancestry roots in O'ahu, Hawaii, and Sendai, Japan. Some of Denise’s passions include awareness for early detection of breast cancer screening, supporting veterans, spreading domestic violence awareness, and advancing social justice. She is a Legacy Ex-Officio member of the HAPPEN Executive Leadership Team.
Rachel Friederich - Community Outreach Lead nominee
Rachel Friederich (she/her): Mabuhay! I was born in the Yakima Valley am the proud daughter of Filipino immigrants. I’m a first-generation college graduate and an award-winning journalist who made the leap state service. I began my state career in 2025 as a communications consultant for the Department of Corrections and now work as a communications lead for the Serve Washington Division of the Office of Financial Management. I love using my multi-media talents to tell stories about the amazing work government employees are doing to make Washington a pro-equity and anti-racist state. In addition to my work in communications, I served as my agency’s representative for the Interagency Committee of State Employed Women. I spent one year as their professional development chair, fostering new and strengthening existing relationships with community members to give presentations and trainings at meetings and their statewide professional development conference. I am founding member of the Hawaiians, Asians, and Pacific Islanders Promoting and Empowerment Network, HAPPEN, business resource group. I was on the steering committee to establish HAPPEN as a BRG and co-chaired its launch event in 2022. HAPPEN is where my heart is. This group has given me inspiration to learn about my ANHPI heritage and history. It’s given me strength to acknowledge my own intergenerational trauma, tools to identify and confront white supremacy culture, and the courage to talk about it. As I continue to explore and share my own lived experiences as a Filipina-American, I realize they are a drop in the bucket of the distinct, diverse experiences of people who make up the 50+ ethnicities of the ANHPI community. As HAPPEN’s community outreach lead, I want to use my desire to learn and create connections to engage with all members of our ANHPI community and our allies. I want to shed light on issues impacting ANHPI communities that for generations, we’ve been taught to keep silent about. It’s only when we speak up, that we can ignite change. Together we can raise our voices to shatter the bamboo ceiling, create brave spaces to be our authentic selves at work, and increase ANHPI representation at all levels of state government.
Naghmana Sherazi - Community Outreach Lead nominee
Naghmana Sherazi is a scientist, an educator, a medical professional and a community leader; Naghmana is also single mother to an amazing son, an immigrant of South Asian descent, and loves to connect with people on the basis of food, music, culture, art, ethnicity, religion, the environment, and social, racial and climate justice issues. She made history by being the first Muslim immigrant woman of South Asian descent to run for office and win in a primary in Spokane City. She has an MA in English, BA in Economics as well as an AS in Biotechnology and a second BS in Cytogenetic Technology, She moved to Spokane in 2012.
She serves on the steering Committees of Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane (PJALS), as first VC on the Sustainability Action Subcommittee’s Steering Committee for the City of Spokane, is a Board member with 350Spokane, Earth Ministry, and Board Chair of Greater Spokane Progress. She is Co-Chair for Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom and writes a column for Spokane FāVS – a faith based internet publication. She is one of the founders of a small non-profit, Muslims for Community, Action and Support (MCAS) - working to dispel Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, Xenophobia and Misogyny in Spokane by educating and creating awareness about Muslims and specifically Muslim immigrants and Refugees and the benefits they bring when they become part of your community.
Naghmana is passionate about climate justice, equity, social and racial causes, immigrants and refugees, and works hard to be a voice for marginalized communities of color. She is a renter, and being an immigrant and a woman of color acknowledges that she lives with racism and social/racial/religious biases every day. She is an untiring advocate for affordable housing, looking to end structural racism enabling people of color to have ways and means to access and create wealth and abundance. Naghmana Sherazi currently works part time as Climate Justice Program Director (Interim) with the Lands Council, a well-regarded nonprofit in the Spokane area that promotes conservation and environmental causes, and her full time work is with the Washington State Office of Equity as Pro-Equity Consultant.
Naghmana is well known for being a collaborator, connector and communicator. Her organizing background and skills are a distinct advantage as she works with underrepresented and marginalized communities and especially with communities of color. She has built a good network due to her relational work within the immigrant and refugee communities, and especially those of NHAPI affiliation. If elected, she hopes to expand the HAPPEN network and work with as many groups as possible to amplify this BRG.
Kelsy Vincent - Community Outreach Lead nominee
My name is Kelsy Vincent. I am the Legal Assistant Supervisor in the Adjudicative Services Unit at the Department of Health. I am honored to be nominated for the roles of Membership Coordinator, Community Outreach Lead, and Administrative Liaison. I have been involved with HAPPEN since the BRG’s inception, working with the steering committee to develop the charter and bylaws and gain approval from OFM. During my five years of state service, I have served on the DEIR committee at my previous agency (Office of Administrative Hearings), as well as the RAIN BRG and the Equity Community Builders ERG at the Department of Health.
In addition to my work with HAPPEN and RAIN, I am also a long time volunteer for Girl Scouts of Western Washington, as I believe that representation matters and that working with the youth in my community can foster a sense of belonging. I understand the importance of seeing someone “like you” in leadership positions and wish to be the role model that I did not have at that age.
I remember the HAPPEN kick off event, seeing all of the volunteers who looked like me and realizing that I had not experienced that before in my life. Its in those moments that I feel the gravity of our mission to promote anti-racism, equity, and inclusion and understand the sense of peace that kind of community can bring, not only to the employees of Washington state but to the people we serve as well.
As the proud parent of a teenager who just graduated from high school, I gain inspiration from my child and their peers, who are outspoken in their beliefs and passionate about social justice and equity. One thing I have tried to instill in them is the importance of serving your community. While the world we live in can be dark at times, I encourage them to find the light and make a difference where they can, however small. For me, that looks like participating in different BRG’s and volunteering in my community. Because I know that I may never change the world, but if I can connect with one person, there is no telling how far those ripples will go.
I want to express my gratitude to those of you who nominated me for these positions. If selected, I promise to continue my journey to better educate myself in anti-racist ideals and to remain committed to the goals of the group and the people of Washington. I intend to serve as a proud member of HAPPEN.
Kennly Asato - Mentorship Lead nominee
Aloha everyone! My name is Kennly Asato (she/they) and I am excited to run for the Mentorship Committee Lead position. I currently serve as the Deputy Assistant Director for the Housing Division at the Washington State Department of Commerce. I believe that I would not be where I am today without mentors that have guided me and provided me with advice over the years. I have worked in state government for the last 12 years and have created internship, fellowship, and mentoring programs at two state agencies. Last year, I launched HAPPEN's mentorship program with our amazing mentorship committee. I have also mentored several fellow state employees during my time with the state. I am passionate about continuing to develop and grow a flourishing mentorship program for us in our BRG.
Kara Chung - Mentorship Lead nominee
My name is Kara Chung, I use she/her pronouns, and I am a community advisory board program manager with the Office of Equity. I come to this work because I love my community and I believe in the possibility of re-imagining a system that honors our cultures, strengths, and values. I have my doctorate in education and organizational leadership and completed my dissertation on how peer mentorship can aid in re-entry for justice-impacted women. My experience working in community-led, prison abolition spaces ignited a passion in me for racial and social equity. I have seen and experienced the harm that current systems have caused to individuals and communities at large and I believe it is my life calling to be part of the movement for change. In my free time, I love to hike, camp, and travel. I am also proud to be a mother to a daughter and have found healing in the bond that I share with her.
Jason Lim - Membership nominee
Jason Lim has an undergraduate degree in Natural Resources Management from James Madison College and in Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy-Parliamentary Studies. He also has a Master’s in Marine Affairs from the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs (SMEA) at the University of Washington. Jason received his second master’s in environmental studies-phycological studies from Evergreen State College.
Currently, Jason is an Ecosystem Recovery Coordinator/LIO program project officer. Before joining Puget Sound Partnership, Jason was a contractor with NOAA in various roles from the Species Act (ESA) Section 7 Fish biologist. ESA Puget Sound Rockfish recovery biologist. Steller Sea Lion Recovery biologist. Jason was also a Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) biologist.
Jason is from a multi-generational Cantonese/Taishanese household. His mom was born in China and raised in Hong Kong and came to the United States as a teenager. On his father’s side, it was his great-grandfather who came to San Francisco in the early 20th century and worked to bring his family, including his grandfather to the United States. Jason comes from a family rooted in the restaurant business that allowed his father’s generation to become doctors, lawyers, and managers in business. He and his partner are still advocates for all immigrant communities, education (they volunteer for their local library), and environmental protection and recovery – including access for all communities who do not the means, resources, or time. They sometimes take outdoor recreation for granted and want to make sure access to the outdoors and the many activities are accessible to all.
Katrina Radach - Membership nominee
Katrina Radach (she/her) is the manager of the Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program (PSEMP) at the Puget Sound Partnership. With a lifelong commitment to connecting and empowering communities, Katrina has worked in a variety of roles that stem from this commitment. Currently, Katrina leads a collaborative network that brings together around 1,500 individuals from 140 organizations, all united by their commitment to science and its connections. Her role involves bridging science with community and management needs, and she is deeply involved in mentoring recent graduates, helping them gain valuable job experiences and develop their skills.
At the Partnership, Katrina is an active member of the Partnership’s Inclusive, Diverse, Equity, and Accessibility Work Group, and within PSEMP, she supported the implementation of efforts to enhance equity and environmental justice within PSEMP. She has also played a key role in developing training programs for boards and supporting the Equity Advisory Group.
Navigating her own mixed identity as the daughter of a Japanese immigrant mother and a white father, Katrina has experienced the navigation and complexities related to being mixed-race, privilege, othering, and the challenges of code-switching. Through HAPPEN, she has found a safe place to connect and grow and looks forward to supporting our community.