Apr 13, 2023

Woodland Park Zoo

Sweeney

Following a nationwide search, Woodland Park Zoo named Roger Sweeney as its new chief zoological officer. Sweeney will join the zoo directly from North Carolina Zoo, where he is the director of animal management and welfare and a member of their senior management team. His first day at Woodland Park Zoo will be May 1.

The chief zoological officer is the reimagined and realigned role that was previously the chief operations officer, and was designed with an increased focus and call for extensive experience in animal care and project management. Sweeney will lead overall zoological operations in animal care, facilities and maintenance, exhibits, sustainability, and safety and security. Sweeney will support upcoming planning for the zoo's environmental sustainability, as well as a fresh look at the zoo's animal population sustainability. Sweeney's career in zoo leadership has spanned facilities around the world including the United States, Spain, Qatar, Barbados and the United Kingdom. Sweeney currently serves as an Association of Zoos & Aquariums inspector and the Asian Hornbill Saving Animals From Extinction program leader. He has served on numerous national and international animal care and conservation committees and advisory groups. Woodland Park Zoo is currently open 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

Washington Lottery Commission

Pettigrew

Gov. Jay Inslee named Eric Pettigrew to serve as director of the Washington State Lottery Commission, effective May 1, 2023. Pettigrew replaces Marcus Glasper, who left the position at the end of March to become director the Department of Licensing. Pettigrew is currently vice president of government relations & outreach at Seattle Kraken Hockey, a position he has held since 2019. Pettigrew has decades of experience in public service. From 2003 to 2021, he represented the residents of Washington's 37th legislative district in Washington's House of Representatives, including 10 years as caucus chair. During his tenure, he championed funding for economic development initiatives, community programs and public transit. He also secured key funding to bolster foster care programs, expand higher education opportunities for incarcerated individuals and to promote charter schools in his district. Pettigrew has served on a number of volunteer boards, including Rainier Vista and King County Boys and Girls Clubs, Greater Seattle Business Chamber, Edgar Martinez Foundation, ACT Theater Group, and the Pike Place Market Foundation. He currently serves on the boards of the United Way of King County, the Pacific Science Center, Casey Family Programs and the Seattle Chamber of Commerce.

Avalara

Avalara, a provider of cloud-based tax compliance automation for businesses of all sizes, appointed Sean Flynn as senior vice president of global sales. In his new role, Flynn will be responsible for leading go-to-market sales teams at Avalara, including new and existing sales, customer success, sales development, and solutions engineering. With more than 25 years of experience, Flynn has scaled businesses ranging from startups to established technology companies. He previously led global sales at IBM and held leadership roles at other private equity-backed companies, including as U.S. chief executive officer at Gympass and chief customer officer at InStride. Flynn also served as an armor officer in the U.S. Army, experience that will enhance Avalara's goal of recruiting and retaining military veterans. Headquartered in Seattle, Avalara has offices across the U.S. and around the world in Brazil, Europe, and India.

Apr 12, 2023

Summit Bank

Summit Bank hired Dan Wahlin as senior vice president, commercial team lead for its Westside Portland office. Wahlin spent the majority of his almost 40 year career working in leadership positions with Oregon-based community banks. During his last tenure, he was responsible for managing a team of over 20 commercial bankers. Wahlin attended Portland State University and received his Bachelor of Science in Business Finance and Accounting. He is also an alumni of the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado. He has served on various local boards and committees including: finance committee for Community Action of Washington County, chairman of Habitat for Humanity, and the Pilgrim Lutheran School Board, where he served as chairman for 6 years. Wahlin joins the Westside Portland office team that includes: Greg Oakes, senior vice president, business client advisor; Joshua Adams, senior vice president, business client advisor; Zach Weber, associate business client advisor; Chris Barron, vice president, relationship banking manager; and Fernando Lira, business banking associate. Summit Bank has offices in Eugene, Central Oregon, and downtown Portland.

Orca Security

Portland-based Orca Security appointed James Love as president of field operations. In this role, Love will be responsible for all revenue-generating activities including global sales, customer success, and channel partner teams, to support the demand for the company's cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP). Under Love's leadership, Orca Security will implement a 100% channel-led go-to-market strategy. Love joins Orca Security from Illumio, where he served as chief revenue officer. Prior to Illumio, Love grew Arxan Technologies' revenue by almost 500%, leading to an acquisition by private investment firm TPG. Before that, Love served as senior vice president at Imperva. Orca recently secured a patent for its agentless SideScanning technology, and was recognized as the AWS Global Security Partner of the Year. Additionally, Gartner recognized Orca Security as a representative vendor for CNAPP in its 2023 Gartner Market Guide for Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms, and Frost & Sullivan honored Orca with a 2023 Customer Value Leadership Award.

Lasher Holzapfel

Lasher Holzapfel Sperry & Ebberson is celebrating 50 years of practicing law. On April 1, 1973, Earl Lasher decided to launch a law firm with a couple of friends from the University of Washington School of Law - Jeff Brotman and Mike Sweet. That firm would become Lasher Holzapfel Sperry & Ebberson. Today, the firm stands at 35 attorneys supported by a team of paralegals and staff. In 2023, Lasher boasted 27 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars, 18 Best Lawyers and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch honorees, six Best Lawyers Lawyer of the Year recipients and Seven U.S. News Best Lawyers Best Law Firms rankings. Lasher provides comprehensive legal services for select businesses, their owners and families. Areas of practice include business and tax law, divorce and family law, general civil litigation, creditors' rights and bankruptcy, employment law, estate planning, probate and related litigation, and real estate law.

Apr 11, 2023

Dorsey & Whitney

Murphy

Grace

Bavand

Marisa Bavand, Mike Grace, and Allison Murphy joined Dorsey & Whitney's Seattle office as partners in its Construction and Design and its Government Contracts practices. Additionally, attorneys Tamara Comeau, Christian Ferrin, and Emily Yoshiwara joined Dorsey, along with two staff members. All of these new additions to Dorsey's Seattle office were formerly with Seattle-based Groff Murphy, which is ceasing operations. Bavand provides counsel to construction industry and government contracts clients and has served in contracting and dispute roles in national and international projects. Her practice includes representing public and private owners, general contractors, and engineers with pre-project planning and risk assessment, contract drafting, claim management and preservation, and litigating disputes. She also has extensive experience defending clients in United States Department of Justice investigations and False Claims Act litigation. Grace provides counsel and litigation services to contractors, developers, design professionals, and other construction industry clients. He drafts and negotiates a wide variety of contracts and agreements, helping clients resolve issues during all phases of the construction process. Murphy focuses her practice on government contracts, construction law, and complex commercial litigation. She has handled litigation in state and federal courts and has participated in mediations and arbitration hearings involving complex construction and government contract disputes. Dorsey has locations across the United States and in Canada, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.

Nike

Wilkins

Nike named KeJuan Wilkins, vice president of enterprise communications, as the company's new executive vice president, chief communications officer. In his new role, Wilkins will lead all global corporate, consumer, and employee communications for Nike. He succeeds Nigel Powell, the company's long-time EVP, chief communications officer, who will retire this summer. As a member of the company's executive leadership team, Wilkins will report directly to John Donahoe, president and CEO of Nike. Wilkins, a 17-year veteran of the company, most recently led corporate and employee communications globally for Nike. He has previously led communications for Nike's North America geography and the Jordan Brand. Before Nike, Wilkins held roles in the athletic footwear industry and with the New York Knicks. Powell joined Nike in 1999 and held leadership positions in EMEA and North America before taking on the EVP, CCO role. This leadership change is effective June 1. Nike is headquartered in Beaverton.