Dec 24, 2025

Washington DECA

Washington DECA is looking for business and community members to volunteer as judges at the 2026 Washington DECA State Career Development Conference, taking place Feb. 26–27 in downtown Bellevue. Nearly 6,000 high school students from across the state will convene to demonstrate their skills in more than 50 DECA competitive events spanning business, marketing, finance, hospitality, and entrepreneurship.

In addition to competition, the conference will offer over a dozen industry-led workshops, hands-on financial literacy simulations, and opportunities for students to earn industry-recognized credentials, providing a comprehensive, real-world learning experience.

The conference will be hosted at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue and the Meydenbauer Center, creating an environment where students engage directly with professionals and community volunteers while applying classroom learning to practical business challenges.

To learn more or sign up as a volunteer judge for the Washington DECA State Career Development Conference, visit http://www.wadeca.org/judge. DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management in high schools and colleges around the globe.

Dec 23, 2025

Hard Hats with Heart

Chang

The American Heart Association in Washington announced Marjorie Chang, director of business development at Hoffman Construction, as the 2026 chair for its Puget Sound Hard Hats with Heart initiative. As chair, Chang will work alongside fellow industry leaders to champion action-oriented conversations about employee health, engage tradespeople in healthy lifestyle activities and raise lifesaving funds for the American Heart Association. The Hard Hats with Heart initiative was designed to address the disproportionately high risk of cardiovascular disease that construction workers face compared to employees in other industries. This elevated risk stems from a combination of factors, including long work hours, high stress, poor nutrition, tobacco use and a lack of heart-strengthening exercise. More than 343,000 construction workers, or roughly 1 in 25, are already living with cardiovascular disease. The Hard Hats with Heart accomplishments will be celebrated at an annual event scheduled for May 21 at Block 41 in Seattle. For sponsorship information or to join the leadership team, contact Julia.Martin@heart.org. For more information about Hard Hats with Heart in the Puget Sound, visit http://www.heart.org/PugetSoundHHWH.

DexCare

Seattle-based DexCare named Rakshay Jain chief product officer. Jain brings product leadership focused on helping health systems treat more patients with existing resources as they continue to face physician shortages, growing demand, and rising costs. Jain has extensive experience leading product strategy, design and management, most recently overseeing a portfolio that grew 10 times over six years at Innovaccer, saving customers billions of dollars in healthcare spend. Over the past two years, he's launched multiple artificial intelligence copilots and agents to accelerate value transformation for healthcare systems. At Innovaccer, Jain led a major product portfolio and supported enterprise growth across dozens of health systems. He brings more than 15 years of experience in healthcare technology and consulting, including product leadership and advisory work with Guidehouse and PwC. DexCare is infrastructure for patient navigation. The platform connects scheduling data across EMRs, workflows, and access points so health systems can route patients to available care.

Dec 19, 2025

NW Natural Holding Co.

Saathoff

MardiLyn Saathoff, general counsel for NW Natural Holding Co., announced her intent to retire on April 1, after nearly 18 years of service to the company. The board of directors has appointed Megan H. Berge to succeed Saathoff as SVP and general counsel, as well as chief compliance officer and corporate secretary. Saathoff will serve as chief legal officer for the company and will retain responsibilities for regulation, business continuity and corporate security until her retirement next year. Saathoff joined the company in 2008 and served as chief governance officer and corporate secretary. During her tenure, she oversaw other legal, risk, compliance and regulatory matters. She has served as general counsel since 2015. Saathoff's career included legal roles at Tektronix, Danaher Corp. and Stoel Rives. Saathoff also spent four years with the Oregon Department of Justice and the administration of Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski. Berge joined NW Natural Holdings in March 2025 as deputy general counsel and corporate secretary, as well as general counsel of NW Natural, after a career with the international law firm Baker Botts, where she was a partner. Her practice included extensive rulemaking and advocacy work related to federal and state environmental law and civil litigation. NW Natural Holding Co. is headquartered in Portland, and has been doing business for over 166 years. It owns Northwest Natural Gas Co., SiEnergy Operating, NW Natural Water Co., and NW Natural Renewables Holdings.

XBOW

Seattle-based XBOW has appointed Ron Gabrisko, chief revenue officer of Databricks, to its board of directors. Gabrisko brings decades of operating experience in scaling enterprise software, data platforms, and global go-to-market organizations, which will be influential for XBOW's mission to accelerate the adoption of autonomous offensive security in defense of AI-powered attacks. As CRO of Databricks, a Data and AI company, Gabrisko has been instrumental in accelerating the company's growth across industries worldwide. His expertise in enterprise sales, revenue strategy, and organizational leadership will play a key role in guiding XBOW through its next phase of expansion. Gabrisko's appointment comes at a time of accelerated momentum for XBOW, which is backed by Sequoia Capital and Altimeter. Gabrisko's expertise in technical sales, enterprise adoption, and global market strategy will support XBOW as it scales its commercial operations and educates the market on the future of AI-enabled attacks and defense.

Dec 18, 2025

BECU

BECU, Washington's largest credit union, is donating $450,000 to nonprofit organizations as part of its annual People Helping People Awards. Each year, BECU invites its members to nominate nonprofits that are improving access to education and economic opportunities, promoting health and wellness, providing basic needs, strengthening local communities or caring for the environment. In 2025, the credit union received over 750 nominations.

This year's People Helping People Awards come as BECU is celebrating its 90th anniversary. The People Helping People Awards is a way for members to help direct philanthropic funding in their communities. Since the program began in 2013, the People Helping People Awards have provided over $5 million to nonprofit organizations. This year's award recipients include:

Denis Maronga of Kicheko Project, Member Volunteer of the Year ($50,000). The Member Volunteer of the Year award is given to a nonprofit on behalf of a member who exemplifies exceptional community service. Funds will support Kicheko Project as they build inclusive futures by connecting culture, education, and innovation in support of BIPOC youth and families.

InvestED, People's Choice Award ($40,000). Given to the organization that receives the most votes from the community, this funding will support InvestED's efforts to provide students with immediate, barrier-free access to essentials like food, clothing and school participation costs. This year, BECU received 12,000 votes from the community.

Washington Association of Child Advocate Programs, Employees' Choice Award ($30,000). Receiving the most votes by BECU employees, Washington Association of Child Advocate Programs will be granted funding in support of the Snohomish County Court Appointed Special Advocates as they equip local advocates with tools, training, and resources to serve children in court and community settings.

Refugee & Immigrant Connections Spokane, Past Recipients' Choice Award ($30,000). Selected by popular vote from past People Helping People Award recipients, Refugee & Immigrant Connections Spokane will receive funding in support of their efforts to connect refugee and immigrant families to vital services, fostering belonging and advocating for their rights.

Community Benefit Awards ($210,000 to 14 organizations).

All other 2025 People Helping People Awards finalists will receive $15,000. Additionally, the People Helping People Awards provides two years of supplemental grant funding to ensure recipients can sustain their impact. This year, BECU is providing $90,000 to support past award recipients. The People Helping People Awards are part of BECU's broader philanthropic efforts. In 2024, the credit union contributed $9.2 million to hundreds of nonprofits focused on improving financial health in the communities it serves.

Dec 17, 2025

Hensel Phelps

Rundquist

Hensel Phelps has announced the retirement of Chief Estimator Brad Rundquist, following 29 years of service. Throughout his tenure, Rundquist has worked in five Hensel Phelps regions, during which he has procured $6.6 billion worth of projects across the country; led and won major design-build federal projects; and successfully implemented target value design during conceptual planning and supported GMP development for major projects like the SEA Gateway Project.

His contributions have had a lasting impact on the estimating team and the entire organization, and he is noted for his patience, positive attitude and ability to understand the bigger picture. As Chief Estimator/Preconstruction Director Sarah Forrest summed it up, “No matter which region or role he is working in, Brad is a positive, optimistic, curious and levelheaded colleague.”

After retirement, Rundquist will continue to share his expertise by teaching the Construction Estimating I course at the University of Washington as an affiliate assistant professor.

Dec 16, 2025

Truebeck Construction

Rohrs

Nielsen

Truebeck Construction has opened in new office in Seattle. Building on its Pacific Northwest foundation, this expansion strengthens Truebeck's long-term commitment to delivering projects across the West Coast. Two construction industry veterans, Jeff Nielsen and Joel Rohrs, will co-lead the Seattle office. Nielsen, with more than 30 years of construction leadership experience across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, brings specialized expertise in life science, data center, health care and education sectors. He has founded several successful general contracting firms, including BNBuilders in 2000, Nielsen Commercial in 2018, and the company that later became Truebeck with Sean Truesdale and David Becker in 2007. Rohrs, a Seattle-native, brings over three decades of construction and leadership experience, serving most recently as chief operations officer and executive vice president for notable Pacific Northwest Contractors. He excels in construction project team building, client development and relationships and operations management. Nielsen and Rohrs join Betsy Bice and George Ehara, co-leaders for Portland, in guiding Truebeck's Pacific Northwest strategy. Together, this leadership team will oversee growth across both the Portland and Seattle offices. Truebeck Construction is a full-service general contractor specializing in technical building, complex projects, and interiors. The company has five offices in California, Oregon and Washington.

Low Income Housing Institute

For the first time since the pandemic, the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) hosted a live gala and auction at the Four Seasons Hotel, Seattle. The event raised a record $645,000 to support LIHI's Tiny House Villages, Urban Rest Stops, and Support Service programs. Highlights of the night included: a silent auction featuring dozens of items; a dessert dash with a high bidder of $5,000; a heads or tails game where the winner got half the $2,450 pot; and a golden ticket raffle where $100 per raffle ticket gave bidders a chance at many items. The winner chose a four night stay in a Methow Valley cabin. The live auction was lead by auctioneer Kevin Joyce and co-host Tan Macaraeg, and featured items including Seahawks and Kraken tickets; a week in Tuscany; an African safari; and vacation retreats in Suncadia; Washington, D.C.; Whistler, B.C.; and Ocean Shores. The gala featured a tribute to LIHI co-founder and longtime Washington Speaker of the House Frank Chopp, who passed away on March 22 of this year. The event's co-presenting sponsors were Walsh Construction, Seattle Jaycees, Lucky Seven Foundation, Jabooda Homes, Broadview United Church of Christ, John & Shari Behnke Family, and Brown & Brown.