Area Report for Board of Trustees

The countdown to Commencement continues and our social media team is celebrating student success by featuring students with daily posts featuring students, their stories and highlights of year-end activities . Communications and Marketing is at work supporting dozens of end of year events and preparing for the printed and multimedia needs for graduation. The Foundation hosted leaders of the Rankin Foundation and King County Housing Authority for reception with graduating WISH students. Jenessa Pettit was announced as the 2025 Distinguished Alumna. IA members attended a variety of events in the community, from regional fundraisers for the Highline Heritage Museum and MultiService Center, Chamber of Commerce events like the Southside Leadership Conference and Federal Way Chamber healthcare study presentation, and the second annual Government to Government Native American-CTC summit in Spokane.

Core Theme 1: ACCESS, Reduce Barriers and close equity gaps to access for all community members

• IA participated in a debrief of the WA HSI Symposium with campus partners on 6/3 to discuss learnings from the May event at Skagit College and how to incorporate ideas into action to reflect in workplans and division goals, including more directed marketing to Latinx/Latine/Latino community in south King County such as the new Spanish Language billboard in Burien at the intersection of 1st Ave S and S 156th (near O’Reilly Autoparts).
• IA continues to support launch Tukwila Promise by attending the TP Kickoff on Foster High School on 5/28 and share the story through social media. Congratulations to Dr. Jamilyn Penn and the entire team working hard with Tukwila School District, City of Tukwila, Washington State Opportunity Scholarship and Rep. Steve Berquist to welcome our first cohort of Tukwila Promise students in Fall 2025.

Core Theme 2: STUDENT LEARNING, Increase educational success, collaborate to improve

• The Foundation hosted a reception with leaders Rankin Foundation and King County Housing Authority and graduating WISH students and Rankin Scholars on June 5. The Rankin Scholars is an innovative partnership, amplifying the work of EDT (Mariela Barriga, Saido Alinur) and providing additional resources for students to overcome the financial challenges while getting housing support through KCHA. 10 of the participants are graduating this spring.

Core Theme 3: COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS, Create a more inclusive working environment and a more valued, visible relationship with communities we serve

IA staff attended, participated and represented Highline College at the following events:

• 5/28 Highline Forum (Port of Seattle and airport impacted communities), which included presentations on regional economic development projects, and we’ll be the host of the 7/23/25 Highline Forum in Constance/Olympus at 2:30 pm.
• Meeting with the City of Des Moines and Highline Public Schools on 5/28 to continue the conversation of how the City, HPS and HC collaborate to better serve our community.
• Government to Government Summit with Native American Tribes and Community and Technical College Representatives in Spokane on June 2, 2025.
• Port of Seattle South King County Fund grantee meeting with Puget Sound Welcome Back Center staff at Port’s conference center at Fisherman’s Terminal to learn more about maritime industries.
• Greater Federal Way Chamber’s presentation on the future of Health Care and Biotech in South King County on 6/4/2025.
• MultiService Center fundraiser at Muckleshoot Casino on 6/7.
• Highline Heritage Museum Fundraiser at the Cove in Normandy Park on 6/8.
• Southside Leadership Summit, Friday, June 20th in B8. IA volunteered as host site, recruited speakers and attendees and will kick off the day with a formal welcome.

Division Honors and Achievements

• Announcement of Jenessa Pettit as the 2025 Distinguished Alumna , thanks to Tanisha Williams for managing the nomination/award process.
• Thanks and appreciation to the Printshop and Comm/Marketing for support of Arcturus, student literary and visual arts journal, including additional online content.
• Foundation is proud to support In Our Own Words: Stories from Immigrant and Refugee Students Vol 2, produced by the Library and ELCAP.
• Foundation has provided support for the first short term study abroad trip to Indonesia, led by faculty Justin Taillon and Ahmed Fahad.

Report submitted by Vice President of Institutional Advancement, Joshua Gerstman