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 currently serves as the co-chair of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Employee Resource Group at ESD.

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.

Area(s) of Professional Expertise:
Human Resources, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, Classification and Compensation, Recruitment, Coaching, Career Planning, Facilitation, Organization Change Management, and Conflict Resolutions

Ethnic Background:
Multi-racial – Child of first generation Korean immigrant parent.

Language(s) Spoken:
English, and conversational Korean

Marcus Bach (he/him/his) is a Contract Specialist at the Department of Enterprise Services. He supports the Contracts & Procurements professional services contracts team. His previous experience was working all over the United States in various engineering roles supporting commercial aircrafts at Raytheon Technologies. His prior experience before joining DES was working on fighter aircrafts in the Midwest at The Boeing Company. Marcus holds a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington, and a Masters degree in Engineering Management from Northwestern University. He attended Washington University in St. Louis School of Law where he fell in love with writing contracts and legal issues. Outside of work, Marcus can be found at the local symphony orchestra concerts (Pre-Covid). Now he just stays at home reading analyst reports, generating DCF valuation models, and investing long in the markets.

As WIN Vice-Chair, Marcus aims to promote the advancement of colleagues of diverse cultural backgrounds and lead on topics related to immigrants working in WA State government. He is excited to engage and work with colleagues across all roles and tenures who identify as immigrants by geography or heritage, or who wish to support and celebrate immigrants, their contributions and culture.

LLN / RAIN- Power of Identity:

The intersectionality of the LGBTQ+ and Latino/a/x/e Communities 

The Latino Leadership Network (LLN) and the Rainbow Alliance and Inclusion Network (RAIN) will be collaborating to host a lunch and learn panel to continue the discussion about intersectionality within the Latino/a/x/e and LGBTQ+ communities. There will be a Q&A at the end.  All state employees are welcome to attend the lunch and learn to hear new perspectives and gain knowledge.  Please distribute generously within your agency’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Respect (DEIR) work.

If interested in being a panel member please email Nohemy.Solorzano-Thompson@dsb.wa.gov

Panel Starts: June 30, 2022 at 12 pm

Register        Download Flyer