Join Our Leadership Team
 Nominations are open through April 30 for the following positions:
- 2 Co-Chairs
- Communications Coordinator
- Leadership Development
- Policy
Nominate yourself or someone you know today!
General Meeting
We are excited to have our guest speaker, Enoka Herat, present at our April 9 meeting. Enoka is the new Policy Director in the Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown’s Administration. She has worked alongside immigrant rights and police accountability advocates across the state, making WA a more humane place to live for all of us. Prior to the AG’s office, Enoka was Policing and Immigration Policy Program Director with the ACLU for nearly eight years, where she helped create landmark legislation around police tactics and use of force. Enoka received her Juris Doctor at University of Washington and her bachelor’s degree at Wesleyan University. Enoka is the proud daughter of Sri Lankan immigrants, and lives in Seattle with her husband and two kids.
Additionally, we will hear from Matt Murata and Lauren Lutz from the Department of Revenue. The dynamic duo will talk about their work at the Working Families Tax Credit Division.
Matt works for the working families tax credit program within the Department of Revenue. He has been with the division since coming to DOR in 2022. Matt joined as a benefits specialist and is currently a part of our Systems Team where he helps with things like testing ATLAS and application changes, language support, and improvement projects.
Matt has a biracial background; his father is from Tokyo and mother is from rural Kentucky. They made an unlikely pair, and growing up Matt came to realize that different cultures can often share more sensibilities than one might think, like thrift, humility, and a focus on communal wellbeing for example. He’s come to understand that growing up between worlds, while tricky and not without a confusing sense of belonging, also gave him a way of seeing the world that he is now grateful to have as he leans into other identities like parenthood or disability.
Matt’s hobbies include anything tinkering related. He always enjoyed taking things apart as a kid and now he usually even puts them back together. He enjoys getting out and exploring the beautiful state we call home with his family. He is a parent to two little humans, aged 10 and 7 who keep him very busy and help keep perspective about what is important in life.
Lauren is a supervisor in the Tax Credit Administration Unit in WFTC, the unit responsible for reviewing applications and determining eligibility. She’s worked with the division since March 2022 and has worked for the Department of Revenue for 9 years. She is also a co-coordinator for DEI Efforts within the WFTC, hosts a monthly “DEI Roundtable Chat” and is developing a monthly DEI Book Club for the division. She is passionate about climbing ranks and pulling others up with her.
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 You can click on any of the links below for more information:
HAPPEN general membership meetings are scheduled the second Wednesday of the month from 1:00 to 2:00 pm. Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.
Join Zoom Meeting
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Don't Miss the Upcoming Leadership Development Session
 HAPPEN Leadership and Career Development Series on April 16 from 1:00 – 2:00 pm will feature a table talk session with HAPPEN Executive Leadership Policy Lead, Brian Lock (he/him/his), Contract and Finance Specialist for Washington State Department of Health. Brian will share his lived narrative of leadership, challenges and the pathways to be the change.
Brian Lock is honored to serve as the Policy Lead for the HAPPEN BRG. In Board volunteer roles as Co-Chair of the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition of South Puget Sound (APIC SPS) and the Multicultural Service Center of South Sound, Brian has been involved in policy and legislation that directly impact the Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Communities. Some of this work has involved putting together policy statements and education materials for legislators and in coordinating meetings with local state legislative delegations and occasionally our Congressional representatives.
In his early state government career, Brian had been Co-Chair of the Asian Pacific State Employee Network. Brian has been in Washington State government for nearly 29 years with stops at the Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs, Office of Financial Management (Serve WA Commission), Department of Commerce, Pierce College, and now at the Department of Health as a Contract and Finance Specialist.
Brian's background has involved public policy, budget development, writing and managing federal grants and contracts, and program development. His educational background includes having a BA in Political Science from Western Washington University and an MPA from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University with an emphasis in Public Finance. Brian was also an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Executive Fellow and Executive Development Institute (EDI) graduate.
Prep for May Leadership Development Session
The May session of the Leadership Development program has been changed from May 21st to May 28th to accommodate the annual HAPPEN Heritage celebration. Please update your calendar.
In preparation, please watch this video (55 min) at your leisure to be prepared for the discussion.
Join Zoom Meeting
Contact: Lynora Hirata with any questions.
Lynora has curated various leadership information relevant to our community in Padlet. Feel free to bookmark and check back regularly.
Newsletter Subscription Change
Effective May 15, we’ll send texts from a new phone number: 18555122540. Questions? Contact support@granicus.com.
Have Something to Share?
We try our best to curate meaningful and relevant content, opportunities, news, etc., we think will be of interest for our members and allies. Representing over 100 countries and more than 50 communities makes it difficult to stay apprised of everything HAPPENing related to our collective community. We greatly appreciate when opportunities are shared from our members.
This is your bulletin. Feel free to send articles, resources, event information, etc., to be included in future bulletins, and eventually, our website and social media.
Process:
- Submit items by emailing them to HAPPEN@ofm.wa.gov by Thursday morning for the following week's bulletin.
- Time sensitive items submitted will be reviewed and included in the next bulletin.
- Non-time sensitive submissions will be added to the list to be included in future bulletins when we may be looking for content to share.
- Bulletins will usually be distributed on Mondays. Special bulletins will be sent only as needed to provide an update on something already shared or of an urgent nature.
Thank you in advance for sharing, uplifting, and elevating our voices, culture, and opportunities! This is what community looks like.
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