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home and a school system that didn’t encourage her to pursue higher education. She didn’t know the questions to ask regarding that pursuit. “It informs the research I do,” she said. Now, Chavez’s past struggles and successes will inform her talk at the annual Pave the Way Conference, where she will serve as one of three featured speakers. She will present to hundreds of educators, policymakers, and nonprofit and industry partners about the opportunity gap in Washington state. The conference focuses

New Critical Conscience.” The conference challenges participants to align concepts of education and justice in ways that call for conscience, critique and change—all concepts, in turn, that align precisely with PLU’s mission. PLU participants include: •    Ruth Bernstein, Visiting Assistant Professor of Business Management and Nonprofit Studies •    Callista Brown, Associate Professor of English •    Melannie Denise Cunningham, Director of Multicultural Recruitment •    Emily Davidson, Assistant

nonprofit and industry partners about the opportunity gap in Washington state. The conference focuses on increasing educational attainment by supporting historically marginalized, underrepresented and underserved students across the lifespan of learning. The theme for this year’s event, which takes place Oct. 19 at Central Washington University, is “Advancing Equity, Expanding Opportunity, Increasing Attainment.” Participants will share effective strategies for educational success among underserved

work in Seattle, Spokane, or San Diego, go, I will never tell you not to go. But if you want to do, say, architecture and you just don’t know any architectural firms locally, well here, let me introduce you to three great local firms and then you can figure out if it’s a good fit for you or not. I just want to provide exposure to students.” One of many impactful programs managed by Tacoma-based nonprofit Degrees of Change, Seeds Internships also hosts a weekly class with participating students to

nonprofit that helps children of color discover secret talents through new opportunities. Lucas’s daughter dances at Sound Movement Arts Center—and joined the Franklin Pierce Junior Wrestling team. “She tried wrestling, did very well and ended up taking first at the state tournament,” Lucas says.On top of being a full-time student, Lucas works full-time as a case manager at Comprehensive Life Resources, a community behavioral health clinic in Tacoma, helping those experiencing homelessness and suffering

average tournament I play three to four games a day, run something like 5 miles a game, jump, dive, block and throw my body around. According to Ultimate Impact, a nonprofit for the sport, “Ultimate combines the nonstop movement, field spacing, sprinting, and athletic endurance of soccer with the aerial passing skills of football — all in a non-contact format.” I play on a college team, but there are middle school, high school, club and professional teams across the country. And yet, sometimes

Gender Equity, Hernández focused on combating gender-based violence and promoting equity. They felt at home at the center: “sometimes when I was stressed, I wanted a place to be myself,” Hernández says. “The center meant a lot to me.” Hernández’s work focused on domestic violence, stalking awareness, and sexual assault awareness and they gained experience in social work, nonprofit work, and providing trauma-informed care.Center for Gender EquityPLU’s Center for Gender Equity supports, challenges, and

from PLU. The bus is a Seattle-based nonprofit that supports young people in engaging in local and state politics. I spent that summer campaigning, canvassing, and registering folks to vote. It was awesome. From there, I spent a year in AmeriCorps through a Tacoma-based program called Urban Leaders in Training. I also worked with Graduate Tacoma on a lot of cool projects, including translating a lot of their materials into Spanish. Then, after a couple of years in Oakland, California working in

. Derek Kilmer’s campaign for Congress in 2012. That was my first big internship where it was connected to what I was studying at PLU and I felt like “oh okay, this is one thing I could see myself doing after this.” What was your first job after you graduated? I did the Washington Bus summer fellowship right after I graduated from PLU. The bus is a Seattle-based nonprofit that supports young people in engaging in local and state politics. I spent that summer campaigning, canvassing, and registering

hopes to found and lead a nonprofit that helps children of color discover secret talents through new opportunities. Lucas’s daughter dances at Sound Movement Arts Center—and joined the Franklin Pierce Junior Wrestling team. “She tried wrestling, did very well and ended up taking first at the state tournament,” Lucas says.  On top of being a full-time student, Lucas works full-time as a case manager at Comprehensive Life Resources, a community behavioral health clinic in Tacoma, helping those