Community Advisory Board

Divya McMillin, PhD (Co-Chair)

Associate Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Global Engagement

Professor of Global Media Studies, Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences

Divya C. McMillin (PhD 1998, International Communication and Cultural Studies, Indiana University Bloomington; Innovation Masters Certificate 2019, Stanford University), is a leading scholar of global media studies and practitioner of participatory design and design thinking. She holds affiliate teaching appointments in the UW Seattle Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies South Asia Center and Center for Global Studies. She is Guest Lecturer in the London School of Economics. McMillin began her career in print (The Times of India) and broadcast journalism (All India Radio and National Public Radio). In her spare time, she enjoys playing bass and traveling the world.  

Drew Bamford (Co-Chair)

IIGE Community Advisory Board Co-Chair

Drew Bamford builds products and experiences at the intersection of human desires and bleeding edge technologies. Drew is currently taking a break from corporate work while he seeks his next opportunity. Most recently, Drew leds the global cross-functional team of researchers, designers and prototypers who craft the Prime Video experience that delivers entertainment to hundreds of millions of customers in over 200 territories around the world. Previously, Drew spent 15 years driving the transformation of HTC's business from ODM to global smartphone brand to spatial computing brand by fostering a design and innovation culture.

Before joining HTC, Drew founded the user experience design practice at TEAGUE, a product design consultancy in Seattle, where he and his team designed interactive products for such varied clients as Microsoft, Panasonic, Palm, Nike, Starbucks, and Boeing. At Microsoft's Hardware Design Group, Drew led the hardware/software interaction design for a wide range of consumer products, from children's toys and game devices to wireless phones. Drew's earlier experience includes pioneering remote collaboration work at IDEO and user interface design for an early tablet device at Silicon Graphics. At Stanford, Drew studied Product Design and Human-Computer Interaction design in the heart of Silicon Valley.

Drew serves on the board at Charles Wright Academy and is a co-chair of the community advisory board at the Institute for Innovation and Global Engagement, University of Washington Tacoma.

Brian Ebersole

Former Mayor, City of Tacoma 

Former Speaker, Washington State House of Representative

Brian Ebersole served in the Washington State House of Representatives between 1983 and 1997, during which he was House Speaker between 1993 and 1995. He served as Tacoma Mayor between 1996 and 2000,  and was Bates Technical College President between 2000 and 2003. With more than 30 years of public service, he is a longstanding community leader who has been instrumental to the continuing revitalization of Tacoma.

Jennifer English

Jennifer English is the Director of Spaceworks Tacoma, a program of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber. She is also a Spaceworks incubator program graduate from 2014 and is the co-owner of SPUN Clay Arts Studio, a local ceramics studio where anyone can learn about pottery. She was the Hilltop Business Association Vice President for 5 years and continues to be involved in her community. She attended Cornish College of the Arts, Clover Park Technical College, and Evergreen State College. She holds a graphic design degree and studied Asian Culture and Art. Jennifer believes that everyone should have the opportunity to share their passion with the world whether it’s art or business, and tries to limit those barriers that keep people from doing so.

Deneen Grant

Managing Partner & Leadership Strategist, Progressive Leadership Group

Deneen Grant has witnessed firsthand the impact leadership has on business outcomes. Her experience and observations motivated her to develop a solution that marries leadership strategy with business strategy. Progressive Leadership Group was created to help CEOs and senior executives develop the leadership teams and culture that drive growth and long-term success.

Deneen is on a mission to equip companies, so they’ll have the right leaders, with the right skills, in the right roles. These leaders are able to create and maintain a mission-driven and high performance culture. Deneen knows how much culture drives business performance, so she works with clients to create alignment around the company’s mission, vision, values and strategic goals.

Deneen has an extensive background, with close to 20 years of HR business partnership, leadership development, and organizational effectiveness experience. She has held key roles with Wells Fargo Bank, KeyBank, Kitsap Bank, Russell Investments, and Meracord. Her work in these companies was heavily focused on organizational effectiveness, leadership development, and organizational design.

Deneen is a certified John Maxwell coach, teacher, trainer, and speaker. She has training in Organizational & Relationship Systems Coaching, Problem Solving through Action Learning, and Management/Leadership Styles.

Deneen holds certifications through the Human Resource Certification Institute as a Senior Professional in HR (SPHR), and The Society for Human Resource Management as a Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP).

Jeremy Gregory

Owner and Artist, Candy Teeth Creative

Jeremy Gregory is an experienced artist and a creative force of many talents. He is a muralist, illustrator, cartoonist, puppeteer, juggler and storyteller.

Jeremy's  multi-layered painting style employs a variety of media that is delightfully untraditional. One may feel like they have entered a different world. Take a look, peel it back layer-by-layer, and enter.

His  murals are fresh and thought provoking. Having an eye for the unusual, he tends to incorporate a creative spin on everything. Jeremy prides himself on the ability to blend distinctive personal style and input to create a mural that is imaginative, innovative and embodies the area.

Enrique Leon, MD

Faculty Physician, Tacoma Family Medicine, Multicare

Member, Tacoma Public Schools Board

Enrique Leon, MD, is a faculty physician at Tacoma Family Medicine (TFM), Multicare and part of the University of Washington Family Medicine Network.  The mission of his current residency is to educate family physicians and medical students to work in rural, urban, underserved, and international regions of high need. He has been at TFM for 4 years and is Clinical Instructor in the University of Washington Medical School. Prior to this he cared for underserved patients for 12 years in the mostly Latino Community Health Care, Eastside, Tanbara office in the Salishan neighborhood of Tacoma. 

Dr. Leon is guided by principles of social justice and inter-denominational liberation theology in his use of social determinants of health to help individual and regional health decision-making and in his work promoting work-life-family balance and preventing poverty. He enjoys stimulating problem-solving around health needs through active learning and mentoring. He is committed to spreading awareness that global issues have local roots that can be studied and acted upon at many levels.

Born in Peru to American and Peruvian parents who met in the Peace Corps, Dr. Leon has maintained relationships and collaborations through family and volunteer medical education and service projects in his home country.  He has served and led in the following: Washington Academy of Family Physicians Public Health (committee member); Pierce County Chapter of Washington Academy of Family Physicians (President); Salishan Housing Project Revitalization Hope 6 Grant (committee member); Eastside Clinic Medical (Director); Multicare Adult Medical Services (committee member); American Academy of Family Physicians; and Peruvian-American Medical Society.

Dr. Leon’s educational background began in public schools in Maryland, then to a BS in Biology from James Madison University, Virginia. He went on to medical school at Howard University, followed by residency training at Swedish Medical Center Seattle (First Hill campus, University of Washington) and most recently a Faculty Development Fellowship at the University of Washington.

He is married with 2 children. He enjoys getting to the outdoors with his family to camp, hike, fish, and ski.  At home, they like to dance, cook, and tell jokes.

Andrea Reay

Andrea Reay is the CEO of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber. An experienced nonprofit manager, business consultant, and community organizer, Reay studied theater and classics at University of Washington. She worked for 15 years in nonprofit arts management. In 2013, she channeled those experiences in a marketing role with Discover Burien.  Reay served as the President and CEO of the Seattle Southside Chamber of Commerce from 2016-2022. 

Mark Wales

Workforce Management

Mark Wales is an executive with a proven track record of achievement with leading US and UK companies. He brings leadership and energy so that organizations can innovate, implement and operate. He works at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels to build sustainable capabilities.

Mr. Wales has led global workforce management initiatives at Starbucks and Ralph Lauren. He developed at Ralph Lauren a globally recognized and respected innovative center of excellence, delivering workforce management optimization. He coaches a holistic approach to workforce management that can deliver sustainable performance improvements across all divisions and geographies. He has worked with other leading U.S. and European companies, including IBM, Nike, Levi Strauss, The Gap, Safeway, Columbia Sportswear, Williams-Sonoma, David’s Bridal, and Tesco. He also advises innovators, analysts and investors on trends and direction in workforce management.

He is an author, global speaker, member of the Workforce Institute, Retail Analytics Council, and Evidence Based Management Group, and he is involved in the design of the next generation of workforce management solutions. He is on the executive boards of the University of Washington Tacoma Milgard School of Business, University of Washington Tacoma Global Innovation and Design Lab and the Washington State Historical Society.

Rachel Askew

Rachel Askew is the Founder and Managing Partner of Strategy and Innovation at NEXT Consulting, an organizational consulting firm known for implementing and facilitating the Pierce County Business Accelerator and other industry diverse projects that  support communities of color.

Philip Jacobs

Philip Jacobs is the founder and CEO of Rebel Firm, a consultancy and production company that  equips leaders through 1:1 consulting/coaching, speaking engagements, workshops, panels, music performances, books, and other various forms of content.

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan is a DEAI/business consultant with proven leadership experience creating value at the intersection of economics, racial justice, policy development, human centered design, operations, and business development. Michael sits on the boards of The Pierce County Community Engagement Task Force and The Tacoma Pierce County Black Collective.

Simon Krystman

Simon Krystman has been launching businesses for over 35 years, with a focus on entrepreneurial, tech startups.  Simon is the co-founder of 12Ronnies, a unique set of platforms for founders, inventors and creators to launch their startups with customers and CrowdPatch, a free community crowdfunding platform.

Grant Twyman

Grant Twyman leads Strategy & Operations at NEXT Consulting and is the Director of Equity and Community Engagement at Clover Park School District.  He serves on the boards of the Tacoma Pierce County Chamber of Commerce and the Lakewood Multicultural Coalition.

William Factory Small Business Incubator (WFSBI)

William Factory Small Business Incubator (WFSBI) turns interest into action by promoting access to financial capital, connecting global and local clients and community members, and producing incubator talks and workshops. WSFBI aims to transform the incubator into a dynamic global network of startup resources including partnerships.

John Wolfe

John Wolfe is chief executive officer of The Northwest Seaport Alliance where he sets the organization’s vision and strategy. He is on the boards of the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), the Washington State Fair Board, Federal Maritime Commission’s Export Innovation Team and Maritime Innovation Advisory Council for the Department of Commerce.

Port of Tacoma 2022

How does the global market play a role in my daily life? What effect do I have on the economic development of globalization? These are the kinds of questions a group of Global Honors students from the Institute of Innovation and Global Engagement sought to answer on their recent tour to the Tacoma Seaport on October 13, 2022. Led by the Chief of Operations, Zachary Thomas, the tour guide, gave students a window into the inner workings of the fourth largest container gateway in the country.

Amazingly, the Alliance between Seattle and Tacoma Seaports handled over $66 billion of trade with 189 partners around the world in 2020. Together they supply over 58,000 local jobs and contribute $12.4 billion to economic activity in Washington State. Many of the students have relatives or know workers at both ports.

Port of Tacoma, 2020

Port of Tacoma (Tacoma, WA)

Students visit the Port of Tacoma to meet with John Wolfe, CEO of the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSPA), and other members of his leadership team, before touring the Port's operating facilities.

Nisqually, 2019

Nisqually Indian Reservation (near Olympia, WA)

Students gather after a visit to the Nisqually Indian Tribe's Walker House, where they met with Tribal Council members and Historic Preservation Officers to discover the history surrounding recognition of tribal sovereignty, as well as the impact of that history on the Tribe's decision-making processes today.

Autumn 2018

The Center for Urban Waters (Tacoma, WA)

During an engaging presentation and tour, professionals at the Center for Urban Waters demonstrated how its mission - to restore and protect the Puget Sound through collaborative partnerships - underscores the importance of the IIGE's mission to collaboratively produce solutions for our community.

Port of Tacoma, 2018

Port of Tacoma (Tacoma, WA)

In the city where "rails meet sails," students tour the Port of Tacoma's operating facilities to discover how the Port directly connects Tacoma to the rest of the world.

Moss Adams, 2017

Moss Adams (Tacoma, WA)

At Moss Adams, students explored career options, developed professional contacts, and discovered how lessons learned in Global Honors classrooms connect to practices and PILLAR Values at this homegrown global accounting firm.

MOHAI, 2017

Museum of History and Industry (Seattle, WA)

Students stop for lunch after an experiential learning visit to the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) with Professor Orlando Baiocchi.

Autumn 2017

Center for Urban Waters (Tacoma, WA)

During a tour of the Center for Urban Waters, students discover how the the Center is working to restore and protect Commencement Bay and the surrounding waters in the Puget Sound.

Autumn 2016

MOD Pizza (Tacoma, WA)

For the inaugural Student Engagement Program (SEP) site visit, students visited MOD Pizza to meet MOD's Vice President of People and learn about the company's commitment to teamwork, its willingness to take risks in the best interests of customers and employees, and its "unapologetic for-profit" approach to returning profits back to worthy community causes.

Autumn 2017

Center for Urban Waters (Tacoma, WA)

Students receive a warm welcome at the Center for Urban Waters, before participating in a presentation and tour on the Center's efforts to restore and protect the Puget Sound through collaborative partnerships.