In an inspiring and heartfelt ceremony, the ASPA honored Karen Frasier with the award for International Affairs Advocacy on Tuesday evening in the Governor’s Mansion. Her tireless efforts through 50 years of public service include the establishment of the ASPA Evergreen Chapter exchange program with the Hyogo Administrative Policy Studies Association in Japan. It is because of her advocacy and mentorship that Evergreen has a relationship with international MPA exchange, and the opportunity to engage with Public Administration students from abroad, including our own Kiriko Takehashi. While Karen has retired from public service, we certainly hope she will continue to inspire MPA policy students as an adjunct faculty.
The ASPA Evergreen chapter also presented awards to: Dr. Craig Shin of Portland State University for his work with the Graduate Certificate Program in Collaborative Governance; Michael Kern & Bill Ruckelshaus for their work with the Ruckelshaus Center, a collaborative between UW & WSU which develops collaborative and effective solutions to complex public policy issues; Mary Van Verst, for her leadership, advocacy, and mentorship work with ASPA; Peter Bloch Garcia, honored with the first ever Billy Frank Jr. Award for Race & Social Justice, for his lifetime commitment to actionably strengthening communities; Dr. Sandra Archibald, Dean of the Evans School, for her devotion to advancing public service and her lifetime contributions to public service; Kaha Arte, from Seattle University, as an Outstanding Graduate Student in PA, for her commitment to advocating for underrepresented populations; and Trevor Robinson, from UW Evans School with the same award for his work with the Ruckelshaus Center, and his exceptional application of qualitative analysis to collaborative public policy.
The ASPA Evergreen Chapter is Washington State’s chapter of the nation’s largest organization promoting the field of public administration, providing support for practitioners, academics in the field and students seeking a career in public service.
Submitted by Faith Addicott, 2nd Year MPA Student