Many an article has been written about the power of travel to be a life-changing journey. I recently read a piece in the Guardian from 2005 where Nigel Tisdall shares myriad trips which can create memories that live with you forever. He suggests spending six months traversing Asia, talking to the animals in the Kalahari Desert or swapping your house for a luxurious villa. While all the ideas sparked my keen interest, the likelihood of my participation in an intensive workout on a Kenyan beach with Wild Fitness is not likely an adventure I will undertake in the near future. Instead, I am looking forward to the adventure and personal growth ahead for me as I step into my role as the Executive Director of the King County Bar Association. Being selected to steward KCBA is an exceptional opportunity, and I am enthusiastic about the possibilities.

It was just over eight months ago when Tahmina Watson, President and now Immediate Past President and Karen Orehoski, First Vice-President and now President met with me to ask me to step into the position of interim executive director. I was honored to be asked and agreed as long as the Board of Trustees took the time to determine what the Association’s goals and objectives truly are to ensure the board and next executive director understand the organization, its strengths, weaknesses, operating environment, current culture and its leadership needs to ensure future success.

Summer is here and as July begins, we bring a close to our current membership year and start transitioning to working with new leaders in all areas of the Bar. It is easy to look forward to new things. However, I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to look back and shine a light on the outstanding work our Sections and Committees accomplished this year.

One of my favorite events at KCBA is the Awards Celebration & Annual Meeting. Each year in June we come together as a profession to honor our colleagues, to celebrate their achievements, and to shine a light on the amazing contributions each has made in the lives of others through their service and dedication to the profession. On June 20th we will gather at the Washington Athletic Club to recognize our members and volunteers for their distinguished and meritorious service to the legal profession, the judiciary, and the public in a profession-related activity.

It was just over three years ago that the COVID19 Pandemic became part of our lives and everyone who could be was sent home to work remotely. At first, we grappled with how to change the way we do the work in order to continue providing programming to our members (also working remotely). Lucky for us, we were already streaming our Section meetings and CLE offerings so all it took was a period of time to adjust our systems and protocols to be able to provide remote access for those working from home. Fast forward three years — almost all of our events including Section and Committee meetings, CLE offerings, New Lawyer Division meetings and events are available either totally remote or in a hybrid format.

This month I am excited to inform you of another change that the Bar has been working on since this time last year. With the ability to take advantage of resources to update our technology, we were finally able to move forward with a project that I believe will make interactions with the Bar easier for our members, easier for our staff, and will provide us with the data we need to learn which of our member benefits are most often utilized and appreciated by our members. This will also free up time to give our members the personal service that we always try to provide.

On January 13, 2023 KCBA hosted nearly 600 attorneys, judges, students and community leaders who gathered to celebrate Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his teachings. He lived his life in service and in the belief that dedicating one’s life to others would make the world a better place.

As I look forward to 2023, I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to reflect on the past. For the last two and a half years, the theme at KCBA has been “Change” — change in leadership, change in how we provide services to our members, change in our Pro Bono Programs...