by Michael Craw, PhD, MPA Director
June 7, 2021
The Faculty of The Evergreen State College’s Master of Public Administration program have selected Justice G. Helen Whitener as our 2021 Public Official of the Year. We make this award annually to a state, local, tribal, or nonprofit leader in Washington whose record of public service exemplifies our program’s motto, “Be the Change.”
From Justice Whitener’s service on the board of the International Association of LGBT Judges and as chair of the Washington State Superior Court Judge’s Association’s Equity and Fairness Committee to her vocal advocacy for LGBT rights and justice in Trinidad and Tobago, her legal and judicial career centers on a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion that is a model for other judges and public service professionals. “Besides being the first Black woman justice, Whitener, who is originally from Trinidad, is only the second Black justice ever to serve on the state’s high court, according to a spokesperson for the Supreme Court. The first was Charles Z. Smith who served from 1998 to 2002. Whitener will also become only the second openly gay justice after Justice Mary Yu.” – BY Austin Jenkins APR 13, 2020 at 2:36 PM Northwest News Network.
In addition to her impressive record of public service and advocacy, her professional achievements and public message inspire and empower a new generation of public leaders. From her private practice to the Washington State Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals, Pierce County Superior Court, and now the Washington State Supreme Court, her message of “overcoming societal codes” and claiming one’s identity illustrate a path to public service that includes those who have historically been under-represented as leaders in our state and communities. Justice Whitener’s message is also a powerful call to action for us to do better at supporting a public and nonprofit sector that embraces our diversity. In bringing forth this call, she has helped to assure that Washington’s future leaders will be more representative of the public they serve.
We are very much looking forward to recognizing Justice Whitener at our virtual Master of Public Administration Hooding Ceremony on June 11th. This ceremony is especially meaningful to us this year as students from our program’s first cohort at Evergreen’s Tacoma campus graduate. We are extremely pleased that as someone who has had a particularly significant impact on Tacoma and Pierce County, we can honor her at this milestone ceremony.
#########
For additional information about Justice G. Helen Whitener please see: TEDxPOS Talk entitled, “Claiming your identity by understanding your self-worth” where she discusses the empowerment of embracing respect and how it informs her philosophy and approach to living. Also see an earlier MPA blogpost highlighting Justice Whitener’s participation in an MPA course as our guest speaker.