This year\u2019s Return to Evergreen marked the highest attendance since the pandemic, with over 300 alumni and friends joining the celebration. The Master of Public Administration (MPA) program hosted a warm coffee and pastry hour before the main event, offering a special opportunity for faculty and staff to reconnect with former students.<\/p>\n
MPA Director Meghan Doughty facilitated a dynamic panel titled \u201cThe Power of Us: Political Organizing & Community Building\u201d, featuring Evergreen alumni Dontae Payne (Mayor of Olympia, BA \u201918, MPA \u201920) and Dorian Esper-Taylor (Pierce Transit ADA Coordinator and Disability & Equity Advocate, MPA \u201925).<\/p>\n
The panel explored key questions around trust-building, combating misinformation, launching advocacy initiatives, coalition-building, and balancing grassroots energy with institutional constraints. Both panelists acknowledged the challenges of the current political climate but emphasized the importance of civic engagement, community connection, and the enduring role of Evergreen in shaping hopeful, inclusive futures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This year\u2019s Return to Evergreen marked the highest attendance since the pandemic, with over 300 alumni and friends joining the celebration. The Master of Public Administration (MPA) program hosted a warm coffee and pastry hour before the main event, offering… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6195,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mpanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2945"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mpanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mpanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mpanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mpanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2945"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mpanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2946,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mpanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2945\/revisions\/2946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mpanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mpanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mpanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}