Shomari Jones, Director of Equity, Bellevue School District
How did you end up in your line of work?
I didn’t pick it, it picked me. I went to college for engineering, got married and my wife was in the Navy, and so we moved around a lot. We ended up in Seattle for a longer stint, and after working for the College Success Foundation and the Urban League, I found myself at Bellevue School District.
What excites you most about the work that you do?
The most excitement comes from creating innovative ways to do education differently than the way we have been doing it for 150 years. I thrive off of innovation and the ability to meet people’s needs – especially those who have traditionally furthest from justice.
What do you love about your community in Bellevue? What sets it apart?
I love how unique it is – a multitude of diversity. I really love this pocket of people who don’t fit into what people think the mainstream of Bellevue looks like.
What inspires you?
The thing that catapulted my career in serving the way that I serve is the voice of youth and the youth perspective. I remember very distinctly – I was on a trajectory to roll out professional development to drive greater equitable consciousness – and on this continuum were all of these adults who needed to be involved. What substantially moved the needle, I found, was to skip all of that and go right to the students. We created SOAR (student empowerment teams) to see and hear what they needed.
When I see these students, who have historically been oppressed, stepping up to advocate for themselves and bring about change – that is inspirational.
“Words to live by” quote
In your lifetime, have you experienced racism getting better, worse or the same?
Joe Fain, President & CEO, Bellevue Chamber of Commerce
How did you end up in your line of work?
By accident. As my eight years in the State Senate was less than a month from coming to an end I attended a holiday party. Conversation turned to the Chamber’s CEO search as it headed into its seventh month. After saying “no thank you” a few times to the flattering offer I suddenly found myself presenting to the search committee two days after Christmas. The rest is history.
What excites you most about the work that you do?
Impact. A chamber of commerce is a social impact organization. Its mission is to seek out community challenges and marshal the right people and resources to solve them. Everyone has varying degrees of satisfaction at work, but it’s the things we chose to do in our free time where we often place our greatest efforts. There is joy in working alongside our members who choose to carve out a part of their week to address homelessness, engage in political campaigns, support our local schools, or just build relationships and have fun.
What do you love about your community in Bellevue? What sets it apart?
Diversity. The race and country of origin statistics for Bellevue and the Eastside would stun those whose opinion of Bellevue hasn’t changed since the 80’s or 90’s. We are a majority-minority city and our local schools are both some of the most successful and some of the most ethnically diverse as any in the state. What sets Bellevue apart isn’t just this statistic but the way our community seeks strength through these different backgrounds and experiences. Our embrace of diversity goes beyond color and personal identity. There is a culture of acceptance for different points of views and a tolerance for different ideas. So long as our institutions, both public and private, continue to extoll this kind of pluralism and open and respectful discourse Bellevue will continue be a great place to live and work.
What inspires you?
Sacrifice. Nothing impacts me more than to see someone give something of themselves to another especially at a cost. Not every act of charity need involve sacrifice, but the ones that do are the most impactful.
“Words to live by” quote
“I won't look too far ahead, it's too much for me to take. But break it down to this next breath, this next step, this next choice is one that I can make. So I'll walk through this night stumbling blindly toward the light, and do the next right thing.” – Princess Anna (I have two young sons so I don’t get to watch big kid movies anymore - but I sure get to watch Frozen a lot).
Doug Perry, Owner, Drivers Club
How did you end up in your line of work?
I am local to the area and graduated from UW with a business degree. After spending some time working in LA, I moved home and got into property development with my brother. I began thinking about cars and storage and a space that could provide community as well as a practical need. No one had properly taken the concept of concierge, car service and community – we saw a need and went for it.
What excites you most about the work that you do?
The car culture and community are fairly fragmented, so bringing people together helps the community. It was also a big gamble – as a developer we took a gamble and worked really hard to achieve success.
I enjoy building things and watching them grow ground up – it is really satisfying.
What do you love about your community in Bellevue? What sets it apart?
The people – their humility. And people tend to return…even if you do move away, many of us return home. It’s not common to see that. I also appreciate that it is a large but small place. We are becoming a larger city, but everyone is doing a good job of maintaining that growth and keeping relationships local.
What inspires you?
Right now, it’s my family and building a community with them. Also, health – taking care of myself and setting goals.
Also, inspiring the next generation of car enthusiasts. Having a place where we can – as this generation – teach the next about our passion and what we love. In some ways, being the torchbearer for automotive passion.
“Words to live by” quote
Have fun, do good. With everything we do, we try to incorporate a philanthropical element to the community.
Jared Nieuwenhuis, Deputy Mayor, City of Bellevue
How did you end up in your line of work?
I ran for Bellevue City Council in 2017 after serving on the Bellevue Parks and Community Services Board. In January of this year, I was elected Deputy Mayor by my colleagues on the council.
What excites/inspires you most about the work that you do?
What inspires me is serving our wonderful residents and giving back to this community by leading on important issues that impact our city. My focus is on the “Bellevue Way” – transparency, compassion, citizen involvement, and professionalism – to work for consensus on decisions that will provide a high quality of life for current and future generations.
What do you love about your community in Bellevue? What sets it apart?
Bellevue is an incredible place to raise a family, start or grow a business, and enjoy our tremendous parks and natural beauty. Whether it's reducing congestion, protecting our environment, maintaining our business-friendly status, building great neighborhoods, or strengthening public safety – I love working to ensure Bellevue continues to be that vibrant, thriving community we know and love. Bellevue is truly a great place to call home.
“Words to live by” quote
Early in my career a trusted mentor told me that God gave me two ears and one mouth, and that if I used them in that proportion I would go far. That advice has always stuck with me and it has served me well.
Dwayne J. Clark, Co-Founder & CEO, Aegis Living
How did you end up in your line of work?
When I was 27 years old, I was working in law enforcement for the state. I was planning to quit my job and go back to law school to become a lawyer. At the time, my sister was on the board of aging services for Leisure Care. One day, I got a call from her demanding that I read a study called the Graying of America – she insisted it could show me a path to my future career. She lined up an interview for me with Leisure Care. They asked a few cursory questions, spent no more than 10 minutes with me, and thanked me for coming in. But right before they could shoo me out the door, I reached into my backpack and pulled out a three-ring binder that was about three inches thick and dropped it on the desk in front of the interviewer. I said, “now I’d like to talk to you about your company, where I think the aging industry is going and how I think I could contribute.” We spent the next 90 minutes going over my manual. A week later, they made me a job offer.
What excites you most about the work that you do?
We walk into a history museum every time we step foot in an assisted living community. You meet people from all walks of life that have done all kinds of things in terms of career accomplishments, awards, and contributions to the world – it’s phenomenal. The amount of wisdom, history, and world experience will blow you away; they’re everyday heroes. That, compounded by the fact that people put their trust in us to care for them in the final chapter of their lives, is an incredibly rewarding part of my job.
What do you love about your community in Bellevue? What sets it apart?
Bellevue has changed incredibly since we started our company almost 23 years ago. Our headquarters are in Bellevue, we have nearly 100 staff members just in our corporate office, and we’ll probably have another 200 staff members in our community in Bellevue. We love the vibrancy of the business, we love the downtown area, and we love the spirit of entrepreneurship that we find here. Bellevue has a very welcoming business climate, and we are honored to be a member of this community.
Bellevue is a multicultural environment with a flourishing Asian population. Bellevue is growing up to be a big, big city with an international flair, and I very much enjoy that.
What inspires you?
I get inspired by many different things. A lot of my volunteer work, whether it’s working with children of color that are underprivileged or working for organizations that aim to relieve homelessness, are the times I learn from those who are the least like me. Recently I was at dinner with the members of my D-One organization. These are children of color that are about 16-18 years old and are not in the best economic situation. I’m always taken aback by how much I learn from them, the things they say, the way they see the world, their passion – they are true entrepreneurs. They are children that say, “Hey, I’m going to make it. I’m going to do it. I’m going to be president one day.” They have pure optimism, and that really motivates me.
“Words to live by” quote
If you’re asking me what my personal credo is, it would have to be, “believe in yourself.” You can accomplish anything if you believe in yourself and if you have a passion and perseverance for where you want to go. It doesn’t matter where you came from, that’s the past. But you will have a bright future if you believe in yourself and have passion and perseverance.
Michael Nassirian, Founder & CEO, ARVR Academy
How did you end up in your line of work?
I’ve been involved in technology since college and worked in Corporate America for more than 37 years in variety of fields from Semiconductor to Software development, my first startup was in 1984 while I was working in Military Semiconductor. It was natural to continue my passion in this area after leaving Microsoft.
What excites you most about the work that you do?
Working with entrepreneurs, young talents, technologists, and Innovators on solving tough technical problems. I get inspired with solving unknown problems, I often define our day to day job as jumping from a cliff without a parachute, designing the parachute on the way down, and land safely.
What do you love about your community in Bellevue? What sets it apart?
I’ve traveled and lived in many places around the world and believe Bellevue is one of the most beautiful, resourceful, safe, and inviting cities that I’ve ever lived in. It has all the amenities of a large metropolitan area, yet it hasn’t lost its sense of community. The diversity and resources in this town has given it the character that sets Bellevue apart from other cities around the world. We’re striving very hard to make sure Bellevue becomes the smartest city in US and around the World in coming years.
What inspires you?
Seeing young talents reaching their potential, building community and giving back to the community. As an immigrant, I received a lot of help to reach to this level and I see it my top priority to give back and reach out to those that need it. It could be addressing the homelessness and drug issues in our community, mentoring students at GIX, serving on several non-profit organizations, investing in technology startups, or cleaning weeds at the surrounding parks.
“Words to live by” quote
If you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough
