Who We Are

EJ is the Director of Equity and Environmental Justice for the Washington Department of Natural Resources. Previously, he was the Public Policy Manager for the Group Health Foundation where he worked to accelerate efforts to improve health equity and advance community aspirations for a vibrant, healthy future. He managed the Foundation's Public Affairs team of policy and government relations professionals and shaped the organization's political activities, protocol, and endorsements. He also served as the Community Partnerships and Government Relations Manager for the Seattle Public Library. In this role he managed the agency's intergovernmental affairs and a portfolio of programs and Co-Chaired the agency's Racial Equity Team. Previously, EJ served as the Executive Director at Progressive Majority/ColorPAC (now Sage Leaders), an organization dedicated to recruiting, training, and electing people to office. He also served as Community Relations & Development Manager for the state's largest anti-poverty organization, Poverty Action, at Solid Ground. A graduate of Saint Martin's University, he was the driving force behind the establishment of the Student Health Center and served as a member on the Board of Trustees and later named Distinguished Alumnus in 2016. He earned a Master's degree from the University of Washington-Bothell where he is a member of their Hall of Excellence. He serves as First Vice Chair of the King County Citizen's Election Oversight Committee and on the boards of the SEIU 775 Benefits Group, and Win|Win Network.

Patience Malaba is the Executive Director of the Housing Development Consortium (HDC) of Seattle-King County. She leads the membership association of about 200 members in a shared effort to increase access to affordable housing. She is recognized for her leadership in addressing the intersecting crises of affordable housing, racial equity, and climate change and is the 2020 Bullitt Foundation Environmental Fellowship awardee. Prior to this role, she served as HDC’s Director of Government Relations and Policy. Previous positions include work with Seattle for Everyone, a broad coalition that was central to the success of Seattle’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA), Futurewise, and the Services Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 6. Patience co-chairs the Eastside Housing Roundtable, co-chairs Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC)’s Regional TOD Advisory Committee, serves on the Seattle Planning Commission and on the PSRC Growth Management Policy Board. She also serves on the board of directors of the Transportation Choices Coalition and is a member of Sound Communities. Her other appointments include the Washington State Department of Commerce Homeownership Disparities Workgroup. Patience holds a Master of Public Administration from Seattle University, an Organizational Leadership Certificate from George Mason University, and a BA in International Development from Lupane State University in Zimbabwe.

During a lifetime of Public Service Greg Nickels has served as the 51st Seattle Mayor, 67th US Conference of Mayors President, King County Councilman, Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly and Harvard Fellow. He chaired the King County Board of Health for six years. Nickels led the effort to build Light Rail Transit in Seattle and achieved the lowest crime rate in over 40 years. He promoted investment in Seattle neighborhoods, supporting businesses to create good jobs. He led efforts to remove the dangerous Alaskan Way Viaduct from Seattle's waterfront. Nickels' leadership on climate protection and urban sustainability led Rolling Stone magazine to call Nickels the "Pied Piper" of mayors. In 2005 he launched the "US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement," a grassroots effort of over 1,000 mayors acting at the local level. He is the recipient of numerous National and local awards. Nickels is the oldest of six siblings. Born in Chicago, Greg has called Seattle home since 1961. A graduate of Seattle Prep, he began his public service career at age 19 with the City of Seattle while attending the University of Washington. Greg and Sharon have been married since 1978, and have son Jacob and daughter Carey and five wonderful grandchildren in the area.

Rory O’Sullivan is a partner at Washington Employment Benefits Advocates, a law firm he helped to create. He grew up in the Seattle area and attended the University of Washington where he studied Economics and International Studies. Rory received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. Since law school, he has clerked for Judge Edward Shea in the Eastern District of Washington, taught as an adjunct faculty member at Seattle University School of Law and the University of Washington School of Law, and dedicated his practice to public interest and poverty law, working for organizations such as Northwest Justice Project and the King County Bar Association. Rory has focused his advocacy and activism on improving our democracy and elections. In 2003, he helped to found Washington Public Campaigns, an organization that later changed its name to Fix Democracy First. He maintained his focus on electoral reform and in 2015, he was one of the authors of the initiative that created Seattle's innovative democracy voucher program. Since 2019, Rory has served as the chair of the Board of Directors of FairVote Washington, an organization working to bring ranked choice voting to Washington State. 

Neelima Shah is a skilled leader and philanthropy professional with twenty years of experience. Currently, she is a Senior Program Officer at the Seattle-based Bullitt Foundation. In this role, she is responsible for grantmaking in the Pacific Northwest and working with partners to achieve the foundation's goal of creating cities that are equitable, climate resilient, and healthy places to live. Prior to joining the Bullitt Foundation in 2010, Neelima managed the environment and civic charitable investments for the Boeing Company in the Northwest Region. Before that she was a Program Officer at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation where she worked with U.S. organizations in the areas of International Affairs Education, Environment and Public Service as well as Russian human rights NGOs. Neelima is a 2005 American German Marshall Fund Fellow and a 2004 World Affairs Council Fellow. She earned her Master of Public Administration at the University of Washington's Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs and her BA in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego. She currently serves on the boards of The Funders' Network and The Seattle Parks Foundation.