WINDING PATHS, AN ALUMNI PANEL
FOR ALL-CAMPUS MENTORING DAY
PRESENTED BY THE ASSOCIATED ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF EVERGREEN
2:00PM - 4:00PM ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2016 IN LIBRARY 2205
This dynamic panel of accomplished alumni features Evergreen graduates who have taken seemingly unconventional career paths.
As students you may encounter questions about the value of a college education, especially if you don't have your career perfectly
mapped out in a linear plan. Rest assured, this panel will demonstrate that success comes in many forms, timelines and
progressions. These alumni will illustrate how your Evergreen education prepares you to be a flexible, nimble professional who can
adapt to the changing landscape of career, business and creative pursuits.
Moderated by
Dean Katz '75, Senior Writer, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Dean Katz was a member of Evergreen’s first four-year graduating class, in 1975. After founding KAOS and
serving as the station’s first manager, Dean pursued a career in journalism. Following internships at The Seattle
Post-Intelligencer and The Associated Press, Dean was hired by The Seattle Times, where he worked for 10
years covering government and politics in Olympia, Seattle, and Washington, DC. Dean subsequently worked at
Microsoft for nearly a decade as a speechwriter. He is currently a senior communications officer and
speechwriter
at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Panelists include
Nancy Gleason ’92 and MES ‘04, Fish Biologist, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Panelists include

Nancy Gleason ’92 and MES ‘04, Fish Biologist, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Nancy Gleason is a fish biologist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Seattle with a bachelor's degree
('92) and a Master of Environmental Studies degree ('04) from The Evergreen State College. In her
current position, she provides technical advice to planners and engineers on ecosystem restoration and
other civil works projects and ensures that the projects comply with environmental laws including NEPA
and ESA. Other work experience includes field studies in salmon ecology for the Muckleshoot Tribe and
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife as well as the Corps of Engineers.

Mokiko Amagi ‘84, CAD Operator, Sazan Group Inc.
Mikiko Amagai came from Japan in 1976 and started at TESC with a toddler in 1982. Her senior project in
Environmental Design was the Japanese Garden on Plum Street. Mikiko moved back to Seattle in 1988, starting
her own CAD design business as a certified MWBE while sending her husband to school and raising three
children between the ages of 2 and 8. The family went to Japan for four years in 1996. Upon returning to
Seattle, she was asked to manage a Japanese newspaper firm for five years. In 2006, she went back to the CAD
business and has been working for a mechanical engineering firm since.

Jodene Eikenberry ‘85, UX Designer, Microsoft
Jodene Eikenberry pursued a creative path at TESC, studying photography, art and writing. She graduated
in 1985 with a BA and absolutely no idea of a career path. She spent the next 10 years exploring life,
making art and working various jobs before being accepted into the Ar Institute of Chicago’s Photography
MFA program. After graduating in 1998, she moved to Seattle just as the Web began exploding with
opportunities. Transitioning her creative focus from art to design, she became a UI designer working for
ecommerce and social media start-ups. By 2009 her field had matured into User Experience (UX) Design
and she was recruited by Microsoft. The past 8 years she’s worked on a variety of products and is
currently part of the Azure Identity and Security UX team designing software for large companies.

Ethan Schatz ’82,
Attorney
Ethan Schatz is an attorney practicing in the San Francisco Bay Area. He works on a wide variety of corporate
and real estate transactional matters and civil litigation. Ethan has worked with a number of start-ups and is
currently the General Counsel for three early stage companies. Ethan graduated from The Evergreen State
College in 1982 with a focus on environmental science. After Evergreen, he worked in a variety of industries
including financial services, construction, photography, and eventually a long career in the culinary world.
Ethan went back to school almost twenty years later, achieving an MBA from Xavier University and a JD from
the University Of Dayton School Of Law, graduating on the same day from both schools.