Speakers

Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis was appointed to the Washington State Supreme Court by Governor Jay Inslee in December 2019 and took the oath of office on January 6, 2020.  Justice Montoya-Lewis is an enrolled member of the Pueblo of Isleta and a descendant of the Pueblo of Laguna, two federally recognized tribes in New Mexico.  She is the first enrolled member of any tribe to sit on a state supreme court in the U.S. and the second Native American to sit on a state supreme court.  She is also of Jewish descent.  Prior to becoming an Associate Justice, she served as a Superior Court judge for Whatcom County for five years, where she heard criminal and civil trials and presided over the Whatcom County Therapeutic Drug Court.  In the 15 years prior to her work on the Superior Court, she served as a tribal court judge for multiple tribes in the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest.  She served as Chief Judge for the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, the Nooksack Indian Tribe, and the Lummi Nation.  In addition to her work as a tribal court judge, she was a tenured Associate Professor at Western Washington University’s Fairhaven College where she taught law-related courses and courses on cultural identity development.  She has continued to use her teaching skills as a jurist, teaching a wide variety of audiences including judges, social workers, lawyers, and advocates on implicit bias, the Indian Child Welfare Act, and best practices in child welfare and domestic violence cases.  Justice Montoya-Lewis graduated with her BA degree from the University of New Mexico in 1992 and completed her law degree and Master of Social Work degree at the University of Washington in 1995 and 1996 respectively

Human Trafficking

The United States is the #1 destination for sex trafficking.  An estimated 12.3 million men, women and children are trafficked for commercial sex or forced labor around the world today. Victims are trafficked both within and across international borders.  Victims of human trafficking in the United States include U.S. citizens and foreign nationals, adults and minors, and men and women.

Engedi Refuge Ministries

"Engedi Refuge is one of the nation's leading residential care facilities located in northern Whatcom County.  Their passion is to see women restored from the abuses of this terrible crime.  Their holistic and restorative process for their residents is accomplished through:

1) safe housing,

2) trauma focused curriculum, and 3) a collaborative team of professionals and volunteers.   Engedi is among the most comprehensive and successful recovery programs of its kind in the U.S.  Their success rate is an impressive 90% as compared to an average of 15% by other programs across the country.   They have earned the highest rating by GuideStar…. Platinum.   Go to the following link to learn more about their organization and programming.  http://www.engedirefuge.com

When Dave New learned that his family was to receive the 2019 National Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year award from the American Forest Foundation / American Tree Farm System, he put together a series of slides and videos that tell their tree farm story.  It is a story that begins before the property was acquired in 1942 and continues today with the 3rd and 4th generations of family ownership.  The presentation covers succession of ownership, how the land is managed and used today, how the family learned about forest management, how they are maintaining a healthy forest with good wildlife habitat, and how they are working to restore a salmon stream running through the property. Also covered are some of the resources available to owners of forestland.