For more information, contact Board of Trustees Seattle Community College District VI 1500 Harvard Ave. Seattle, WA 98122-2400 (206) 587-3872
The Seattle Community College District is governed by a five-member Board of Trustees who serve sequential five-year terms. Trustees are appointed by the Washington State Governor and confirmed by the State Senate.
In addition to their duties on the Seattle Community College District Board, Trustees also serve on committees for trustee organizations such as the state-wide Washington Association of Community and Technical College Trustees and the national American Association of College Trustees.
DONALD ROOT Chair Term: October 2005 - September 2010
Donald Root is Chairman and CEO of GM Nameplate, an international business based in Seattle, and a civic leader.
Trustee Root serves on the boards of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Seattle Seafair, Ferguson Construction and the Swedish/Ballard Hospital Foundation. He is also past president of his international industry trade association, a member of Seattle Rotary, and past president of Northwest Little League Baseball. He has directed a number of fund-raising drives for charitable and educational organizations, and has been a significant supporter of United Way, the University of Washington, Swedish Hospital, the YMCA, and the Seattle Community Colleges.
Trustee Root is from one of Washington’s earliest pioneering families: his great-grandmother was one of the “Mercer Girls” who came to Seattle during the logging days of the 1860s. He attended Western Washington University and the University of Washington, where he earned a business degree with majors in finance and marketing.
DR. CONSTANCE W. RICE Vice Chair Term: September 2008 - October 2013
Dr. Constance W. Rice is recognized as a civic, social and business figure both in the Puget Sound region and internationally. She is Managing Director for Knowledge Management for Casey Family Programs, providing information for strategic consultants working for the foster-care organization in 40 states and jurisdictions.
Trustee Rice is a former vice chancellor and senior vice chancellor of the Seattle Community Colleges, where she also served as interim president of North from 1995-97. She is currently a visiting scholar/scientist at the University of Washington’s Center for Workforce Development. She holds a graduate degree from the UW School of Public Affairs and a doctorate from the UW School of Education.
Trustee Rice has served on the boards of Swedish Hospital, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Downtown Rotary, Institute for Public Service and the Seattle Foundation. In 1990, she founded the Seattle Health and Nutrition Project, to offer nutrition education and meals to low-income families in public elementary schools. Rice and her husband, former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, were 2005 campaign chairs of King County United Way, which successfully achieved its $100 million goal.
As founder and past president of Strategic Education Centers, Rice and her advisory board established two centers in Swaziland dedicated to providing a livelihood to adolescents and abating the spread of HIV/AIDS. She also served as the national founding Executive Director of the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation, now based in New York City.
Rice has been honored by numerous civic and humanitarian organizations, including recognition from the Seattle-King County Board of Realtors as First Citizen of the Year for 1993 and from the Puget Sound Business Journal as one of the 25 most influential women in the Puget Sound area.
JORGE CARRASCO Term: October 2009 - September 2011
Seattle City Light Superintendent Jorge Carrasco is known across the country for his leadership in public and private utilities, as well as civic government, with career positions in New Jersey, Scottsdale, the Bay Area and Austin, Texas.
He was previously president at New Jersey-based American Water Services and general manager of East Bay Municipal Utility District, which served more than one million customers. Earlier in his career, he served as City Manager of Scottsdale, Ariz. and Austin, Texas.
As leader at City Light, Trustee Carrasco has reduced the utility’s debt and implemented financial policies that have lead to bond rating up-grades. He is committed to developing a highly trained workforce. During his tenure he has added 60 line worker positions and overseen the growth of City Light’s apprenticeship program from 30 positions in 2006 to 100 in 2009.
Trustee Carrasco has supported and expanded City Light’s commitment to environmental stewardship. Since 2005, City Light has achieved zero-net greenhouse gas emissions, the first electric utility in the country to so. The utility has added hundreds of acres for habitat protection along the Skagit River to benefit fish and wildlife. Dam management practices have resulted in enhanced salmon runs on the Skagit.
Trustee Carrasco grew up in Laredo, Texas, graduated magna cum laude from the University of Texas at Austin, and earned an MBA from St. Edwards University in Austin.
GAYATRI EASSEY Term: October 2009 - September 2014
Gayatri Eassey is Associate Director of External Relations for the Career Services Office at Seattle University, where she is responsible for outreach and employer relations. Her wide-ranging public service career includes positions as the Executive Director of City Year Seattle, an Americorps program, and as special assistant for boards and commissions in the governor’s office.
Trustee Eassey’s experience includes work as a trainer for the National Democratic Institute in Amman, Jordan, preparing women to run for elective office. She has also served as political director for the Washington State Democrats Coordinated Campaign, and on the campaign and in the Transition Office for Governor-elect Gregoire. Earlier, she had worked for Newman Partners, a political consulting company in Seattle.
Tustee Eassey serves on the boards for the Center for Women and Democracy, for the Institute for a Democratic Future, and for the Seattle Chamber of Commerce Young Professional Network. She was the Statewide President of the Young Democrats of Washington and a Fellow with the World Affairs Council of Seattle.
Trustee Eassey attended Foothill-De Anza Community College in California before transferring to Seattle University where she completed her bachelor’s degree in political science and is currently enrolled in the MBA program. She is also a graduate of the Institute for a Democratic Future and the National Education for Women’s Leadership Institute.
THOMAS W. MALONE Term: October 2002 - September 2012
Seattle attorney Thomas W. Malone, principal in the Seattle law firm Malone and Associates, PS, and CEO of Professional Escrow Services, LLC, is a member of the American, Washington State and King County Bar Associations. He is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals (9th Circuit), U.S. Tax Court, and the U.S. Court of Claims.
Trustee Malone’s wide-ranging civic and community service includes Chair of the Seattle Ethics and Elections and Fair Campaign Practices Commissions, Ballard Chamber of Commerce and Seattle Marine Business Coalition. He was a board chair of Swedish Medical Center, and was on the board of the Swedish Medical Center Foundation. He was previously a trustee and chair of Ballard Community Hospital and of the Foundation of North Seattle Community College. He is currently serving as statewide secretary of the Trustees Association of Community and Technical Colleges (TACTC) and as a representative on the TACTC Mission Study Committee.
Trustee Malone earned undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Washington, and a master’s degree in business administration from Golden Gate University. He has been honored as Man of the Year by the Ballard Kiwanis, Business Person of the Year by the Ballard Chamber of Commerce, and as Outstanding Citizen Volunteer of the Year by the Seattle Community Colleges. In 2008, he received the TACTC Trustee of the Year Award, in recognition of the high level of commitment and advocacy he brings to his role.
The Board of Trustees meetings begin with a study session or reception at 2:00 p.m. Regular meeting agenda sessions will begin at 3:00 pm. Dates and locations of the meetings are noted below. All meetings are on the second Thursday of the month except for the months of February and November.
