Celebrating Leadership Service

“APA Washington provides leadership in the development of great communities for all by promoting education and empowerment, advocating excellence in community planning, and providing the tools and support necessary to meet the challenges of growth and change.”

- Source: APA Washington 2025-2029 Strategic Plan

These words are exemplified by our amazing elected chapter officers who are preparing to depart from their current roles at the end of this year. In this issue, we honor our four outgoing officers who volunteered their time and expertise for more than two years of their professional lives. Together, along with our other incredible Board members and APA Washington members, they successfully:

Updated the APA Washington Strategic Plan (2025-2029)
Planned and executed two successful conferences (Bellevue and Tacoma)
Created Chapter Rules of Conduct for all APA WA events
Wrote and implemented a Chapter Land Acknowledgement Statement
Stabilized the Chapter’s finances after unanticipated expenses in 2023
Developed annual Work Plans to guide the work of the Board and Chapter
Created an online APA WA Merch Store, with proceeds to benefit the Scholarship Fund
Renewed agreements with Department of Commerce, PAW, AWC, and others to jointly sponsor the Planning Short Course program and quarterly Growth Management Forums
Evaluated the work of our Chapter Lobbyist and updated the lobbyist’s contract
Updating the Board Handbook, a reference guide for board members (last updated in 2018)
Volunteered countless hours to the APA Washington chapter monthly Executive Committee meetings and quarterly Board meetings; and
Countless other duties that team members asked of them.

Please join us in thanking Chad Eiken, Judith Perez Keniston, Heather Wright, and Nicholas Matz for their service to the Chapter.

Chad Eiken, AICP (Day job: Community Development Director, City of Vancouver). Chad served as President for the past two years and will continue supporting the Chapter through 2026 as Past President. This role supports the new President and committee members as they get settled in their new positions while offering the expertise and experience they gained during their term as president. Chad’s accomplishments include emceeing and assisting with coordination of the 2024 and 2025 conferences, developing and implementing a new WA Chapter Rules of Conduct, updating agreements with Commerce, assisting with the conference planning, recognizing members for their contributions to planning through awards, amending key contracts with the Chapter lobbyist, administrative office, promoting more collaboration with Section presidents, updating the 2025 Chapter Handbook, and recruiting new committee leaders and board officers, and convincing Rick Steves to be a keynote speaker at the Bellevue Conference.

Judith Perez, Keniston, AICP (Day job: Principal Planner at RTC). Judith served as Vice President for the last 2 years. Judith led the development and refinement of the new WA Chapter Rules of Conduct, recruited for and organized elections for open Chapter and Section leadership positions in coordination with APA National, and contributed to the 2025 Chapter Handbook updates.

Heather Wright, AICP (Day job: Director of Planning and Economic Development, City of Poulsbo). Heather served as Secretary for the past two years. She diligently kept the Executive Committee and Board on track with her careful notetaking, roster and calendar management; provided service to the Communications Committee, including the monthly newsletter; and participated in a subcommittee exploring the sales of Chapter "merch" which was successfully implemented.

Nicholas Matz, AICP (Day job: Not anymore! He recently retired). Nicholas served as Treasurer for the past two years. He navigated complex financial issues to get the Chapter back to a balanced budget, kept close tabs on Chapter finances in close coordination with the Chapter office, led a subcommittee that setup up a pop-up Chapter "merch" store for the 2025 conference, managed streamlining and centralization of Chapter accounts, and contributed to the 2025 Board Handbook update.