Employer Onboarding

Heather comes to AJAC with three years of experience as a teacher at a private K-12 school, and almost three years of experience in workforce development.  At her last position, her experience was in business engagement, career connections, event planning, and social media management. She graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in English as well as training in Business Services from the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals and Lean Change Management. Heather has lived in different cities around South Central Washington for the last seven years and is looking forward to engaging with more communities in Central Washington.

In 2021, Heather was promoted to Manager of Business Development & Regional Services.

Erin has over ten years of non-profit experience including global healthcare, economic development, and WA State policy. She earned her degree in Communications and Public Relations from the University of San Francisco. After teaching 4th grade in an orphanage in Ghana for a year, she returned to the workforce with a continued passion in helping others. Prior to AJAC Erin was Membership & Events Manager for Washington Business Alliance. During this time Erin focused on advocating for Career and Technical Education and promoting Career Pathways for WA State trades. She joined AJAC in 2017 as a Business Developer and was promoted to Regional Program Manager in 2021. Erin primarily covers the North Sound region extending to Skagit and Whatcom Counties.

Erin served two terms (six years) as a business advocate on the WA State Rehabilitation Council, a Governor-appointed advisory board within the Dept. of Vocational Rehabilitation. She volunteers for the Multiple System Atrophy Coalition on the Fundraising and Advocacy Committee. Erin is a Seattle native.

Amy joined AJAC after working with the Seattle Mariners as Manager, Security for nearly seven seasons. While at the Mariners, she oversaw all aspects of the Event Security team to ensure the safety and security for 81 baseball games a year and numerous other events held at T-Mobile Park. This role included the hiring, training, scheduling and development of over 250 Event Security staff every season. Her favorite part of the job was working all the wonderful staff that helped make incredible guest experiences at the stadium,

Prior to the Seattle Mariners Amy  spent over 15 years at Microsoft in the Windows and Xbox Gaming Divisions. Her time there brought lots of opportunity with different roles including Software Tester, Test Lead and finally Release Manger.

Amy is also involved with volunteer groups in her community, serving in leadership roles when needed. She is a Washington native having grown up in Puyallup and graduated from Western Washington University. In her free time she can be found playing her favorite video games, camping up at Lake Cushman or planning her next trip to Disneyland.

Dennis joined AJAC after working in the private and public sector in a variety of leadership positions. During his career in the private sector Dennis spent time as a retail manager and regional sales representative focusing on customer service. However, his true passion was education, and he entered public education as a second career. During his tenure in education, he spent time in the classroom as a business and marketing teacher, high school principal, Career Technical Education Director (CTE), and most recently as Principal at Yakima Valley Technical Skills Center (YVTECH) in Yakima.

Dennis returns to Eastern Washington and Spokane where he has lived and resided for several years. He looks forward to working with industry to provide apprenticeship career opportunities for youth and adults in the Spokane region.

Prior to joining AJAC, Damian worked as a member of the Business Services team at the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce. In this role, he managed pre-apprenticeship cohorts and engaged with businesses to assess employment needs, working with stakeholders to create meaningful talent pipelines. Preceding his time at the Chamber of Commerce, Damian spent over nine years in Workforce Development with organizations such as Pacific Mountain WDC, Central City Concern, Portland Community College, and the Art Institutes. He approaches his work with a strategic mindset to identify opportunities and acts with a spirit of entrepreneurship and collaboration.

Damian resides in Olympia, Washington and serves as the Board Chair of the Olympia Film Society. He has a deep love of film and has worked in television on shows for PBS and the Travel Channel.