OUR BOARD
Kristin Ang
Kristin Ang is an attorney in Pierce County. She received her business degree from the University of Puget Sound, with a piano performance scholarship.
She graduated from Cornell Law School, and studied international business and law in Hong Kong and mainland China. Kristin is an advocate for sustainable development and human rights. She can be found at community events, festivals and concerts. Kristin welcomes chats with members about City Club, as well as community development, projects and issues.
Lorne Arnold
Treasurer
Lorne is a geotechnical engineer with BS, MS, and PhD degrees from the University of Washington. Lorne grew up in Tacoma and moved back with his wife and three kids after he transitioned from school into engineering consulting in 2014. After three long years of commuting to Seattle to work for one of the state's top geotechnical firms, Lorne opened an office for his company in Tacoma in 2018. Lorne loves living in the City of Destiny and joined the City Club because of his belief in the importance of a nonpartisan forum for civic discussion, education, and engagement.
Justin Eckstein
Justin Eckstein (PhD, University of Denver) is an Associate Professor of Communication, Media, and Design Arts at Pacific Lutheran University. Dr. Eckstein is also Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Communication at the University of Washington and a Senior Fellow of Political Debate at Braver Angeles. Dr. Eckstein believes argumentation is the lifeblood of democracy and studies its necessary conditions. He has co-edited a book as well as published it in peer-reviewed journals, edited collections, and conference proceedings. Dr. Eckstein’s scholarly contributions won him the 2020 Rhetorical Communication Theory’s Early Career Award. Dr. Eckstein extends this work outside of the academy and classroom. He is a longtime volunteer at the Washington State Debate Coalition (WSDC) a non-profit, non-partisan organization that organizes candidate debates in the state of Washington. In 2020-2021 he was awarded a Fellowship at the Jackson Family Foundation and has continued his work with the foundation as the chair of the Leadership Strategy Team’s subcommittee on Depolarization.
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Alicia Lawver
Alicia Lawver works for Tacoma Public Schools where she manages strategic initiatives for the Planning & Construction, Nutrition Services, and Facilities departments. A former journalist and longtime Tacoma community activator, Alicia enjoys getting to the root of what matters and connecting people and organizations for meaningful action. Her favorite question: Why not?
Alicia earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Pacific Lutheran University and a Master in Business Administration from Western Governors University. She also holds an Accreditation in Public Relations.
Alicia loves adventures near and far, getting people excited about life and new ideas, and bragging about Tacoma. Alicia and her husband, Nathe, live in Tacoma with their three not-so-small children, two dogs who think they're cats, and one cat who thinks she's a dog.
Lin Zhou
President Lin Zhou, Ph. D
Since her hire at Bates as the dean of continuing education, apprenticeship, and child studies in 2013, Dr. Lin Zhou served as dean of instruction and executive dean before becoming the vice
president of institutional effectiveness and student success in 2016. Previously, she held the positions of associate dean of extended learning, and director of the branch campus and continuing education at Lake Washington Institute of Technology.
Dr. Zhou holds a Ph.D. in education, with an emphasis in community college leadership, from Oregon State University, a Master’s Degree in business administration from City University in Seattle, an Associate Degree in computer science and networking technology from Lake Washington Institute of Technology, and an Associate Degree in accounting from Renmin University of China. In 2017, Dr. Zhou participated in the Harvard University’s Institute for Educational Management, administered by the university’s Graduate School of Education.
Dr. Zhou is the college’s first female president, and the first female Chinese immigrant to serve as president at a public two-year college in Washington state.
Rian Booker
Rian Booker is a career project manager used to solving big problems for big companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, and Intuit. Nothing piques his interest like 'impossible' problems.
He holds degrees in Electronics Technology, Mathematics, Computer Science, and Business Administration but sees people as the key to any problem or solution.
He was born and raised in Tacoma and is keen to leave it a better place than he found it.