About the Joseph Albert Dear Distinguished Alumni Award
Established in 2014, the Joseph Albert Dear Distinguished Alumni Award is named after Joe Dear, an accomplished 1977 Evergreen graduate and lifelong advocate of the college, who dedicated his life to public service. His list of accomplishments includes helping restore solvency to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, heading the Washington State Investment Board and Department of Labor and Industries, leading the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration under President Clinton, serving as chief of staff to Washington Governor Gary Locke, and serving on The Evergreen State College Foundation’s board of governors. Each year during Return to Evergreen we honor Joe’s contributions and other alumni like him who continue to go above and beyond in public service.
Our 2024 Recipient
Seth Kirby '02, MPA '07
Seth is a transgender man, parent, and advocate for racially equitable, community-designed approaches to everyday challenges and opportunities. Throughout his career, Seth has bridged communities and policy advocacy to support inclusive, accessible communities. Seth’s engagement has spanned government to philanthropy and non-profit to community organizing.
Seth is currently the chief impact officer at Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, where he identifies, designs, and champions lasting connections and investments in Pierce County. Previously, he served as the executive director of Oasis Youth Center in Tacoma. He was also legislative director at the Washington State Human Rights Commission, where he led on a range of public policy issues, including disability access, veteran and service member non-discrimination and implementation of sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes.
Seth was chair of Washington Won’t Discriminate, the campaign to retain existing statewide LGBTQ protections. He served for ten years on the board of directors for Pride Foundation and is a senior fellow with the American Leadership Forum-Pierce County Chapter. Seth is current board chair of Inatai Foundation.
Seth was born and raised in rural Nebraska before making his way to Washington state. He currently lives in Tacoma.
Seth is a proud “double greener” having graduated from The Evergreen State College with his BA and returning to earn his MPA with concentrations in public policy and tribal governance.
Past Award Recipients
2023 - Monica Alexander '13
2022 - Denny Heck '73
2021 - Cheryl Batalon Fambles '82
2020 - Cheryl Strange '88
2019 - John C. Stocks '81
2018 - Ron Charles '97
2018 - Yuh-Line Niou '04
2017 - Sharon Tomiko Santos '85
2016 - Nate Gibbs-Bowling '04, MiT '06
2015 - Maia Bellon '91
2014 - The Family of Joe Dear