... but why the snide remarks about his place of origin? Maybe you're born and bred in Olympia (though why the tropical moniker?), and maybe your parents and their parents before them are likewise of this soil. But Stew's background is pretty typical for our community, and most other communities in the United States. Are you thinking he's going to grab the local jewels and run back to Ypsilanti? He chose Olympia. That's a plus, not a minus.

Glenn Blackmon

Laurian,

I believe that Stew's commitment to the ideals of the Democratic party - encapsulated in a platform that he helped to write in 2008 - is demonstrated clearly in his resume below.  Stew is a Management Consultant, where he has excelled at helping government agencies and non-profits to provide better services.  You are (of course) entitled to your opinion about the cut-off date to live in our city, but I believe Stew Henderson's Democratic and progressive credentials are unmatched.

Dylan Carlson, Campaign Manager, Friends of Stew Henderson

Stew Henderson's Resume:

• Peace Corps Volunteer, Republic of Mauritania. Henderson trained cooperative members in irrigated agriculture and deforestation prevention in Khabou, a village of 2000 people in Mauritania, West Africa. He became fluent in both French and Soninke. (1981-1983)

• Field Organizer, Mondale-Ferraro Campaign and Michigan State Democratic Party. Henderson worked for the campaign in several states during the primaries. He was lead organizer for Oakland County, Michigan (suburban Detroit, pop. 1 million+) during the general election. (1984)

• Community Organizer, Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen. Henderson led a national program to support local activists fight utility rate increases. He helped organize successful ballot initiatives in two states. The overall project was created and run in coalition with organized Labor. (Washington, DC, 1985-1986)

• Program Coordinator, Center for Dispute Settlement. After serving for several years as a volunteer mediator in the DC court system, Henderson was hired to set up the first volunteer mediation program in the DC public schools. (Washington, DC, 1987-1988)

• Manager of Training and Development, American University. Henderson provided in-house training and consulting services across the entire spectrum of the University’s structure, from Financial Aid to the University’s NPR radio station, WAMU. He also served as a guest lecturer for classes in communication and management. (Washington, DC, 1990-1994)

• Senior Associate, Technical Assistance and Training Corporation (TATC). Henderson provided training and management consulting services to numerous public sector clients at the federal, state, and local levels. His most important project was assisting the labor-management team charged with reinventing OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration), part of Vice President Al Gore’s Reinventing Government initiative. TATC is an employee-owned management consulting firm. (Washington, DC, 1988-1999 (part-time 1990-1994))

• Assistant Director, Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. As head of the agency's office of Management Consulting Services, Henderson worked with the Director and top leaders to ensure that this large state agency operated efficiently and effectively. Projects he and his staff managed won numerous awards and created significant cost savings. Henderson helped design one of the first agency-specific Government Management Accountability and Performance (GMAP) processes in the state, and assisted with the Governor’s Priorities of Government (POG) process. (Olympia, WA, 1999-2006)

• Founder, Third Way Consulting Group. Henderson helps leaders and teams focus on their most critical goals, and find new and creative ways to achieve them. He also helps leaders transform workplaces where conflicts – including tough issues like racism and sexism – are making people miserable and keeping the work from getting done. Third Way’s clients include a wide range of public and non-profit sector organizations, particularly in the fields of the environmental protection, education, and health care. (Olympia, WA, 2005-present)

Political Experience

• Democratic Precinct Committee Officer, Oakland County, Michigan. (1978)

• Co-Organizer, Dartmouth Progressive Network. Helped overturn Dartmouth College’s discriminatory admissions policies. (1979-1981)

• Field Organizer, Mondale-Ferraro Campaign and Michigan State Democratic Party. (Details in “Professional Experience” section, above.) (1984)

• Executive Committee, Oakland County Democratic Party. Elected by party members. (1984)

• Hyattsville (Maryland) City Council. Henderson was chosen to fill a vacancy on the City Council in Hyattsville, at the time a declining inner-Beltway community of 15,000. He won election to complete the remaining two years of the term, and was reelected again to a full four-year term. His accomplishments included supporting a major redevelopment initiative, supporting an overhaul of Public Works practices that cut costs and improved results (without cutting staff), and personally intervening to defuse racial tensions during a critical community incident. (1992-1999)

• Candidate, Maryland state legislature. Henderson ran a strong campaign against an incumbent who had opposed the Governor’s key initiative to fund education. (1994)

• Volunteer, Thurston County Democratic Party. Responding to complaints, Henderson volunteered to design a successful process at the 2006 Convention that got delegates talking to each other (versus passively listening to speakers) while accomplishing real work. In 2008, Henderson co-chaired the Platform Committee that created a new kind of values-based platform; the final platform was widely popular and is being copied by other counties (Google “Thurston County Democrats’ Platform” to see the video). (2006-present)

• Volunteer, Obama for America. Henderson was elected as an alternate National Delegate from the 3rd Congressional District; his blog from the convention was printed daily in The Olympian newspaper. He spearheaded what became the largest grass-roots Obama fundraiser in the state, raising over $60,000 in Olympia in one day. Henderson closed his business during the last month of the campaign and volunteered full-time on the GOTV effort for the Combined Campaign. Henderson also helped Sandra Romero in her Thurston County Commissioner race. (2007-2008)

• Volunteer, various local campaigns. Henderson served on the Steering Committee for progressive Karen Valenzuela’s campaign for Thurston County Commissioner. He volunteered for several other candidates, including Progressive Majority candidates Marilyn Strickland (for Mayor of Tacoma) and Jeff Davis (Port of Olympia), as well as Lacey City Council candidates Andy Ryder and Cynthia Pratt (both Obama volunteers who unseated conservative incumbents). He also helped organize local support for Referendum 71 and opposition to I-1033. (2009)

• Volunteer, Organizing for America (OFA). Henderson took the lead on initial efforts to turn the volunteer base of Obama for America in Thurston County into the on-going Organizing for America. He spearheaded an Inauguration Day Food Drive in which many dozens of volunteers gathered enough food and donations in one day to keep the Thurston County Food Bank stocked for a full month. He helped recruit staff and volunteers to keep the local OFA chapter going. He continued to help during the fight for Health Care Reform, through phone banking, door-to-door canvassing, volunteer training, and organizing a key local coalition rally. (2009-present)

• Volunteer, Business Leaders for Climate Solutions (BLCS). Henderson helped organize progressive business leaders in Washington, Oregon and Montana to support the transition to Clean Energy by influencing state and national legislation. BLCS, organized by Climate Solutions, is part of a long-term strategy to break the conservative hold on the business community. (2009-present)

• Volunteer, Thurston Climate Action Team. Henderson played a key role in pulling together a broad coalition (government, Labor, business, and environmental groups) and developing a successful strategy that led to Thurston County winning Federal grants totaling $1.5 million to stimulate jobs and reduce ratepayers’ bills by promoting energy efficiency in the County. (2009-present)