Christine Gregoire is the CEO for Challenge Seattle. Challenge Seattle is an alliance of CEOs from 17 of the region’s largest private-sector employers who work together to ensure the greater Seattle area continues to thrive as one of the most vibrant, innovative, and globally competitive regions in the world.

Previously, Chris served for two terms as Governor of the State of Washington with a $32B biennial budget and over 60,000 employees. In her first term as Governor, she created the Department of Early Learning and led on reforms to the K-12 system and investment in higher education. Chris led the state in a historical investment in infrastructure including the building of the largest floating bridge in the world and the largest transportation tunnel to open up Seattle's waterfront. She addressed the water wars in the state and established the Puget Sound initiative to restore one of the nation's major estuaries. She led an historic number of trade missions, reformed the foster care system to protect children, and was among the first to lead in health care reform.

During her second term, Chris led the state in major reforms, management and budgeting to position the state as one of the most financially secure to come out of the "Great Recession".   

Prior to becoming Governor, Chris served for three terms as Attorney General for the State and prior to becoming Attorney General, Chris served four years as the Director of the State Department of Ecology.

In addition to being CEO of Challenge Seattle, Chris is a Member and former chair of the Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center, Member of the National Bipartisan Governor’s Council. She served as Chair of the National Export-Import Bank Advisory Board 2013 - 2016.

Chris holds a J.D. From Gonzaga University and a B.A. and teaching certificate from the University of Washington. She is a graduate of the Harvard Executive Management Program.

Chris has been married to her husband Mike for over forty years.  They have two children, Courtney and Michelle, and four grandchildren.

Pam MacEwan is the Chief Executive Officer for the Washington Health Benefit Exchange. Prior to joining the leadership team at HBE, Pam served as Executive Vice President for Public
Affairs and Governance for Group Health Cooperative. She directed Medicare and Medicaid program performance and strategy, government relations, public policy, communications, and
consumer governance serving on Group Health’s leadership team for 16 years.

Previously Pam served as a Commissioner with the Washington Health Services Commission implementing the
Health Services Act. She worked with a broad coalition to pass health reform legislation. Pam has served on several health policy initiatives in the public and private sector, chairing the
Association of Washington Health Plans, serving on the Washington State Hospital policy committee, the King County Health Action Plan, and the Children’s Health Initiative. She holds an MAT in history from Brown University and a BA in economics from The Evergreen State College.

Randi Warick has been deputy director for strategy and finance at the Washington’s Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) since 2013. As chief financial officer, she’s responsible for strategic, operational and financial oversight of the 3,300-person agency, its $800 million budget and the state’s workers’ compensation system, which annually pays nearly $2 billion in benefits. Randi began her 34-year career in state service as a 21-year-old checking driver’s license records, growing into senior leadership roles at L&I, the Employment Security Department, Department of Corrections and the Office of Financial Management. She’s committed to change management, supporting employees, and fostering a resilient, people-centered workplace. She enjoys fishing, gardening and most of all her family, including an elderly Great Dane and one very energetic bloodhound.

Betty leads Client Excellence for Deloitte’s US Higher Education Group, within their Government and Public Sector. Under Betty’s leadership, Higher Education earned the rare distinction of becoming a dedicated, cross-functional sector, across all four Deloitte businesses – Consulting, Risk & Financial Advisory, Tax and Audit.

Betty also chairs Deloitte’s Center for Higher Education Excellence, a dedicated research center focused on helping colleges and universities navigate complex challenges and reimagine innovative models of excellence across the academy.

Prior to her leadership roles in Higher Education, Betty successfully led consulting engagements for state government clients across a range of offerings including large-scale systems implementations, quality assurance, IT strategy, business process reengineering, risk management, organizational readiness/change management, and financial modeling. And, prior to Deloitte, Betty worked as a Design Engineer with Intel Corporation in California, with responsibility for designing motherboards, microprocessors and microcontrollers.

With over 23 years of professional experience (18 within Deloitte’s Government and Public Sector), Betty has a strong and proven track record of successfully driving large-scale and complex business strategies. She is a McNair Scholar, an Intel Leadership Award recipient, and an Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Entrepreneur. 

Alfie Alvarado serves as the Director of your Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs.  The Department is the statewide advocate for our veterans and their families’ earned benefits and services.

Alfie was born in Puerto Rico and served 22 years on active duty retiring as the Command Sergeant Major of Madigan Army Medical Center and Troop Command, Joint Base Lewis McChord.  

As Director, she is a member of Governor Jay Inslee’s Executive Cabinet and chairs the Washington State Military Transition Council.   In this capacity, her agency leads statewide efforts for the seamless transition of service members and their families to Washington State’s communities.  She is a member of the Governor’s Results Washington Design Team which addresses the effective delivery of state services to Washingtonians.

Alfie is a licensed Nursing Home Administrator and alumni of Harvard University’s Senior Executives in Government program.  She currently serves as Judge Advocate for the National Association of State Veterans Homes and Immediate Past President of the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs. 

She is recipient of the Army Legion of Merit Medal and a member of the Military Order of Medical Merit.  She has state and national awards that include the YWCA Women of Distinction Award, Governor’s Distinguished Management Leadership Award and the Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary’s Leadership Award.