Page 34 - Pierce County Lawyer - January February 2024

TACOMAPROBONO COMMUNITY LAWYERS By Laurie Davenport
MEET OUR NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MELISA EVANGELOS
Our board and staff are excited to announce that Melisa Evangelos, a long-time volunteer, staff attorney and member of our administrative team who has been serving as Interim Executive Director of Tacomaprobono Community Lawyers since July 2023, was chosen by the Board in December 2023 to serve as our next Executive Director!
As Interim ED, Melisa has already faced a number of daunting yet meticulous and unforgiving tasks, a few emergencies, some tough decisions and an agonizing period of waiting to learn the outcomes of virtually all of our grant applications
for the coming year. [More details on funding and program development in a future issue.] While anyone serving in an ‘interim’ role might be forgiven for trying to find ways to avoid uncomfortable chores, Melisa simply moves these things into the ‘fussy’ category. We have learned that when she deems a problem ‘fussy,’ she will get to work on it NOW and not stop until all the threads are untangled, the vision is clear, everyone knows what their job is, and the road is paved to achieve something positive, large or small. We look forward to being part of a team dedicated to bringing that energy to our clients and our community.
We asked Melisa to tell us and our readers a few things about herself:
• I grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Wellesley College
• University of Puget Sound School of Law
• Washington State Supreme Court Clerk – Justice
Charles Johnson
• Perkins Coie, 6 years
• Tacoma Farmers Market Director, 5 years
• Dugan Foundation (Animal Welfare) Many hats ;-)
– development, program management, administration
• Tacomaprobono Community Lawyers Volunteer
2018-2020
• Tacomaprobono’s Native American Legal Aid Program
Staff Attorney 2020-2021
• Tacomaprobono Assistant Director December 2021 -
July 2023
• Tacomaprobono Community Lawyers Interim Executive
I celebrated turning 60 in 2023 with several memorable hikes including the Grand Canyon, the West half of the Wonderland Trail in Mount Rainier National Park, and the North Cascades National Park.
When not at work, I can be found at the
6 am yoga classes at Tacoma Yoga, in the weight room at the YMCA, on the muddy trails at Point
Defiance, or in the kitchen baking or cooking really spicy food. Married with two adult sons and an unruly pitbull mix.
I Joined the TPB Administration team during a period of insane growth; helped develop financial and human resources policies as well as program development, particularly the growth of the lone VOCA position to our current Family Safety Project.
I love this job! I can’t believe I get to come to work every day and work with an incredible team who all improve the lives of Pierce County’s most vulnerable citizens.
SHARKEY AWARDS
Congratulations to our interns and
staff Aubreianna Harpst, Raphi
Crenshaw, Heather Mabley and Karen
Jimenez, all of whom were recipients
of Sharkey Awards on December 8,
2023 at the Tacoma Art Museum! It’s
great to see your work with our team and our clients recognized by young members of our local bar who are dedicated to professional development and public service. You rock!
TACOMA RENTAL HOUSING CODE CHANGES
2024 will be an interesting year for our Housing Justice Project, Tacoma landlords and tenants and the courts as we navigate the latest changes to Tacoma’s Rental Housing Code, the newly passed Landlord Fairness Code Initiative (TLFCI), which became effective December 8, 2023. Although the full application of the initiative is more complicated and nuanced, we thought we would share an overview of the general operation of the initiative created by our Housing Justice Project Managing Attorney Mark Morzol. This summary, as well as a variety of other resources, is available on the Housing Justice Project page at www.tacomaprobono.org/hjp.
Director, July 2023-December 2023
34 PIERCE COUNTY LAWYER | January/February 2024