June 2, 2015
Public policy, business graduate student named next UW student regent
Gov. Jay Inslee has named Vanessa Kritzer, a graduate student at the University of Washington, as the next student member of the UW Board of Regents. The year-long appointment is effective July 1.
Vanessa Kritzer
Kritzer, a Seattle native who attended high school at The Northwest School and earned her B.A. from Vassar College in Latin American and Latino/a studies and political science, came to the UW to pursue a Master of Public Administration degree at the Evans School of Public Affairs.
“Vanessa’s broad leadership with the campus community and her extensive experience working on policies that impact our country and world make her very well qualified to serve as a student regent,” Inslee said. “She’ll be an influential voice in Washington’s higher education system and I look forward to working with her.”
Kritzer has been actively involved in the UW community, having served in the Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS), as an officer in the Evans Student Organization, as chair of the GPSS State Legislative Steering Committee and a member of the GPSS Diversity Committee.
She spent six years in Washington, D.C., working on international and environmental policy. She has been communications director and a board member at the Latin America Working Group, specializing in advocacy to promote human rights in U.S. policies toward Colombia, Mexico and Guatemala. As director of digital strategy for the League of Conservation Voters, she worked to protect natural spaces, fight climate change and move the U.S. toward a clean energy future.
This fall, Kritzer will begin studies at the Foster School of Business to complete a dual MPA/MBA degree. She hopes to use her studies to become an innovative public servant in the state of Washington and run effective organizations for social justice.
Tag(s): UW Board of Regents
