Rebuilding Together Seattle is thrilled to introduce our 2012-2013 Young Professionals Society (YPS) Executive Team: Michelle Holst, Jenny Levesque, and Anne Timmermans!
As the group begins its 5th year, the new Executive Team is busy planning for a fun year ahead! With the YPS Kickoff Social on September 7th, and the annual YPS Rebuilding Day on September 15th, the Executive Team already has great plans in store.
Let's meet these leaders!
MICHELLE HOLST:
PRESIDENT
Tell
me about yourself? Where are you from? Where did you go to
school?
Hey, I'm Michelle! I'm a kind of a mutt - born in Washington,
but I'm half Californian, half Minnesotan and I've lived most of my life in
California with stints in Hawaii, Wales, and Denmark. I graduated from high
school near San Diego and from college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. I've lived
in Capitol Hill for 2 1/2 years and I get giddy on a sunny Seattle day.
Name
three words that describe yourself - GO!
Compassionate, resourceful, and genuine
What
do you do for a living?
I'm in the process of becoming a Registered Architect. I work
for a small architecture firm in West Seattle doing a wide range of residential
and some commercial projects. I've always been fascinated by how people live
and I love working with people on their homes.
How
did you first get involved with Rebuilding Together Seattle?
Shortly after moving here in 2009, I was trying to find a way to
get involved with volunteering in Seattle that was hands-on and impactful. I'm
not sure how I found the link, but I liked what I saw online and signed up
immediately. I've been hooked ever since; covered in dirt, paint, and dust
after a solid days work with a crew of amazing volunteers and homeowners. It
doesn't require full-time dedication to help someone in the Seattle community
who truly benefits from and appreciates a days worth of improvements from 20
willing sets of hands.
Why
do you believe in the mission of Rebuilding Together Seattle? Why do you support the RTS Young Professionals
Society (YPS)? What are you excited for
this year?
I see RTS as the perfect vehicle for giving a
hand-up to those who need it most. YPS engages an age group that stands to
benefit from the networking interaction in addition to helping others. YPS
benefits RTS by being the face of the social media demographic and provides the
opportunity to create lifelong members dedicated to RTS.
I also think that YPS is a wonderful opportunity to connect with
post-college/mid-lifers who have a desire to serve their community and have fun
doing it. I haven't come across a single person involved with RTS and YPS who
didn't have a heart two sizes too big and a sense of humor to match. From the
leadership side of things, I'm excited to engineer more opportunities for YPS
to do what they do best - service projects - in addition to ensuring
informative meetings and outreach.
Tell
us a bit more about yourself – what do you like to do outside of work?
Outside of work and YPS, I like to adventure with friends, try
out weird recipes, and trick myself into running long distances. And I'm a
sucker for TV dramas. Game of Thrones/ Breaking Bad/ Dexter anyone?
JENNY LEVESQUE:
VICE PRESIDENT
Tell me about
yourself? Where are you from? Where did you go to school?
Jenny
Levesque. Grew up in West Seattle, Washington. Attended Holy Names for high
school, went to St. Mary's College of California for college, just recently got
my masters from Seattle University.
Name three words
that describe yourself - GO!
A
hard-working, good-natured, multi-tasker
:-)
What do you do
for a living?
Marketing/communications
specialist for BergerABAM, a civil/structural engineering company
How did you first
get involved with Rebuilding Together Seattle?
Very
first time I got involved with RTS (then still Christmas in April) was when I
volunteered to help with a project in high school. But more recently I served
as the Vice President of YPS in 2008-2009.
Why
do you believe in the mission of Rebuilding Together Seattle? Why do you support the RTS Young Professionals
Society (YPS)? What are you excited for
this year?
I support RTS because I firmly believe in the
importance of all people having a safe, warm place to call home. Somewhere that
they can live their lives in peace and without worry. I support YPS because I
think that it is important for younger people (young professionals) to reach
out and help the elderly or low income homeowners in this mission for safe
housing. I feel that YPS brings a fresh perspective and a new group of people
to the mission of RTS. I also think that young professionals are able to reach
out and network and help spread the word about RTS in a way that other groups
cannot.
Tell us a bit
more about yourself – what do you like to do outside of work?
Outside
of work, I enjoy playing lacrosse and soccer. And I love to travel! I just got
back from a trip to Costa Rica with my sister.
ANNE TIMMERMANS:
SERVICE CHAIR
Tell me about
yourself? Where are you from? Where did you go to school?
Bakersfield,
CA, but have lived in Seattle almost 12 years.
I went to the University of Washington (gooooooooooooooo HUSKIEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS)
for undergrad in 2000 (Geography major, 2004) and went back for my Master’s in
Construction Management degree from 2008-2010.
Name three words
that describe yourself – GO!
Astute,
gregarious, assertive
What
do you do for a living?
Project Manager at Heery International, Inc. I am usually the
Owner’s Representative on large, public projects starting in design,
construction, and occupancy. I just wrapped up 6.5 years on the Port of
Seattle’s consolidated rental car facility that opened May 17th.
How
did you first get involved with Rebuilding Together Seattle?
Gayle Roberts (current RTS Board Member) needed volunteers to serve as Project Manager for an RTS/Sounders high school
revitalization project in 2010 at Franklin High school. I thought ‘wow, what a great
organization’ and immediately signed up to volunteer even though I was wrapping
up my graduate thesis and really had no spare time. I worked with Anne Quiqq (former RTS Board Member) on
getting a lot of the landscaping details and provided a ton of manual labor
that day, and had such a great time that I had to return. Then, about six months later, my friend and I
co-PM’d a Veterans Rebuilding Day project in Burien.
Why
do you believe in the mission of Rebuilding Together Seattle? Why do you support the RTS Young Professionals
Society (YPS)? What are you excited for
this year?
Often times, homeowners experience circumstances
that make them decide between house upkeep versus health, wellness, and other
costs of living. RTS does the communities a great service by re-instilling hope
in homeowners who have had unexpected loss, health issues, or sudden
disruptions to their income.
YPS is a great branch of RTS since it taps into
all of the up and coming professionals in the Puget Sound. YPS often supplies a
lot of the volunteers that work on the projects, and it is a great way to stay
in communication with the volunteer base. This year I'd love to see more fundraising opportunities, growing the volunteer base within
YPS, and possibly syncing up with other design or construction industry
organizations for projects.
Tell
us a bit more about yourself – what do you like to do outside of work?
Go wine tasting (and SOMETIMES, I even drink the wine), go for
road trips, organize outings with my friends (brunches, wine tasting, bbqs,
girls’ night out), collect cowboy boots, collect vintage crystal party sets,
avid reader, listener of lots and lots and lots of music, and perpetual sun
seeker in Seattle (while wearing sunscreen of course!)
WOW! What a great team. Thank you, Michelle, Jenny, and Anne! We're excited to have you on board!
ABOUT YPS!
YPS is a service organization of Rebuilding Together Seattle that
was founded in August 2008, in an effort to develop a greater support
network of young professionals who could support the organization and share their professional talents and connections. YPS hosts service projects and social events on a quarterly basis, and has approximately 40 active members. To learn more, visit http://rtseattle.org/yps.php or visit the YPS Facebook Group.
Want to get involved? Contact: michelle.m.holst@gmail.com
