Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/1134535
10 WAC Magazine | wac.net first take Longtime WAC member Jon Fine is stepping down as President & CEO of United Way of King County. Jon joined the organization in 2000 and has been a WAC member since 1988. He was featured in the February 2013 edition of WAC Magazine, which covered mem- bers who have dedicated their careers to helping others. "I always knew nonprofits were where I wanted to be," Jon said in that article. Before United Way, Jon served as CEO of the Seattle and King County chapter of the American Red Cross. "e hallmark of Jon's tenure has been a laser focus on accountability and results," United Way Board Chair Brian McAndrews said. Jon didn't just run United Way of King County. He also lived it, partici- pating in the Volunteer Reader Program and Day of Caring and summitting Mount Rainier as part of the Climb for the Community. He was also consistently a leadership donor as well as a fundraiser for United Way's key initiatives, includ- ing the Parent-Child Home Program and the Reconnecting Youth initiative "I will forever treasure the oppor- tunity I have had to partner with such outstanding volunteers, donors, staff, agencies, and businesses to do such in- teresting and meaningful work," Jon said. A N I TA N O W A C K A united way leader / grand staircase gallery Jon Fine retires as United Way CEO Seeing like Sequoyah For Sequoyah Burke-Combs, an emerging artist and the next exhibitor in the WAC Grand Staircase Gallery, the world comes to life through the patterns and natural occurrences observed in everyday musings. From undulating puddles and billowing clouds to the reflection of a night sky in dark water, Sequoyah captures these patterns in cosmic, almost-otherworldly canvases. A WAC member and professional rugby player for the Seattle Seawolves, Sequoyah recently immersed himself more fully into his art as a way to extend his world beyond pro- fessional rugby. "Art has helped me realize more ways to express myself that ultimately say more about who I am and what life means to me," he says. "It's com- pletely taken me out of my comfort zone and helped me handle whatever obstacles life has." e result of this realization is Sequoyah's first official show, coming to the Grand Staircase Gallery this summer. Enjoy these large- and medium-scale paint- ings that delve into the beauty of space, water, wildlife, and nature. "My life and chaotic system of thoughts find order when I put them into an art piece," Sequoyah says. "I find myself creating images of things that exist beyond perception. at has a really therapeutic effect for me." —Mae Jacobson, WAC Magazine Associate Editor C O U R T E S Y S E Q U OYA H B U R K E - C O M B S Shedding new light in WAC Garage New motion-activated LED lights in the WAC Garage have members seeing a little more clearly while parking their cars. The lights were installed in late May and are expected to reduce garage electricity usage by nearly 25 percent.