Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/1405271
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2021 29 began volunteering on Club committees in 2012. He has served on the Member- ship & Marketing, Finance, Athletic, and House committees. He joined the Board of Governors in 2014 and took over as Chairman of the Board this August. "Jason has a great history of leader- ship, and he has earned this role," WAC President & CEO Chuck Nelson says. "He has great passion for the WAC, a strong business and community sense, and we look forward to working with him to create a great year for the mem- bership and the Club." e one-year Chairman's appoint- ment is the Club's highest member-held position and comes with a full calendar of meetings and events. With any luck, Jason will be toasting the WAC's 91st anniversary at Jubilee this December, surrounded by hundreds of fellow members. "at's what the core of this Club is about—it's about people and it's about being together," he says. "ere's a lot of people for a lot of reasons that have either had to temporarily suspend or re-evaluate their priorities in this pan- demic. We all know what a great place the WAC is—the community that is the WAC. "I want to immediately re-engage folks that for whatever reason are no longer active, and then help grow the WAC community even larger than it was pre-pandemic. e people are what make the place." THE PANDEMIC Each of us has a pandemic story. For some, it includes unexpected free time and new hobbies. Not so, Jason Hamil- ton. Jason joined Marsh in 2015. He was initially recruited to the company by former WAC Chairwoman Marilyn Boss, whom he met through his involvement on the WAC Board of Governors. "She asked me if I would ever consid- er moving into the insurance realm and I said no," Jason recalls. "Eventually I said yes, and it's been great." Jason took over as Marsh's regional head in February 2020. A month later, COVID-19 hit. "It's been an interesting time to take a new role and lead as the world is sort of spinning in the opposite direction," he says. Jason moved quickly to close the company's Seattle, Portland and Hono- lulu offices and shied to an entirely re- mote team just as work spiked like never before. "Everybody in the world that was still operating a business was wondering whether or not their insurance covered any of their pandemic losses," he says. "It was just nonstop." Toss in 26 Husky basketball games and two teenagers, and, well, you get the idea. "I've never had a busier year in my life," Jason says.