Kelly Fukai is stepping down as CEO of the Washington Know-how Business Affiliation to grow to be chief government of the Northwest Fuel Affiliation.
Fukai has been with the WTIA for 3 years and have become CEO of the commerce group in January. She succeeded Michael Schutzler, who held the submit for greater than a decade.
Fukai’s departure takes impact Sept. 11 and the board is working to nominate her substitute.
“It’s been an honor to function CEO of WTIA and to work alongside such a passionate, modern neighborhood. I’m happy with what we’ve constructed collectively,” she stated in an announcement.
The WTIA launched in 1984 and operates as a nonprofit member commerce affiliation and a for-profit company offering enterprise providers underneath the identify Portalus. It additionally provides medical health insurance and 401(ok) to tech corporations and entrepreneurs.
Previous to WTIA, Fukai labored for Avista, the Spokane, Wash.-based pure fuel and vitality providers firm, for 16 years ending in 2014. The pure fuel commerce group consists of utilities and pipelines within the U.S. and Canada.
“I’m honored to return to the vitality sector and lead [the Northwest Gas Association] at a time of such transformation and alternative,” Fukai stated. “Pure fuel continues to play a significant function in making certain reasonably priced, dependable vitality for our communities. I sit up for working with our members and companions to form a sustainable vitality future for the Northwest.”
The WTIA introduced that Randa Minkarah will take the newly created function of chief working government for the WTIA Consortium, which incorporates the group’s three initiatives. Minkarah has served on the WTIA board of administrators for greater than six years and can retain that seat, in addition to remaining the chair of each Portalus and the board of trustees for the Affiliation Well being Plan.
Minkarah can be the co-founder and former president and chief working officer of Seattle-area firm Resonance AI, a synthetic intelligence media firm. She additionally held a number of management roles at Fisher Communications, which was acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group.
— MicroVision, a Redmond, Wash., firm constructing automotive lidar sensors for security techniques, autonomous automobiles and different purposes, named Laura Peterson to its board of administrators. Peterson was at Boeing for greater than 22 years, leaving the function of vp of enterprise growth in China in 2016. She was additionally president and CEO of Sarcos Know-how and Robotics, which is now Palladyne AI.
“Laura’s wealthy background in operational management, worldwide enterprise growth, world technique, authorities relations, homeland safety, and M&A shall be invaluable to MicroVision as we execute on our strategic plan,” MicroVision CEO Sumit Sharma stated in an announcement.
The corporate additionally introduced that Mark Spitzer will retire from the board.
— Fuse, a Bellevue, Wash., enterprise capital agency, introduced the rent of Brooke Borseth as an funding crew affiliate. She is going to deal with early-stage startups constructing B2B software program.
The function marks Borseth’s return to the Seattle space from Moneta Ventures, a California-based funding agency the place she served as a senior affiliate. At Moneta, she invested in additional than 15 corporations and supported the agency in elevating a $250 million fund.
— Seattle’s Sarah Johansson has been promoted to move of authorized product for Theo Ai, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup with a platform that predicts the end result of authorized disputes. Johansson shall be working with authorized groups within the U.S. to higher perceive their workflows to allow the design of custom-built instruments. She has been with the corporate since November 2024.
