Paul Goodrich (Madrona photo)

— One of the original backers of Redfin is stepping off the board of directors after more than a decade of service at the Seattle real estate company. Paul Goodrich, a managing director at Seattle-based Madrona Venture Group, resigned from the board effective this week, drawing praise from the company

“Paul Goodrich first invested in Redfin twelve years ago, before any other venture firm did, and when none would,” said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman in a statement emailed to GeekWire. “He chaired our board for most of the company’s history. He campaigned for Redfin to expand nationwide, to focus on homesellers, to refer customers to partners when our own agents weren’t available. These were three of the best decisions we ever made. He was a mentor and a friend to me and to the entire executive team. It’s not unusual for a venture capitalist to leave the board of a public company, but we’ll miss Paul all the same, and we thank him for a glorious run. We love you Paul.”

Redfin went public in July at $15 per share, and is now trading at $24.76.

The company declined to comment on future plans as it relates to filling Goodrich’s board seat. Goodrich joined Madrona in 1995, after serving as a partner at Seattle law firm Perkins Coie.

Rebecca Lovell. (City of Seattle Photo)

— Brian Surratt, a longtime leader in Seattle’s Office of Economic Development (OED), announced that he is leaving his position as its director to join Alexandria Real Estate Equities as the company’s Executive Director of Real Estate Development and Community Relations.

Mayor Jenny Durkan has appointed Rebecca Lovell to replace Surratt as the interim director of the office.

Brian Surratt. (City of Seattle Photo)

Surratt worked in the OED for over 12 years and oversaw efforts including establishing the city’s $15 minimum wage and an ongoing effort to renovate Key Arena in an attempt to attract professional basketball and hockey teams to the city.

Lovell has worked in the office for more than three years, initially as a startup advocate and most recently as its Acting and Deputy Director, handling day-to-day operations.

She recently led the city’s response to Amazon’s widely publicized search for a second headquarters. Before joining the office, she served as interim director for the Northwest Entrepreneur Network, an instructor in the Foster School of Business and also GeekWire’s Chief Business Officer.

Steven Halliwell. (Promethean Photo)

Promethean, a Seattle-based education technology company, announced two new leadership additions: AWS manager Steven Halliwell has joined the company as its senior vice president of customer engagement and tech executive Jaswir Singh has joined the company as its chief operating officer.

Halliwell spent seven years at AWS, Amazon’s cloud computing arm, most recently serving as the general manager of commercial business in the AWS West Division. He also spent ten years as the sales director for Microsoft’s South East United States region.

“Steve Halliwell has established himself as a leader in the technology sector, where he has demonstrated his ability in identifying new market opportunities, develop growth strategies to increase revenue and margins, and build and maintain organizations that are customer-centric,” Promethean CEO Vin Riera said in a press release.”

Jaswir Singh. (Promethean Photo)

Singh joins Promethean from Veon, an international communications and tech company, where he was a group director. He previously held several executive roles in the North American arm of ADVA Optical Networking, a German manufacturer.

“Jaswir Singh brings a significant amount of global operational, financial and general management leadership spanning nearly 30 years in the technology sector,” Riera said. “His experience will help guide Promethean as we continue to assess our overall strategy, new market opportunities, and drive operational excellence.”

Melissa McCann-Tilton. (PayScale Photo)

— PayScale, a Seattle company offering online salary comparison services, announced that tech executive Melissa McCann-Tilton has joined the company as its chief sales officer as it works to expand into new markets.

McCann-Tilton was formerly the vice president of global marketing and sales at software company CDK Global and held leadership roles at human resources tech provider ADP and automotive marketer Cobalt Marketing Services.

“Melissa has a proven track record building world-class sales programs for leading tech companies. We are thrilled to have Melissa join our executive team,” PayScale CEO Mike Metzger said in a statement.

GeekWire’s John Cook contributed to this report. 

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