Kate Garman. (City of Seattle Photo)

Seattle has long been a hub for innovative technology, and today the city is taking advantage of that technology more than ever with its Smart City program.

To lead that work, the City of Seattle has appointed a new Smart City Coordinator: Kate Garman, who previously led innovation and technology policy for Kansas City.

Prior to her time at Kansas City, Garman led legal and government compliance efforts at infrastructure company Black & Veatch.

In her new role, Garman will collaborate with departments throughout the city to make sure Smart City projects are running smoothly and are in line with city policies.

Smart City projects are already being planned by departments including the Seattle Department of Transportation, Seattle Fire Department, Seattle City Light, and Seattle Public Utilities. According to the city, they will use technology to streamline traffic flow, foster economic development and enhance aspects of the city’s livability, workability and sustainability.

“Seattle strives to become a smarter city, responsibly use new technologies and data to improve our community’s quality of life. This means bringing together stakeholders from across the city to understand when these technologies can provide value, and to facilitate deployment in a manner trusted by our community,” Seattle Chief Technology Officer Michael Mattmiller said in a press release. “We are excited to have a proven leader like Kate help us advance our efforts in this space.”

“I’m really excited to bring my experience and knowledge from my work in Kansas City to the Smart City Coordinator position in Seattle,” Garman said in the release. “This work will be important in the future innovation of Seattle, and I look forward to working together with city departments and connecting with the community as we move forward.”

Jennifer Griffith. (Fred Hutch Photo)

— The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center announced several new additions to its leadership this week: the first is longtime Washington, D.C., insider and Congressional aide Jennifer Griffith who has joined the nonprofit as its VP of government and community relations.

Griffith has been working in the halls of Olympia and Washington, D.C., for more than two decades. She was the chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell for three years and has worked as an aide, lobbyist and activist throughout her career.

At Fred Hutch, she takes on the role of connecting with local, state and federal government to ensure their policies support Fred Hutch and its cancer research operations.

Lynann Bradbury. (Fred Hutch Photo)

The second addition to the organization is a familiar face for many in the tech industry: former WE Communications executive Lynann Bradbury who is now Fred Hutch’s VP of communications and marketing.

Bradbury began her career at WE as a product marketing and PR specialist for Microsoft in 1993. She went on to spend a decade on WE’s executive board, most recently as the company’s SVP of digital strategies. After leaving WE, she co-founded NetHope, an international consortium of non-government organizations working to involve women in emerging technology markets around the world.

And finally, Fred Hutch announced that immunotherapy researcher and oncologist Dr. Hootie Warren was appointed to lead Fred Hutch’s Global Oncology program.

Warren has been with Fred Hutch for 24 years and leads a lab focused on understanding changes in the body when patients receive cutting-edge immunotherapy treatments. In his new role, he will lead a program focused on solving cancer care problems in developing countries, an increasing problem that often flies under the radar of global health efforts.

Bob Milne. (Photo via LinkedIn)

Vacasa, the Portland, Ore.,-based vacation rentals company, announced Tuesday that former Wyndham Vacation Rentals North America President Bob Milne is joining the company as its new Chief Operations Officer.

Milne founded his own vacation rentals company, The Resort Company, in 1997. He served as the company’s CEO until it was sold to Wyndham in 2011 and went on to serve as the president of Wyndham’s vacation rentals division until 2014.

Milne has worked as a strategic advisor to hotel, resort and vacation rental companies since his departure from Wyndham. At Vacasa, he will oversee the company’s field operations and overall growth.

“Vacasa is all about combining exemplary customer service with the power of technology and marketing, and that vision is exciting to me. In getting to know Eric and the team, I’ve been impressed with the collaborative, energetic culture they’ve built here. I’m confident that we’ll see continued growth at this pace in the years to come, surpassing upwards of 10,000 units worldwide.”

Founded in 2009, Vacasa offers full management — including marketing, listing and maintenance — of vacation rentals in the U.S. and Central and South America. Its properties are also listed on services like AirBnB and TripAdvisor.

Brooks Burton. (Windermere Real Estate Photo

— Seattle-based Windermere Real Estate announced the addition of the company’s first ever Chief Operating Officer: real estate executive Brooks Burton.

Burton joins the company from HER Realtors, where he served on the executive board for almost a decade. He most recently spent five years as the company’s EVP and Chief Operating Officer.

At Windermere, he will oversee all aspects of the company’s operations and also lead its continued growth.

Windermere is a family-run company founded in Seattle in 1972. It is now the largest residential real estate company in the West of the United states, serving homeowners from Arizona to Washington state.

“We still like to think of Windermere as a small, family-run business, but the reality is that we are now a 300-office, 10-state company, and growing,” Windermere CEO Geoff Wood said in a press release. “As COO, Brooks will help us create an even more cohesive environment that provides our franchise owners and agents with everything they need to deliver a consistent Windermere experience to the buyers and sellers who entrust us with their business.

— Microsoft marketing leader Jeff Marcoux has left the company to join customer engagement technology company TeleTech, where he now serves as the company’s VP of product marketing.

Marcoux served as the CMO lead in Microsoft’s worldwide enterprise marketing group for over three years, and previously served as a senior product manager for Dynamics CRM.

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