How do we stay fully present, find joy in the moment and future plan, but not trip? Michele Storms, the Executive Director of ACLU WA, balances these coexisting necessities for progress with her tremendous leadership and wisdom. In this episode, Laura and Michele talk about how to keep colleagues hopeful and sustained through a commitment to a workplace culture that honors recharging, restoring, resourcing, and leading by example. The two social justice activists share how honoring their full range of feelings – including despair, anger and exhaustion – is critical. And, we are reminded to notice what’s good around us, really notice, whenever and however we can.
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About Michele Storms
Michele E. Storms is the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington (ACLU of Washington), former Deputy Director of the ACLU of Washington, and previous Assistant Dean for Public Service and executive director of the William H. Gates Public Service Law program at the University of Washington School of Law. Preceding those roles she served as a statewide advocacy coordinator first at Columbia Legal Services and later at the Northwest Justice Project where over a combined five-year period she coordinated civil legal aid advocacy in the areas of family law, youth and education, housing, elder law, Native American and right to counsel issues. She was also previously on faculty at the University of Washington School of Law where she founded what is now the Child and Youth Advocacy Clinic and taught several other courses. In addition to her service on numerous boards and guilds both locally and nationally, Michele served on the Washington State Access to Justice Board for six years and the board of One America. Michele is concerned with equity and justice for all and has dedicated her professional and personal attention to access to justice, preservation of freedom and democracy for all and ensuring that all humxns safely reside in the “circle of human concern.”