Eastside Business Alliance

Jared Axelrod is the Manager of Public Policy for Amazon. He works with policymakers at the local, regional and state levels in Washington state. He also works with trade associations and policymaker organizations throughout the United States to better serve Amazon’s customers and advance Amazon’s public policy priorities and worldwide operations.

Prior to joining Amazon, Jared was the Government Affairs Manager for philanthropist Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Inc. There, he was responsible for day-to-day government relations activities at the state and federal levels on a wide variety of projects, worked to implement legislative and public affairs initiatives for Vulcan and Vulcan-affiliated organizations, and represented Mr. Allen in various legislative, political, and business settings.

Prior to that, Jared worked at Ceis Bayne East Strategic, a local government relations and public affairs firm in Seattle, where he supported various public, private, and non-profit clients. He also previously served as a Legislative Aide for U.S. Senator Patty Murray in her Washington, D.C. office; handling the Senator’s defense, veterans’ affairs, technology, telecommunications, space, science, and judiciary portfolios.

Jared received his Masters of Public Administration from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington, and his B.S. in Political Science and Economics from the University of Oregon. He currently resides in Seattle.

Jim serves as Senior Manager of State Legislative Affairs for T-Mobile, at its headquarters in Bellevue, WA. He is responsible for government affairs in several western states, including Washington. Prior to T-Mobile, Jim built the state government affairs program at Western Wireless and led that group until it was acquired by Alltel Wireless. He also led the public affairs practice groups at two communications agencies in Seattle—Edelman and Nyhus. Clients included Microsoft, PhRMA, the Washington State Department of Commerce, the Washington Lottery, Sapphire Energy, Fate Therapeutics, Allied Waste, the Innovation Alliance, and the Space Needle.

Jim also served as House Counsel to the Washington State House of Representatives and Legislative Counsel to U.S. Senator Slade Gorton. Early in his career, he clerked for Court of Appeals Judge, Gerry Alexander and practiced law at the law firm of Owens Davies Mackie in Olympia. Jim received his law degree from Santa Clara University and was Editor-in-Chief of the Santa Clara Law Review. He received a BA in Political Science from the University of Washington in Seattle.

Lucy Deyoung was elected Woodinville’s first Mayor in 1992. She is currently the owner/manager of Ideal Office Suites, an executive office suites business and Simpson Hawley Properties, a property management company. Lucy has had a successful 40 plus year career as a business owner in financial services and property management.

Ms. DeYoung has a MBA in finance and organizational development from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a degree in business administration and political science from the University of Puget Sound.

Ms. DeYoung has also distinguished herself in the area of public service. Besides being elected as the first mayor of Woodinville, she has served on many public and private boards of directors including the Washington State Public Stadium Authority and is the past chair of the EvergreenHealth Foundation. Lucy is also one of the founding members of the local Susan Woodin Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, currently serving as Regent. She is also the Treasurer of the Woodinville Heritage Society and serves on the Board of the Woodinville Cemetery.

Sonja Forster is currently the Seattle District Manager for the Associated General Contractors of Washington. She serves AGC members in King County, and manages local government affairs for the region, Port of Seattle, Sound Transit and all Federal Facilities. A highlight of her tenure at AGC has been as the lead advocate of Culture of CARE – AGC’s platform for diversity and inclusion efforts in the commercial construction industry. In addition, Sonja serves as an appointee to the Priority Hire Advisory Committees of both King County and the City of Seattle. Prior to joining AGC in 2016, Sonja served as Vice President for Enterprise Washington, a state-wide business advocacy organization, where she managed programs to support the election of business-minded candidates to the Washington State Legislature. A graduate of the University of Washington, Sonja lives in Northwest Seattle with her two boys aged 14 and 10.

Megara Potts has been a member of the Eastside community since 1983. Washington Federal Bank is her corporate home, serving as AVP/Manager in Bellevue, specializing in custom construction (retail and spec), land and purchase loans.

She divides her time between work and volunteering; currently facilitating financial Education classes with Hopelink and other community organizations as well as a build here and there for Habitat for Humanity.

Megara has also served on the scholarship, transportation, and public affairs committees at the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce and is currently a member of the Eastside Business Alliance.

Kevin Wallace oversees all development and acquisition activity for Wallace Properties. He is also responsible for all legal matters for the company’s three divisions: Brokerage, Property and Asset Management and Investment/Development. Kevin began his career as a Real Estate Attorney at K&L Gates in 1997 then moved to Foster Pepper in 2001. Active in a variety of civic endeavors, he is a native of Bellevue, where he serves on the Bellevue City Council and lives with his wife Natalie and three sons: Gabe, Garrett and Zachary.