CPP to Host Employer Workforce Panel and Networking Reception

The College of Professional Programs, in collaboration with the EWU Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and the Associated Students of Eastern Washington University (ASEWU), is hosting the second Community Engagement Speaker Series event, titled “From Campus to Career: Insights from Top Leaders on Workforce Skills” on Tuesday April 22nd. As the region’s Polytechnic, we are committed to ensuring that our students are prepared for the workforce and that we collaborate with our industry and government partners intentionally. We would like our students and faculty to learn from industry and government leaders as well as from our university leadership about the demands of the workforce and what each of us (higher education, industry, government, non-profits) need to do to ensure that our students are workforce ready.

Moderator: Paul Read, Publisher, Spokane Journal of Business
Panelists:
- Dr. Shari McMahan, President, Eastern Washington University
- Ezra Eckhardt, CEO, Spokane Teachers Credit Union (STCU)
- Alex Jackson, CEO, MultiCare Health System
- John Hohman, City Manager, City of Spokane Valley

Please join us for a networking reception directly following the panel discussion. Refreshments will be provided. Open to students, employers, faculty/staff, and alumni.

Date: Tuesday April 22nd, 2025
Time: 10:00 – 11:30 am panel discussion and audience questions, 11:45 am to 12:30 pm networking reception
Location: Showalter Hall Auditorium (2nd floor) and Rotunda (just outside the auditorium) for the networking reception, on the EWU Cheney campus (see map). 526 5th Street, Cheney, WA 99004.

For any accommodation requests, please contact Maria Szep via email at mariam@ewu.edu by April 15th.

Doors open at 9:30 am. Open to the public. Classes welcome. This is a featured event during EWU’s annual Diversity and Inclusion Week.

About the Guest Speakers:

Dr. Shari McMahan

As president, Shari McMahan, PhD, is the principal administrative officer of Eastern Washington University and has general supervision of all operations and programs of the institution. The president carries out the rules and regulations established by the EWU Board of Trustees and state law. Shari McMahan came to EWU after serving as the provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University, San Bernardino, since 2016, and was the first woman provost in CSUSB’s history. Prior to joining CSUSB, McMahan served as a faculty member and administrator for 16 years at California State University, Fullerton, most recently as deputy provost. In this role, she managed a wide and impressive portfolio, including enrollment services, academic operations and finance, institutional research and analytical studies, research, creative activities and technology transfer, university library, faculty affairs and records, the Faculty Development Center, online education and training, satellite campus operations and initiatives, and the Center for Excellence in Supplemental Instruction.

Ezra Eckhardt

Spokane native Ezra Eckhardt became STCU President and CEO on January 1, 2018. A Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Ezra served six years in the U.S. Army, including supporting operations in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Liberia, and as a Company Commander at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was an invited guest at the U.S. Army War College Commandant’s National Security Program in 2016. Ezra holds an MBA from Gonzaga University, where he has been an adjunct professor at the Jepson School of Business. Following his military service, Ezra held management posts for Honeywell and Microsoft. He was President and Chief Operating Officer of Sterling Bank when it merged with Umpqua Bank, where he became Executive Vice President of Operations. Ezra received the GoWest Credit Union Association’s 2023 Summit Icon award for leadership in the credit union movement and was added to the Credit Union House Hall of Leaders in March 2024. Ezra is Board Chair for the Spokane International Airport. He has two daughters, and his wife is a guidance counselor in Spokane Public Schools.

Alex Jackson

Alex Jackson is senior vice president and chief executive for MultiCare’s Inland Northwest and Central Washington regions. He has oversight of MultiCare Deaconess, Valley, and Yakima Memorial Hospitals in addition to MultiCare Rockwood Clinic, a 300+ provider group in Spokane and Yakima Memorial Physicians, a 210+ provider group in Yakima. Jackson brings more than 25 years of progressive health care leadership experience in a variety of roles and settings including chief operating officer and chief executive in both Portland, OR, and Spokane, WA. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in public health from Indiana University, Bloomington, and holds a Master of Healthcare Administration from The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

John Hohman

John Hohman was appointed City Manager in January 2022 after spending five years as Deputy City Manager (appointed in January 2017). Before that appointment, Hohman spent five years as the Director of Community and Economic Development and four years as the Development Services Manager. Hohman joined the City as the Senior Development Engineer in July 2003. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from Loyola Marymount University and is licensed in the states of Washington and California as a Professional Engineer. His prior experience is a mix of both public and private that includes working for Spokane County as a Development Services Engineer, acting as project manager for a Spokane area steel fabricator, and designing, managing and inspecting public works construction projects for over a decade.

Paul Read

Paul Read is publisher of the Journal of Business, a newspaper that serves the greater Spokane-Coeur d’Alene market, and also is Group Publisher of the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business and Senior Times newspapers in Tri-Cities, Washington. Paul has been with the Spokane Journal since it was founded in early 1986 and has been involved in the coverage of business news in Spokane for 40 years. He began leading the Tri-Cities publications after a subsidiary of Cowles Company bought them in late 2022. A Spokane native, Paul is a proud graduate of Eastern Washington University. He currently serves on the boards of Greater Spokane Incorporated, the Spokane Public Facilities District (Chair), the Association of Washington Business, and the Spokane-Kootenai Real Estate Research Committee (Past Chair).