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Seattle City (spot)Light: Jennifer Healy

Jennifer Healy will celebrate 4 years in City Light’s Human Resources division this December. As a Workforce Development Manager, Jennifer’s team oversees the development, implementation and operation of various employee initiatives. “I like to think it’s the fun side of HR,” she explained. “We develop training programs that run the gamut from safety and technical to internships. We also organize employee engagement events and oversee other processes like succession planning, new employee orientation and on-boarding.”

Originally from the Chicago area, Jennifer was introduced to Seattle through her graduate program at Seattle University. There, she received a master’s in Counseling Education. She also holds a bachelor’s in psychology from Southern Illinois University. “After grad school, I moved back to Chicago and realized how flat it was,” she said. “I missed the mountains and pretty Seattle scenery!” So, Jennifer returned to the PNW and eventually met her husband, Ryan. They’ve been married for nearly two years and live in Ballard with their Pitt-Boxer mix, Addie. In this week’s (spot)Light, Jennifer shares her hobbies and what she enjoys most about the utility.

Jennifer and Ryan at a Sounders match

“Being from the Chicago area, I have such a strong love for the Blackhawks and the Cubs. My husband moved to Washington when he was in high school, so he roots for the Sounders and the Seahawks. We support each other’s team. We actually wrote our teams into our wedding vows! Funny enough, I’m now a huge Sounders fan and he cheers on the Cubs.”

“I’m a big water person. This summer marks my sixth year teaching stand-up paddle boarding at Surf Ballard. I also like paddling in the winter. I’ll put on a wetsuit and a hoodie and just cruise. My favorite place to paddle is in the Puget Sound near Golden Gardens and Discovery Park. It’s just so calm and the wildlife is beautiful. I’ve seen sea lions, otters, eagles, seals…all sorts of cool stuff.”

“We love living in Ballard. It has so many great restaurants and shops. There are a couple of places where we like to hang out on the patio with our puppy, Addie. We rescued her from an awesome organization called Georgia Peaches Puppy Rescue. They save dogs from high-kill shelter areas in Georgia and fly them out to Seattle where there’s a high demand. I just love what they do and volunteer with them when I can.”

“One of my favorite programs that I help organize is Family Day. It’s a great tradition and popular with our employees. I’m also enjoying our Emerging Leaders program. It’s a year-long program that employees can apply to after one-year with the utility. It provides participants with specific training to enhance skill sets when it comes to leadership. They’re also tasked with creating a solution for an existing problem that the utility has. They learn how to work together as a team, conduct interviews, do research on City Light’s programs and more.”

“I like the people at City Light. It’s fun to interact with everybody. The utility has a family-feel and it’s nice knowing that others have your back. It makes it easier to come to work and do the work that we do, especially in my job where it’s all about developing people and helping them be the best at their job.”