Nathan MacDonald has worked at City Light for two years. He’s a part of the Communications division where he works as a Senior Public Relations Specialist. “A lot of my job is positioning the utility as a thought leader within our industry and as a subject matter expert for local media along with other publications,” Nathan explained. “I’m also the editor of our Light Reading newsletter and manage the social media account for Skagit Tours.” Nathan MacDonald has worked at City Light for two years. He’s a part of the Communications division where he works as a Senior Public Relations Specialist. “A lot of my job is positioning the utility as a thought leader within our industry and as a subject matter expert for local media along with other publications,” Nathan explained. “I’m also the editor of our Light Reading newsletter and manage the social media account for Skagit Tours.”
Born in Canada, Nathan moved to Texas when he was eight years old. He studied integrated marketing and communications at Abilene Christian University in Texas and later attended Florida State University to earn his master’s in integrated marketing communications with a focus in multicultural marketing (he’s a huge Florida State football fan).
In this week’s (spot)Light, Nathan talks about his journey to Washington, a range of hobbies and his passion for promoting others.
“I met my wife Megan in choir at Abilene Christian University. She grew up here and I fell in love with Washington when I first visited in 2007. It was just too gorgeous not to live here! In 2015, I accepted a job with Edmonds Community College, so we made our way to the Northwest. It took us seven days to drive across the country in a moving truck with our car on a trailer. We got our truck stuck twice on the trip! Once in West Monroe, Louisiana on an abandoned road and the second at a truck stop in Canton, Texas. It was a character-building trip and one we’ll never forget.”
“My wife and I took up hiking this year. We’ve done Bridal Veil Falls, Hurricane Hill in Olympic National Park and others near the Skagit Hydroelectric Project. I still really want to do the Diablo Lake Trail that starts at the North Cascades Institute and eventually overlooks Ross Dam. That’s one I’d really like to do if not this fall, then sometime next year.”
“Growing up in Texas, I’ve always been a huge fan of barbecue. A few years ago, I started smoking my own briskets! They take around 14 hours to smoke so we invite friends over, hang out and eat. When I turned 30, I took a barbecue tour across Texas. We drove about 1,300 miles in four days and ate at six to seven barbecue stops across the state. We hit up some of the classics including Franklin Barbecue. It usually has a three-four hour wait but it was worth it!”
“Most of my career prior to City Light was in higher education. Being in the public sector and being a public servant is something I’ve really enjoyed. One of my biggest values is to promote good and promote others. This job gives the opportunity to promote the amazing work that we’re doing. Our Communications team is incredibly talented and creative which is something that really drew me to this position. I enjoy being one of the utility’s storytellers; there are so many cool projects, initiatives and human-interest stories to tell. I hope people will continue to share their stories with us. Not only do they enrich our work, but they also help City Light shine as an example of a premier utility and City department.”