Howdy! My name is Caitlyn McNabb and my pronouns are she/her. Originally from Texas, I have lived in every time zone in the continental US. I have the pleasure of calling Washington my home for the second time in my life and I am fighting tooth and nail to make sure that I get to call it home forever. Outside of work I enjoy learning how to do things; woodworking with my partner, coding and data analysis (you know, for rainy days), video games and reading, fishing and kayaking, and that's just a short list. I love a good spreadsheet almost as much as my dogs, which is why my favorite thing to do outside of work is, well, work.

I have travelled all over and lived in a lot of different places. That privilege allowed me to experience so many different cultures, but it left me without a community to which I belong and that belongs to me. Over my many different careers, I lived with families experiencing extreme poverty and oppression, cried with my students who felt they didn't deserve to live because of their learning differences, witnessed firsthand the impacts of untethered gentrification and urbanization in the housing industry, dedicated my free time to pro-equity anti-racism work within the geospatial industry, all of which culminated in the decision that my purpose in life is service above all else. And then the universe brought me here. I'd like to take credit for arriving at this moment in time, in service to all those who call Washington home, but I can't. Following a purpose greater than myself is how I got here.

Change is innovation and innovation IS change. In my role as Director for Innovation & Performance, I am responsible for bringing about those innovations and checking to make sure our impacts align with our intentions. When they don't, something is broken and I firmly believe that there is nothing broken that can't be fixed. I also staunchly reject the saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Is my superpower hubris? Maybe. But it allows me to be outspoken about the things that are broken in our communities, in our societies, and in our government as well as the certainty that they can be fixed if we work together.

I have been complicit in upholding systemic racism by allowing myself to be isolated from community and clinging to individualism. In allowing myself to be isolated, I have been silent and have allowed myself to be silenced. It wasn't until I joined the Office of Equity, when I was made to feel truly seen, heard, and supported that I fully realized how stifled I was. I commit to making sure that every person I meet feels seen, heard, and supported in their human experience, with love and compassion. If I can do that for just one person, it's a win. If I can do that for an entire community, it's a victory because they can diffuse that love and compassion exponentially.

My vision for a just and equitable future is one in which nobody feels alone. Where single mothers do not need to choose between bedtime stories and clocking in for their third job on time. Where families do not need to hold hands with their loved ones through a fence in the desert. Where the only barrier to somebody achieving their goals is simply making the decision to reach for them. Where our young people have to option to feel anything other than existential dread. Where old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in (proverb).