Outstanding community partner award-winner Danielle Verwahren shares why she partnered with UW’s EPIC-N program LCY

Danielle Verwahren
Management Analyst
Livable City Year
City of Bellevue
dverwahren@bellevuewa.gov
425-452-2733
www.linkedin.com/in/dverwahren

Meet City of Bellevue, Washington’s Management Analyst Danielle Verwahren. She is the first ever recipient of the EPIC-N Outstanding Community Partner Award winner. In early 2020, Danielle shared about her EPIC-N experience in a Training Webinar and in a presentation to the City Council of Bellevue. Read on to learn more about Danielle!

Favorite Place

The Puget Sound area has incredible access to public lands for hiking and backpacking year-round.

How did you first learn about EPIC-N?

Through a partnership between our city and the Livable City Year program at the University of Washington.

What are some of the top priorities you are working on this year?

Accomplishing our Council’s vision and priorities, including the advancement of the Smart City strategy and developing a new brand identity. Within the organization, I will be focusing on launching a city-wide drone program, employee engagement, and supporting ongoing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.  

What do you want a community, or university, to know about the EPIC-Network?

EPIC-N was an incredible resource as a community looking to partner with a university. Attending the conference before the academic year started allowed me to learn from the experiences of others, access resources from past partnerships, and strategize on how this style of partnership could meet the needs of my city.  

What led you to participate within the EPIC-Network in your current capacity?

The Livable City Year partnership was a challenging, but rewarding, undertaking as a city program manager. At 30 projects, this effort required all participants to engage, collaborate, and keep each other accountable. There are so many lessons learned from the experience that I would love to pass on to communities looking to partner with an EPIC-N program. 

Bio

Danielle Verwahren served as the program manager for the City of Bellevue’s 2018-19 partnership with Livable City Year at the University of Washington. As a management analyst in the City Manager’s Office she manages projects centered around community outreach, employee engagement, and organizational performance in addition to providing extensive research and analysis to support high-profile initiatives. Danielle earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s in political science and economics from Colorado State University. Passionate about the next generation of public servants, she sits on the International City/County Management Association Advisory Board on Graduate Education and actively recruits students through the Livable City Year partnership.