College Governance

A five-member Board of Trustees governs Bates Technical College. Appointed by the Governor of the state of Washington, the trustees set college policies, hire the president, determine and approve the budget, and award faculty tenure. Bates is honored to have trustees involved in many aspects of the college, including legislative advocacy, joint projects with other college trustees, and programs to support regional workforce and economic development.

Board of Trustees 2025-2026

Trustee Florence Chang 

Florence Chang, Chair

Appointed August 2019
Florence Chang serves as President of MultiCare Health System, where she oversees MultiCare’s entire health delivery system including 11 hospitals and more than 200 clinics and statewide networks of behavioral health services, urgent care and neighborhood emergency departments in Washington state. She is responsible for improving and expanding clinical operations and aligning health care delivery across its hospitals, clinics and medical practices to meet the health needs in the Pacific Northwest. Before joining MultiCare in 2006, Chang worked as a senior vice president and partner at Dearborn Advisors. She received her Bachelor of Science in medical technology at California State University, Dominguez Hills, and her MBA from Pepperdine University.

 

Trustee Thaddeus Jackson Thaddeus Jackson, Vice Chair

Appointed April 2025
Jackson’s background includes more than 16 years at Thales InFlyt Experience, where he served as a Service Department Supervisor before moving to Boeing. He is certified in Lean Six Sigma and is currently pursuing a Black Belt certification, with a focus on waste elimination and problem-solving in quality assurance. A graduate of Colorado Aero Tech, Jackson is a proud advocate for hands-on, skills-based education. In addition to his professional work, Jackson enjoys attending car shows, restoring classic vehicles, and gardening—interests that reflect both his mechanical aptitude and his appreciation for craftsmanship and community.

 

Trustee Christina Blocker Christina Blocker

Appointed October 2016
As CEO of Momentum Professional Strategy Partners, Christina Blocker specializes in diversity and inclusion strategy, talent development, and change management for high-growth organizations. She combines an extensive marketing and communications background from the political sector with expertise in organizational behavior and data analytics from her studies in psychology to build a cultural infrastructure that supports, amplifies, and sustains impact. Blocker proudly serves as a Trustee at Bates Technical College in Tacoma, Washington. She was appointed by Washington State Governor Jay Inslee in 2016 and is the first African American female appointed to serve since the college’s founding. Blocker is also President of the National African American Caucus of Community College Trustees. She is the mother of two amazing little boys and the proud wife of former Tacoma City Councilmember Keith Blocker.

 

Trustee Tom George Tom George

Appointed June 2022
Tom George has been active in the community as past president of Fife Milton Rotary, Sunset Rotary and Kerala Association of Washington. George currently serves as a member of the Rotary Club of Lakewood World Community Service Board of Directors, is a Rotary Youth Exchange Country Coordinator for South America and Mexico, and is an active member and past vice president of Greater Seattle Mar Thoma Church. His past recognitions include Bates Technical College Exceptional Faculty and Employee of the Year (2001), Washington Association of Occupational Educators Excellence in Teaching (2000), and Association of Vocational Administrators Vocational Educator of the Year (1999). George is a 1971 graduate of Bates Technical College’s Radio, Television and Electronics course and served in the Radio Television and Telephony apprenticeship, JATC, IBEW-76 Journeyman. George retired from Bates Technical College in 2015 after serving as Director of Information Technology and, previous to that post, faculty of Industrial Electronics, Computer Services and Data Communications courses. He and his wife of nearly 40 years have two children and five grandchildren.

 

Trustee Heather Moss Heather Moss

Appointed February 2018
Heather Moss served most recently as the Director of Human Services for Pierce County, 2019-2024, after serving as the last Director of Washington’s Department of Early Learning in 2018-19.  Prior to joining the Department of Early Learning in 2014, Moss was the deputy director at Child Care Aware of Washington. Her early career in Washington state government includes serving nine years as a research analyst with the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee and five years as a budget and a policy analyst for the Office of Financial Management. Moss has also worked as an adjunct faculty member of The Evergreen State College. She holds a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Washington and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Montana.