College Governance

Appointed August 2015
Lakewood resident Layne Bladow is a  Battalion Chief at West Pierce Fire and Rescue, the president of West Pierce Fire Fighter Local 1488-IAFF, a member of the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters, and served as a delegate to the International Association of Firefighters convention. He is an active member of Christ Lutheran Church, raises funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and is a graduate of Bates’ Fire Service program.

Appointed October 2016
As managing partner of Archway Consulting Group, 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 cultural infrastructure that supports, amplifies, and sustains impact. Christina proudly serves as a Trustee at Bates Technical College in Tacoma, Washington. Appointed by Washington State Governor Jay Inslee in 2016, she is the first African-American female appointed to serve since the college’s founding. Christina 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 Tacoma City Councilmember Keith Blocker.

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

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.

Florence Chang

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 behavior 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.