Board Members

Jay J. Manning, Chair of the Board

Original Appointment: Nov. 25, 2015
Term Expires: Sept. 30, 2027
Hometown: Olympia, WA
Profession: Law
Other Assignments: Medals and Awards Committee and Investment Advisory Committee

Jay J. Manning rejoined Cascadia Law Group in 2011 after more than six years as director of the Washington Department of Ecology and Gov. Gregoire’s chief of staff. His practice focuses on environmental and energy matters, providing consulting, legislative and legal assistance.

As chief of staff from 2009-2011, Manning worked closely with the governor and her cabinet and senior staff to address budgetary and public policy challenges facing state government.  As director of ecology from 2005-2009, he focused on managing the state’s water resources, including creation of the Office of Columbia River, guiding the effort to bring the Puget Sound back to good health by 2020, including the creation of the Puget Sound Partnership and addressing climate change and the daunting threat it poses to Washington’s economy and environment.

Manning co-chaired the Washington State Blue Ribbon Panel on Ocean Acidification in 2012, which led to an executive order directing the state’s implementation of the panel’s recommendations for a coordinated, regional response. Manning is board chair for Washington Environmental Council, vice chair of the Puget Sound Partnership’s Leadership Council, a member of the Board of the Ruckelshaus Center, a member of the University of Washington’s College of the Environment Board and—most importantly—a proud Eastern Washington University alum.

Manning has three grown children and two lovely and brilliant grandchildren. He enjoys riding his bicycle, traveling, reading, cooking and spending time with family and friends.

Kim Pearman-Gillman, Immediate Past Chair

Original Appointment: Feb. 21, 2018
Term Expires: Sept. 30, 2023
Hometown: Spokane, WA

Kim Pearman-Gillman is the Senior Vice President of Community Development and Impact for Numerica Credit Union. She brings 35 years of senior leadership experience to bear spanning the private, public, and non-profit sectors with extensive strategic expertise in business development, economic development and community relations, project management, marketing, and communications. This diverse business background has included such prominent leadership positions as: Partner & Business Development Executive for McKinstry; Executive VP of Marketing for Itron; Sr. Vice President of Avista Development and Economic Development Advisor to the Mayor for the City of Spokane.

Pearman-Gillman, who graduated from the University of Houston after also attending Rutgers University, has made Spokane her home with her spouse, raising their three daughters here since 1989. She also serves on the Empire Health Foundation Board. Over the past thirty-five years she has worked alongside five EWU university presidents as well as many faculty members, administrators, staff and students.

“I have seen firsthand the quality, talent and passion of each of these groups and am honored to serve and be a part of EWU’s future,” said Pearman-Gillman.

Pearman-Gillman has gained the reputation as a well-known “connector” and “go to” collaborator in the Spokane area, playing a critical role in several major community and economic development projects, including having spearheaded Spokane’s University District’s formation and development.

“It was a great honor to be chosen to serve on Eastern Washington University’s Board of Trustees,” said Pearman-Gillman. “I’m excited to serve because I believe in EWU and in the importance of its mission as a public university dedicated to top-notch education for all. In particular, I am a deeply committed supporter of the university’s focus on first-generation students and the advancements being made in STEM education.”

Pearman-Gillman and EWU alumni Yvonne Smith founded the Empowering Women Upward Scholarship which has reached endowment level and will offer a student scholarship annually in perpetuity. The friends and EWU supporters share a birthday and decided to turn their annual celebration into a way of giving back and honoring the efforts of women over 35, who were going back to college to enhance their lives

Christine Johnson, Trustee

Original Appointment: March 23, 2023
Term Expires:  Sept. 30, 2027
Hometown: Spokane, WA
Profession: Education

Dr. Christine Johnson served as the Community Colleges of Spokane chancellor from 2010-2022. She has decades of collaborative management and mentoring experience and brings skills in executive direction, policy, and civic leadership, as well as a demonstrated commitment to higher education. She advocates for the sustained improvement in the quality and delivery of education that results in positive student outcomes and institutional transformation.

“EWU plays a vital role in the higher education ecosystem in eastern Washington and throughout the state,” says Johnson. “Eastern serves a key role as transfer partner for 40 percent of Community Colleges of Spokane students who choose to transfer. I’m honored to have an opportunity to support student success as job number one to ensure the region’s economic and workforce development is strengthened as a result of EWU’s priorities and actions.”

Johnson also previously served as the president of the Washington Association of Community and Technical Colleges (WACTC) – 2021-2022, and was named Pacific Region CEO and National CEO of the Year in 2022.

Robert H. Whaley, Trustee

Original Appointment: Oct. 10, 2011
Term Expires:  Sept. 30, 2023
Hometown: Spokane, WA
Profession: Judge
Other Assignment: Early Head Start Board

Judge Whaley currently serves as a Senior United States District Judge in the Eastern District of Washington. He was nominated by President Clinton on May 24, 1995, and confirmed by the United States Senate on June 30, 1995, and appointed by the President on June 30, 1995. Judge Whaley served as chief judge from Aug. 1, 2005 to July 12, 2009.

Prior to his federal judicial appointment, Judge Whaley served as a Superior Court Judge in Spokane County from 1992-1995.  Early in his legal career, Judge Whaley was a trial attorney with the Department of Justice in the Land and Natural Resources Division. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Washington for two years in the early 1970s and was in private practice for 20 years before being appointed to the Superior Court bench.

Judge Whaley went to undergraduate school at Princeton University and earned his AB in 1965. He graduated from Emory University School of Law in 1968, and served in the U.S. Marine Corps.