Dean of the Entrepreneur Academy

Lisa is the former Director of the Department of Commerce, serving from 2019 to 2023. Before joining Commerce, she served as chancellor of the Spokane campus of Washington State University where she worked primarily in health sciences and played a major role in the creation of the new Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. Prior to her work at WSU, she served in the Washington State Legislature as a senator for 16 years, serving as Senate majority leader, chair of the Ways and Means Committee, chair of the Rules Committee and chair of the Energy, Technology and Telecommunications Committee. Lisa served in the state House of Representatives for four years where she held the positions of minority whip and minority floor leader and served as an associate professor at both Gonzaga University and Eastern Washington University. Lisa earned her Ph.D. and master’s degree in economics from the University of Colorado and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois. She has served on the boards of Ignite Northwest and YWCA Spokane. Her prior community service ranges from Greater Spokane Incorporated and the Empire Health Foundation to the Washington State Investment Board, among many others. Lisa has been honored by Catalyst Magazine with the “Power 50 Celebrating Influence” and “Women in Business Leadership” awards. She was also named Woman of the Year by Washington State University in 2013 and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Early Learning Action Alliance that same year.

Associate Dean, Academics

Maury is known nationally as an educator, author, economic developer and humorist in his workshops, keynotes and 20 books on economic development and entrepreneurship. Upon failing as a standup comedian after college, his fantasy of becoming the only comedic economic development game show host became a reality during his 26 years at the Department of Commerce. It was there that he created the highly successful Economic Development Games, Economic Development Jeopardy, Who Wants to be an Entrepreneur?, the Business Attraction Dating Game, Community Survivors and Economic Development Feud.   He also founded three startups, none of which still exist. After producing the Academy videos, he now looks forward to being the next Stephen Spielberg.

Hall Monitor

Robb is the creative force behind the Entrepreneur Academy and author of Lessons 1 – 10. Before joining the state in 2012 to direct the state’s marketing and outreach and later small business programs, Robb was the founder and Mister Know-It-All for CommuniCreations, Inc. and Storylaureate.com. He has been a successful entrepreneur and small business consultant for 20 years. Robb is a tortured novelist, recently publishing “Brewster McCabe: Ace Private Eye, a professional entertainer and wishful world traveler, deciding at one time to visit an entire alphabet of islands (having made it to A, B, C, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, V and W so far). He actually attended class a time or two at the University of Washington, earning his B.A. in Journalism.

Instructional Designer

Alex directs all the digital communications for the Choose Washington brand, including serving as webmaster for several Commerce websites. Before joining our team, Alex served as Advertising Creative Manager for McClatchy Company, overseeing creative and branding standards, managing the creative team and working with internal and external clients on an array of award-winning projects. He has extensive experience managing complex campaigns as well as maximizing the effectiveness of digital assets, including website design, construction and management, information design and analytics. Alex is also a whiz in the graphics department, serving as the go-to guy for ongoing design projects related to the brand. In his spare time, he likes to have his four dogs take him for a walk and engage in amazing creative pursuits that dazzle and mystify his coworkers.

Manager, Audiovisual Department

As Design & Production Manager for the team, Andrea helps create effective digital and print media to further the presence of the clients of the Choose Washington brand. Andrea first got a taste for graphic design when she entered a contest in high school to design the official Carnation, Washington Fourth of July T-shirt and was selected as one of the winners. She went on to graduate from the University of Washington with a BA in sociology. With her passion for design still present, she earned two continuing education certifications, one in web design and the other in interaction design. She loves to blend her sociological knowledge of human behavior with her design experience to help brand local companies in creating a unique voice that speaks to their clientele. Andrea is an avid baker and can often be seen running around Lake Union.

Born and raised in rural Washington State, Lynn’s introduction to economic development was in family-owned and operated businesses such as logging, road construction, tree farming and shellfish farming. Lynn brings 20 years of economic development experience to our team. After working for the Department of Commerce in the Economic Development Division for 16 years, she accepted the role of Executive Director of the Economic Development Council in Mason County. Returning to Commerce, Lynn serves as the agency expert responsible for setting the agenda for the state’s economic development strategies for rural and underserved communities. She is responsible for developing and overseeing entrepreneurship programs such as ScaleUp, Thrive!, Global Entrepreneurship Month and other technical assistance, education and training programs and services for entrepreneurs and small businesses, particularly those in rural and underserved communities