Elizabeth Greninger (she/her) has 15 years of social work experience, primarily focused on domestic and sexual violence prevention and response. She has worked at nonprofits and universities, including UC Berkeley and UW Bothell. Career highlights include being responsible for sexual violence prevention education for all 40,000 undergrad students at Berkeley, co-chairing the launch of UW’s first-ever sexual violence prevention training required for all students and employees, and obtaining a significant federal grant for UW Bothell to grow its violence prevention program.
In Fall 2022, Elizabeth took an instructional design role in the tech sector where she is applying her experience with training and education to the world of robotics. On top of what’s in her job description, Elizabeth is initiating and participating in projects related to equity and inclusion, program evaluation, and learner needs assessments.
Elizabeth has a BA in Photography, with a minor in Women and Gender Studies, from Montana State University. She has a Masters in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley. Elizabeth has lived in SeaTac since 2020 with her wife and their pets. Her mother-in-law lives in an ADU on their property.
Scroll through the pictures below to see some of Elizabeth's family and hobbies:
The timeline below shows a bit about Elizabeth's background.
timeline.pngFAQ: Click the arrows next to the questions below to see Elizabeth's responses.
Why do you want to run for City Council?
My wife and I moved to SeaTac in 2020. We ended up here by happenstance; we were looking for buy a house in the general South King County area, and the perfect house for us happened to be located in SeaTac. I have been grateful every day since that we ended up where we did.
I am running for Council because I want everyone who lives in, works in, and travels through SeaTac to have a welcoming experience that allows them to thrive. Read more about what I hope to contribute to our City on the Campaign Priorities page.
What experiences have prepared you to serve on the City Council?
I have 15 years of experience in fields related to social work, education, and community organizing. The following specific examples come to mind when I think about being prepared for this role:
I have worked directly with thousands of people facing various types of crisis, including domestic violence, sexual assault or harassment, suicidal ideation, housing instability, and more. I have experience bearing witness to someone's struggle, and supporting them in figuring out what they need and how to get there.
My work has involved managing programmatic budgets from $10,000 to $500,000. I know how to run sustainable, outcome-focused initiatives that actually improve the lives of the people they are intended to serve; what it costs to hire qualified people to do good work; and how to make the most of every dollar.
My positions at UC Berkeley and UW Bothell both involved speaking to groups of students of all ages, in classrooms with 10 people, theaters with 3,000 people, and everything in between. And my current job is focused on developing educational materials that provide critical information to aid people in doing their jobs safely and effectively. All of this experience has prepared me to be able to communicate important information to large, diverse groups of people in the simplest ways possible.
What are your favorite things about SeaTac?
I deeply appreciate our diversity and the wide range of cultures and lived experiences we all bring to our community. I grew up in a predominantly white community, but I still got many opportunities to interact with people whose identities were different than mine. And as a queer person, a major part of my identity was different than nearly everyone around me. Living in Montana during college taught me how much I wanted and needed to live in a place where diversity is expected, accepted, and celebrated. My time in Oakland and the Seattle region have proven that to be true, and I have found a similar experience in SeaTac in particular.
Some of my other favorite things about SeaTac include:
The variety of taco trucks in the area
Taking our dogs to Grandview Park
Impromptu walks and fire pit evenings with neighbors
Easy access to the Link to get to work, Seattle Storm games, or elsewhere in Seattle
In addition, I love living in a small town while having a multitude of other experiences nearby. Part of why we moved to SeaTac was the proximity of the airport-- my extended family is all over the country and the world, and being able to visit as easily as possible is a big priority for me. I like being only an hour or two from truly glorious hiking locations, and being able to take an easy day's drive to see friends and family in Montana. My family and friends also love coming to visit, and to explore not only SeaTac itself but also the surrounding region. As a port city in the wonderful Salish Sea area, SeaTac has so much access to other places that it can offer to its residents and visitors.
What is your first memory of activism or community advocacy?
I have always been interested in taking advocating for positive change in my community. When I was maybe 10 or 12 years old, I became interested in animal rights. I learned about the enormous lack of resources and the number of animals who weren't getting the care they needed, and I felt compelled to create change.
In my first attempt at a public awareness campaign, my mother let me change our answering machine to include a message from me imploring our friends to support our local SPCA. A year or two later, I collaborated with my cousins to host our first fundraiser: a dog show. We solicited our parents to invest, and after the show we had raised enough through entrance fees to pay back our investors and donate over $100 to a local animal shelter.
How do you spend your free time?
I try valiantly to grow beautiful and tasty things in our garden; I lean more towards flowers but this year am trying to add spinach, arugula, and potatoes to the mix. I enjoy hiking and camping as a way to disconnect and spend time in nature with family and friends. I like to ski in the Winter and kayak in the Summer; we are so lucky to have Angle Lake nearby! Other interests include reading, cooking, and doing projects around the house.
What do you like to listen to?
My all-time favorite band is Guster, but other than that my tastes vary. I like country/folk music, especially from female artists. I've been listening to a lot of Dispatch recently. Other go-tos include Mary Chapin Carpenter, James Taylor, Shawn Colvin, Tegan and Sara, Steve Earle, and Amythyst Kiah.
I don't listen to as many podcasts as I wish I did, but a recurring favorite is You're Wrong About. Sometimes I listen to NPR shows in podcast form, especially This American Life.
