Welcome to PATH: A Catalyst for Global Health

In PATH’s new offices in the 2201 Westlake building, the large inscription, “We envision a world where health is within reach for everyone,” guides the work of the over 300 employees who occupy 3 floors and 112,000 square feet of office space.

PATH, the international nonprofit organization, moved their headquarters to SLU in January. Their mission is to improve the health of people around the world, by focusing on: emerging and epidemic disease, health technologies, maternal and child health, reproductive health, and vaccines and immunizations.

The new office space is innovative in design, offering small individual cubicles with multiple spaces for meetings and group collaboration.  In addition to housing the leadership and experts in various fields, PATH also contains a  laboratory and product development shop.

"PATH is very pleased to be in our new home in South Lake Union," said Eric Walker, vice president, Corporate Services at PATH. "Our new location puts PATH closer to our partners in the global health community and the region's leaders in research, health, and technology."

Come meet PATH at the SLU Chamber meeting

You have a chance to learn more about PATH at the February 17 SLU Chamber of Commerce meeting, held from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at the REI conference room.  Ellen Cole, Director, Visibility and Marketing, will speak on “From Seattle to the World: The Story of PATH.” Cole increases PATH’s visibility as a leader in global health, leading the institution’s marketing efforts, and directing the range of its online communications.

"We are delighted to welcome PATH as another new world-class neighbor in the South Lake Union community, joining other innovators who call the area home," said Ada Healey, Vulcan's vice president of real estate.  "PATH will be a vital part of South Lake Union's creative class workforce that will help drive a new economic engine for our entire region, attracting new investment and jobs to the area."

PATH has offices in 28 cities and 19 countries and employs more then 800 people. PATH’s Seattle staff has doubled in the past decade, and the new offices leave room for growth.

Unique School is Changing Lives

Morningside Academy in SLU is “Celebrating 30 Years of Changing Lives” with a gala dinner and auction on March 19, 2010. The private, non-profit elementary and middle school has 80 full-time students with learning differences, who benefit from the small class sizes and high academic expectations. These are students that are often overlooked in traditional schools, because they do not have significant emotional problems or developmental delays. However, they fail to thrive academically and often experience a plummet in self-esteem.

“People support Morningside because we are unique,” said Dawn Oliver, Director of Admission and Development.  Seven years ago, Oliver searched for an alternative school for her own daughter and relocated from the east coast to enroll in Morningside Academy.  After attending Morningside for 6 years, her daughter transitioned to public middle school and is getting A’s. Oliver reflected, “The ultimate goal of the program is for students to be successful for the rest of their lives.”

Oliver says the school is unique because students are grouped by skill level and not age; the teachers are highly trained to be effective, completing 9-12 graduate hours plus 2.5 hours per week in ongoing training in the model by founder Dr. Kent Johnson. The techniques are research-based for students with learning disabilities.

“People don’t like to talk about it because there is a shame in being labeled ‘learning disabled’.  You feel less in some ways,” says Blue Lazarou.  She was a Morningside student 28 years ago and now is a parent of 9 year-old Mia, who attends Morningside. “She is a perfectly normal kid who could not wrap her mind around what was being taught in school. I was told by her teachers in public school not to expect much academic achievement from Mia,” Lazarou said.

But Lazarou knew who to call.  “When I walked back into this school while touring for my daughter, I literally cried.  The techniques I was taught here, I needed for the rest of my life.  It changed my life.”

Morningside Academy estimates that they have changed the lives of 20,000 children, when you consider 30 years of full time school, summer session, and the outreach done by the Morningside Teachers’ Academy. More than 90 schools and agencies partner with Morningside for teacher training and instructional consulting.

Support Morningside Academy

This year’s gala auction and 30th Anniversary will be celebrated in the Dome Room at the Doubletree Arctic Club Hotel in downtown Seattle.  Well-known Seattle talents, Auctioneer John Curley and Master of Ceremonies Jim Dever, will entertain the crowd.  All the proceeds—they hope to make $100,000—will go to the scholarship fund to help needy students and to the direct support of the school and its programs.

History is Moving: A New Era for MOHAI

Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, “the future is just around the corner”? For the South Lake Union neighborhood, history is just around the corner too.

The Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), which focuses on the history of the Puget Sound Region, will be moving to Lake Union Park in 2012, remodeling the historic Naval Reserve Building as their new location, with 32,000 square feet dedicated to gallery space.  But this is not just a move—it is a transformation. The new museum will welcome 120,000 visitors each year to experience the past, the present and the future through interactive exhibits.

A visitor to the new museum will enter a vast atrium with four exhibit towers that focus on the important topics of the 21st century: natural resources, people, innovation and technology. On the second level, visitors will travel through the chronological narrative of Puget Sound’s rich history.

“MOHAI is very excited to be moving to the South Lake Union neighborhood. This central location will certainly enhance our visibility and attendance and we’re looking forward to a greater capacity to serve both the community and out of town visitors,” said Mercedes Lawry, Director of Communications at MOHAI. “So much of our local history is reflected in the history of the South Lake Union neighborhood and this, coupled with our relocating to a beautiful historic building in a wonderful new park, makes it an ideal site for a re-imagined history museum.”

During the last 50 years in its Montlake location, MOHAI has engaged Seattle residents, out-of-town visitors and thousands of K-12 students who visit the museum each year as part of the classroom curriculum.  Due to the 520 bridge expansion plans, MOHAI needs to move to a new location, but they also want to transform the experience of what history is.  Persons wishing to support the $40 million capital campaign can visit HistoryIsMoving.org or they can contact Elaine Ethier at (206) 324-1126.