Building Community

Group photo of community builders near the Spokane River

August 04, 2014

Good Things Happen When Gonzaga Grads Stick Around

By Marny Lombard and Eli Francovich :: Photos by Rajah Bose

	Jim Sheehan Catching People Early Jim Sheehan (’73 J.D.) runs an incubator for community building in the appropriately named Community Building. The building houses an assembly of nonprofits, led by the Center for Justice, also founded by Sheehan. Read more →
	Celeste Shaw Even in Their Pajamas Celeste Shaw built Chaps, the Latah Creek cafe and bakery that draws stand-in-line crowds every weekend. Locals and tourists mix. Children sometimes come in their pajamas. Shaw tells of a recent morning when one small boy grew grumpy in the crowd. Read more →
	Brian Estes Getting Our Hands Into the Earth At Gonzaga, Brian Estes (’07) considered one core question: What affects the well-being of individuals and communities? He studied the issue in the Department of Psychology. Today, he uses a new learning lab: urban farming. Read more →
	Mallene Herzog Teaching Preschoolers and Their Parents Mallene Herzog found herself floundering as a young mother with four children under the age of 5. Her husband, Hans, worked long days and when he came home, directed the children clearly. Read more →
	Ben Stuckart Let’s Make Livable Neighborhoods Two years after moving into his South Hill home, Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart (’01, M.O.L. ’06) didn’t know his neighbors. Why? Because he didn’t walk. Read more →
	Luke Baumgarten More Art, Please. And While We’re At It, More Music, Too. In June, local artists sold more than $30,000 of work at Bazaar, a first-year event. And in October, the seventh annual Terrain festival celebrated visual and performance artists in one effervescent Spokane night. Read more →
	Leah Sottile More Art, Please. And While We’re At It, More Music, Too. In May, a music festival named Volume welcomed 80-plus bands to Spokane. And in October, the seventh annual Terrain festival celebrated visual and performance artists in one effervescent Spokane night. Read more →
	Ryan Olerich Out Of America Sometimes a new environment is the linchpin to change. At least Ryan Oelrich (’04) thinks so. As the executive director for the Ambassadors Scholarship Foundation, he’s dedicated to helping youth learn on the road, via scholarship money. Read more →
	Matt Santangelo Home to Hoopfest Basketball is the anchor of Matt Santangelo’s life. It brought the former Gonzaga star to college, took him to the 1999 Elite Eight and then overseas for a professional basketball career. Now basketball is taking him into the heart of Spokane. Read more →