2
• APRIL 2023
The Current
RIVER CROSSING
Leader’s Legacy –
Briggs brought innovation to Valley Partners By Craig Howard
Current Contributing Editor
Fridays at Spokane Valley Partners during the tenure of Ken Briggs often meant the mild-mannered CEO donning a Hawaiian shirt and strolling around the campus on Broadway Avenue. While the weather may not have been of the tropical variety, Briggs was known for a sunny countenance that made staff, volunteers and beneficiaries of the programs at SVP feel at ease. If he saw a stray piece of garbage on the floor, Briggs didn’t leave it for the janitor. “I’ve always been a person who was away from the desk,” said Briggs who oversaw the Valley’s largest social service organization from 2006 to 2016. “I’ve always believed in a management by walking around and never thought any job was beneath me. Never assign a job you’re not willing to do yourself. I checked in with staff and volunteers daily and often joined them in tasks to better understand challenges.”
when he took over the CEO seat, specifically related to the merger between the food bank and the component then known as Spokane Valley Community Center. With the help of Matt Ewers, board chair at the time, Briggs helped calm the stormy waters created by the transition and proceeded to lead a major upgrade of the food bank. Briggs also spearheaded a series of other capital improvements to the site that once housed a church, adding a new roof, boilers, a commercial kitchen and improved entry access.
“It was this ancient steamship,” Briggs said. “I ended up doing some of the maintenance myself.” Along with prioritizing infrastructure improvements, Briggs made a point to address underlying issues that aggravate poverty for many residents of the greater Valley area. “Ken helped me understand
how much of the conditions of poverty are structural in nature,” said David Stone, director of Emergency Services at SVP who was hired by Briggs and is now in his 12th year with the agency. “This let me understand not only that services are needed but that alone is not enough, the structural problems creating poverty need to be solved too.” Briggs brought his institutional knowledge to Whitworth University where he was part of the adjunct faculty in sociology from 2011 to 2021. He would often take his students on field trips to SVP, touring the food bank, clothing bank and nearby community garden. “We talked about how society makes change and that change can happen in a variety of ways.” Briggs said. “Classical activism is not always magnificent. Sometimes there are small matters that take
Briggs faced a steep challenge
Briggs made key hires during his decade-long tenure like Stone and Development Director Don Kaufman that brought enhanced stability to SVP that is still felt to this day. “Don was a terrific addition,” Briggs said. “We worked together on every grant for five years.” A native of San Francisco, Briggs spent his formative years in the Bay Area before moving to Seattle in 1979. His father passed away from colon cancer when Briggs was only 9. When he moved to Spokane in 2000, Briggs returned to some of his ancestral roots. His mother’s family settled in the Logan neighborhood of Spokane in 1896. After leaving SVP in 2016, Briggs took a year off before resurfacing in a part-time role as warehouse manager of Project Beauty Share, a nonprofit that provides personal hygiene, cosmetics and beauty products to nonprofits serving women and families. Briggs was at Project Beauty Share until 2021. These days, Briggs is perhaps best known as the husband of Spokane City Council Member Lori Kinnear who has served on the city’s governing board since 2016. The couple met in Palo Alto and have been married since 1973. Over the years, Briggs has been in high demand as a board member and has served for organizations like SNAP, Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium, Friends of the Centennial Trail, the Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce, Community Minded Enterprises and others. He was also executive director of the Spokane Lilac Festival from 2004 to 2006.
Briggs took over SVP at the age of 55. By that time, he had compiled an impressive resume that included high-level administrative roles at local entities like Community Frameworks and Nova Services as well as Northwest Center Industries in Seattle. He also brought a master’s and bachelor’s degree in psychology from San Francisco State University. “When I joined Valley Partners, I was looking to be part of something that was grassroots,” Briggs said. “I wanted to show them the possibilities of what could be done.”
effect. You never know what these actions are going to add up to in the long run.”
Photo by Craig Howard Ken Briggs served as CEO of Spokane Valley Partners from 2006 to 2016, guiding the community-based nonprofit with a unique leadership style. He took over the Valley’s largest social service organization during a financially challenging time, guided it through the Great Recession and spearheaded a major renovation of the food bank as well as other capital upgrades.
Outside of work, Briggs has played the Great Highland Bagpipe for over 60 years and is accomplished in areas like glasswork, carpentry and gardening. Q:
When you were hired as See BRIGGS, Page 4