Alumni Blog

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Essence Russ, ’07, to discuss Seattle U’s impact on her career and why she chooses to stay connected. She is featured in the Our Moment for Mission social media series and a part of the leadership team for the SU Eastside Seattle Alumni Chapter. 

Russ chose to attend Seattle U as a way to write her own story in a nearby city. With a desire to pursue Communication Studies fueled by her high school experience hosting morning announcements and assemblies, Essence deepened her knowledge of the field throughout her time at Seattle U by hosting a radio show on KSUB and working at Fisher Radio. 

How do you think that Seattle U influenced your career path?  

The Jesuit values that Seattle University instills in its students are critical in the development of a decent human and young adult. Learning what it looks like to become a servant leader has never left me. I secured my first fulltime position as a result of an internship that I was doing for a Poverty in America course during my last quarter at Seattle University. This position started my career path in the nonprofit sector and showed me that there was another avenue besides corporate America, to me a more rewarding path where I could have a direct impact on those suffering the most in my community. That experience opened the door to the past 13 years of service in the nonprofit sector supporting disadvantaged youth in foster care, youth experiencing homelessness as well as immigrant and refugee families. 

Why did you choose to come back and serve on the leadership team of the Eastside Seattle Chapter?  

I’ve always wanted to give back to Seattle University by volunteering and giving back through mentoring opportunities. Just in 2020, pre-COVID, I volunteered for the LinkUp Mentoring Event for Seattle University’s School of Arts & Sciences. This event entailed speaking with current students in the School of Arts & Sciences about their paths, my professional choices, offering advice, direction and connecting after the event for continued impact.  

Helping to launch and lead the Eastside Seattle Chapter was another opportunity to connect with a larger Seattle University community while giving back to SU in a sustainable way through network building. Alumni communities have a unique ability to build a network of support for alumni across generations and majors. They also allow alumni to renew or strengthen their ties to Seattle U and its mission.

What are your team’s goals for the Eastside Seattle Chapter?  

The start to our regional chapter was different! Our very first event was scheduled a month before the quarantine began in 2020. While this continued planning glitch derailed some of our short-term goals, we were really excited with the alumni and family turn-out during that event. 

How can alumni actively participate in Our Moment for Mission? 

Connecting and volunteering are the two calls to action that I am most passionate about when it comes to Our Moment for Mission, the President’s Challenge. Please consider finding opportunities to stay connected or reconnect with the university and volunteer in the ways that are most meaningful to you. 

• Volunteer to be a part of the Eastside Seattle Chapter Group

• Volunteer with your school or college

How do you see giving back to the greater Seattle U community? 

Go out into the community and support a small local business. If the owner is an SU alum, bonus! If it’s a Black-owned business, even better! 

1. Visit or order from Communion Restaurant & Bar off of 23rd & Union in Seattle, WA (or hire That Brown Girl Cooks for your next in-person event) You will not be disappointed!  
2. Order some new, delightful candles from Noir Lux Candle Co. owned by Colina Bruce-SU Alumna and staff.

Tiffany Harris, ’08, navigated the college search process on her own, but when she visited Seattle U, she remembers the campus feeling like home and a place where she would matter. “Seattle U believed in me, they invested in me and they made my college experience feel really small and connected. I always felt that I was a part of the community. It was a warm, supportive and yet challenging and rigorous community,” said Harris.

Empowered through the Ignatian phrase she heard so often while at SU “ite, inflammate omnia” or “go, set the world on fire,” Harris has always looked for professional opportunities that challenged her and would build a more just and humane world. “I have made it a point to look for signals, reflect and conduct soul searching at various point in my life to find out what looked interesting and where there was a need for my talents.” 

Harris’ career spans multiple sectors. She has overseen a global education program focused on accelerating IT and cloud-related learning at Amazon, served as Public Affairs Specialist for the Peace Corps Headquarters, is a founding member of Shalom Corps (Peace Corps’ Jewish Employee Resource Group), Peace Corps’ Diversity Board and has served on the Chief of Staff’s Diversity Governance Council. “My career path is not linear. It has gone in a zigzag motion. Both my professional and personal path choices have been influenced from what I learned from Seattle University, the Jesuit educational philosophy and the environment that was created on campus and in the classroom.”

She currently serves as the Chief Program Officer at Moishe House, an organization that engages hundreds of thousands of Jewish young adults each year to create vibrant Jewish communities. In her role she oversees 50+ staff members who support community builders around the world to host programming out of their homes, organize adult summer camp, develop immersive experiences and implement Jewish learning in over 120 houses in 25+ countries around the world. “When I moved back to the states in 2014, I was a resident in Moishe House. It was where I re-engaged with activism and community organizing. Our house was the center for book talks, text study, a place to learn about Judaism and a central hub in the middle of DC for young adults from varying backgrounds. It really shaped me in a meaningful way. Now, years later, to be working for the organization that had such a profound impact on my life is meaningful,” said Harris.

Whether it was working with the former President of Israel to help solve world problems or designing disruptive educational technology at Amazon, or now, helping to shape the way people interact with a 3,000 year old religion, her drive to make the world a better place, instilled in her through her SU education, continues to play a role in her everyday life. “The holistic education ethos, the social and extracurricular structure at Seattle U made me a builder. I am someone who can look at a problem that needs to be fixed and organize people, rally the community and build solutions,” said Harris.

Having lived abroad and on the east coast for the last 10 years, Harris finds that staying connected to Seattle U helps to maintain her ties to Washington State and continues to ground her in the values that she holds core to her identity. “When I meet people from Seattle U there is just a quality about them that I connect with.”  
Harris is looking forward to sharing her story as the alumni speaker of the upcoming SU Communities Connect event on March 24. “To have a network of over 84,000 alumni around the world and providing this opportunity to reconnect while working to ensure that we as a community feel whole again is exciting,” said Harris.  

Join us and other alumni in the Midwest, South and East Coast regions on March 24 to hear Tiffany Harris’ full story as well as President Stephen Sundborg’s reflection on 24 years as Seattle University’s leader by registering for this event.

• Register

There are two remaining SU Communities Connect virtual receptions.

Pacific Northwest – Tuesday, May 4 | 4:30-5:30 PDT

• Register

International Event Date Coming In April | 6-7 a.m. PST