Roxanne Murphy, ‘75

Community Relations Specialist, City of Tacoma

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What are you most passionate about?

Being a force of positive growth and change in all that I do. I'm passionate about understanding people and connecting them. I'm also passionate about Native culture as a member of the Nooksack Tribe, and about government, small businesses, art, public transportation and all of the things that make Tacoma great.

Roxanne Murphy earned her bachelor's degree in journalism and then managed community newspapers for a while before switching to marketing.

"I started doing high-tech public relations during the dot-com boom," she said. "I escaped Parker LePla just before the crash and started a job with Weyerhaeuser doing internal communications. While there, I had purchased a home in Tacoma and part of my quality of life is living and working in the same city."

That led her to a community relations job in Tacoma. But she has her sights on other things down the road.

"In the future, I hope to start my own public aff airs consultancy or fi rm," she said. "I'm currently applying to The Evergreen State College to pursue its Master of Public Administration and Tribal Governance, and I'm struggling to get through statistics at Tacoma Community College (a prerequisite for the program). I'm also writing my first book, an autobiography called 'Turmoil to Treasure.'"

That story will likely include the time when her friends called her crazy because she bought her house on Tacoma's East Side. The home has now doubled in value. When not working as a cheerleader for the city, Murphy is an advocate for her neighborhood, where she serves
on the Neighborhood Council as well as on the planning
committee for the McKinley Street Festival.