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Media contact: Sheryl Hutchison, Communications Director, 360-902-9289

OLYMPIA – Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee announced today that she will leave her post at the end of September to take a new job.

Lee, who has been with Gov. Chris Gregoire’s administration since March 2005, has accepted a position as the CEO of Pioneer Human Services in Seattle. The non-profit organization has more than 1,000 employees across Washington at more than 50 locations, who deliver an integrated mix of social, health, economic and employment services to people on the margins of society.

Prior to joining the Gregoire administration, Lee was head of gas operations for Puget Sound Energy.

“Under Karen’s leadership, the Employment Security Department has been transformed to become one of the highest-performing agencies in state government,” said Gregoire.  “She brought a system of accountability and a laser focus on customer service that have served our citizens well through the worst recession in decades.  I will greatly miss her energy and commitment to excellence.”

“Being Employment Security Commissioner has shown me the value of services that help people stabilize and improve their economic status,” Lee said.  “My new job will provide even more opportunity to pursue my passion for helping people get ahead in life.”

Lee said she is proud of the performance-based culture she has helped to instill at Employment Security.  Among the successes she highlighted.

• Paid record levels of unemployment benefit during the recession, while continuing to implement performance improvements.
• Brought a more personalized, consistent quality of service to job seekers at WorkSource offices across the state.
• Operated the most successful Shared-Work Program in the country, which saved more than 22,000 jobs in Washington during the worst part of the recession.
• Upgraded technology to improve efficiency and to improve service to customers. One of these investments was Virtual Hold technology that helped reduce telephone wait times for unemployment-insurance claimants from nearly an hour to just minutes.
• Improved the quality and reliability of labor-market information produced by the agency.
• Entered the recession with a healthy, stable unemployment benefits fund. Washington is one of only 16 states whose funds remained solvent during the recession.
• Improved performance monitoring and accountability at the Employment Security Department and within the statewide WorkSource system.

Lee currently is president of the National Association of State Workforce Agencies. In that role, she has worked to elevate the organization’s effectiveness at working with Congress and federal agencies on funding and policies to improve workforce development services at the state level. Her term ends in mid-September, shortly before leaving Employment Security.

Gregoire said she will immediately begin searching for Lee’s successor. 

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