North Star Connect
June 6, 2025
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Swinomish Casino & Lodge
Join us for our inaugural symposium and be part of creating a thriving Skagit County for all!
Network and Collaborate: Connect with people from various sectors making a difference in our community, including government, first responders, tribes, healthcare, education, community service, recovery, and more.
Learn and Engage: Increase your knowledge and skills by attending one of the many workshops led by renowned behavioral health and housing experts and other local leaders.
Check out the symposium agenda!
Many thanks to our event sponsors, North Sound BH-ASO and Recovery Café Skagit!
Join the waitlist.
Registration is now closed because we have reached full capacity. Please join the waitlist if you’re interested in attending!
We can't promise you a spot if you join the waitlist, but we will notify you of any cancellations and get you registered.
Learn more about the keynote speakers!
Learn more about the keynote speakers!
Tanaya Winder is an author, singer-songwriter, poet, and motivational speaker with an intertribal lineage from the Southern Ute, Pyramid Lake Paiute, and Duckwater Shoshone Nations, where she is an enrolled citizen. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Stanford University and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of New Mexico. Winder’s poetry collections include Words Like Love and Why Storms Are Named After People and Bullets Remain Nameless.
Her performances and talks combine storytelling, singing, and spoken word to explore various expressions of love and the concept of “heartwork.” Tanaya specializes in youth and women empowerment, healing trauma through art, creative writing workshops, and mental wellness advocacy. Learn more about her work here.
Gregg Colburn is the Marsha and Jay Glazer Endowed University Professor and Associate Professor in the Runstad Department of Real Estate in the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington. He publishes research on topics related to housing and homelessness and is co-author of the books, Homelessness is a Housing Problem: How Structural Factors Explain U.S. Patterns and Affordable Housing in the United States. His research has been featured in leading media outlets, including The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Economist, Bloomberg, and National Public Radio.
Gregg holds an M.B.A. from Northwestern University, and a M.S.W. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. Prior to academia, he worked as an investment banker and private equity professional. At the University of Washington, Gregg teaches classes in housing, urban economics, and finance. Gregg serves as co-chair of the University of Washington’s Homelessness Research Initiative and is a member of the National Alliance to End Homelessness Research Council.
