Sharonne Navas, the newest member of the Green River College Board of Trustees, said she hopes to bring a new perspective of diversity to the board.

Navas of Kent was appointed to the five-member board by Gov. Jay Inslee.

She replaces Mark Albertson, who resigned from the board last fall due to illness. Albertson, a Kent attorney, was appointed to the board in 2012.

Navas, whose term expires Sept. 30, 2017, is the co-founder and executive director of the Equity in Education Coalition, a grassroots organization focused on transforming the public school system to make it more equitable for the state’s diverse population.

The New York City native, who moved to Washington state in 2009, is the first American-born child of her immigrant parents from Guatemala and El Salvador.

“My focus has been really understanding the systems through an equity lens and how it negatively and positively influences kids who need more,” Navas said.

She said she plans to bring that perspective to Green River.

“My hope is that in looking through things from a lens of who is being served by an institution, that we can make decisions based on that specifically. We should be looking at the diversity of Green River and making sure students’ ethnicity, culture and diversity are being served.”

Navas said she hopes to increase her knowledge of higher education while serving on the board.

“I am very involved in K-12 policy,” she said. “I always knew that my understanding of what happens after graduation was sort of limited.”

When she learned of the vacancy on the Green River board, Navas decided it was a good opportunity to get involved. Several of her colleagues who also run nonprofit organizations serve on college boards.

“One of the suggestions was not just necessarily reading about higher ed but getting the perspective of getting on the board of higher ed institution,” she said. “The learning that they (her colleagues) have gone through has been phenomenal.”

Navas previously served 2½ years as a commissioner for the Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs.

She will serve on the Green River board alongside Linda Cowan, former Auburn School District superintendent; Claudia Kauffman, former state senator; Tim Clark, former Kent City councilman and educator; and Pete Lewis, former Auburn mayor.

Green River has campuses in Auburn, Kent and Enumclaw.