I was so thankful to be at last Sunday's celebration of Lynne's life.  It brought back a flood of memories.  I met Lynne when she left Microsoft and went to lead HR for Free Range Media.  I helped Lynne move from Recruiting to HR, which ultimately she didn't love :)  A friendship developed and we spent time together professionally and outside of work as well.  I adored Lynne, and as others said on Sunday, I wanted to be more like her:  confident, outspoken, fearless . . . . and she made everyone around her want to be better and do better. 

Later on, after she had her 3 boys and I became a parent, she was a parenting mentor to me, for which I am grateful.  Her advice was to "be a student of the role", and she certainly modeled that, always investing, learning and engaging as a parent.  

I had lost touch over the past decade or so, but my memory of her and our friendship has stayed with me over the years.  

I am sorry for all of our loss, especially her family.  She was loved and had a deep impact.  

I am Lynne's father and I want to update information about Celebration for Lynne Russell's Life. Our Celebration will be on Sunday, July14, at the UW Arboretum's Wistoria Hall beginning at 1:30 pm. You are welcome to come. 

Lynne is an amazing person. She changed my life back in 2005. I had applied to the Gates Foundation for an entry level position in Global Health, gotten a phone interview, and then found out from Lynne at the beginning of the call that the position had been filled. So I asked her about my resume.

She took the time to give me advice. She said I looked too academic, too research-y. We talked for a bit about my experiences running a health center in Ethiopia and she said that was what I should highlight. She told me to show people what I had done to help others, not what I had published.

I followed her advice when I applied the next time to the Gates Foundation. And I got the job. But the story is much deeper than that. After I was hired, I found out that Lynne worked behind the scenes to enable my application to be considered. For this position, one of the screening requirements had been “no PhDs allowed.” So my application was rejected. After I was hired, my new colleagues in Global Health told me that Lynne had made the case to move my application from the reject pile to the “consider-for-an-interview” pile based on her conversation with me that one time. She saw something in me then and encouraged me to keep trying.

I went on to be a program officer, then left the foundation to work in Ethiopia again, and continue to this day to work in Africa on food security issues.

I have thought about Lynne many times since our brief phone call and her behind the scenes magic. And every time in my heart I have thanked her.  

As we mentioned in the obituary, we are planning a celebration of Lynne's life. We now have a date of July 13 in the Seattle, WA area. In the Events page on this website you will see add updates as we make preparations.  We appreciate you sharing your memories of Lynne and how she impacted or inspired you.  And we truly hope you will be able to joins us on July 13, 2024.

With a heavy heart, I send my deepest condolences to Lynne’s family and friends. I first met Lynne at Microsoft, but I never had the chance to work with her until a few years later when she hired me as a recruiting consultant for Free Range Media and then the Gates Foundation. It was pure pleasure to work with Lynne and see her in action! She always impressed me as confident, capable and caring. We developed a wonderful friendship during that time, especially when I ended up living near her in Montlake for a few years. I will always be indebted to Lynne. Like so many people she recruited and hired, she greatly influenced the trajectory of my career and I am forever grateful. 

Women's Strength Class summer potluck

Women's Strength Class

I met Lynne in 2019 when we both took Stephanie Vuolo's Women's Strength class.  Although she was already living with dementia, Lynne's bright outlook was infectious.  I don't think she ever missed a class -- three times a week she was working as hard as any of us and loving the progress she made with deadlifts, shoulder presses and bench presses.   Lynne's smile was one of the things I'll always remember about her.  I'll post a couple of pictures of her from our class.  My heart goes out to everyone who loved Lynne.  She was certainly taken much too young.

I met Lynne during the last 9 months of her life when she was in hospice care. During that time it was clear how friendly, passionate, strong, and caring she was. She loved music, cared about other people, smiled, laughed, and gave the best greetings and hugs. She was clearly loved by her friends and family who visited frequently. I feel honored to have met Lynne and her loving family. May Lynne rest in peace knowing she left a wonderful legacy in her sons and previous students. 

Things I remember and celebrate about Lynne: Her passion for education and for living a meaningful life, her humor, her integrity, her drive, her intelligence and quick wit, and her deep love for her boys.