Cascade hires former Olympia city councilmember, Matthew Green

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Matthew Green

We are excited to announce that we’ve hired a new Legislative Affairs Manager.

In September, we announced that we were seeking someone to serve as the main face of Cascade in Olympia, and we have found that in former Olympia city councilman Matthew Green.

As a member of our Policy, Planning, and Government Affairs Department, Matthew will inform, develop and implement Cascade’s legislative efforts, and he is expected to influence major non-motorized policy and funding decisions in Olympia to support Cascade’s vision of more bikeable and livable communities.

A Washington-native, Matthew got his bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from Evergreen State College and his master’s of public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

He comes to the club with a proven record of success and a decade worth of political experience, having served in positions such campaign consultant and manager for a couple dozen campaigns, publisher of the alternative newspaper Olympia Power and Light, former legislative aide to Sen. Ken Jacobsen, former Olympia city councilor, and former agency staffer at the Department of Natural Resources and Department of Ecology.

One of Matthew’s unique qualifications is that he has experience both in lobbying and being the one who gets lobbied.

“I’ve done lots of different jobs, but the ones that were most satisfying for me all fall into the broad category of ‘working to build a better community’,” said Matthew. “I see a couple of ways to do that in this job, in both building a stronger interpersonal community of bicyclists who can better advocate for their needs and building geographical communities that better support and encourage bicycling.”

The proud owner of sturdy, pothole-safe, purple Jamis Tangier, Matthew admits to being among the “less hardcore bicyclists” on Cascade staff.

“I commuted by bike for several years, but recently I’ve been working from home, so my commute consists of walking around the apartment.  (And I live close enough to the state capitol that I’ll walk there too),” he said. “I believe that a community that is well designed for bicycling is a community that is well designed, period, because it is accessible, safe and built on a human scale – a place where a person can be in close contact, literally and figuratively, with their surroundings.”

Matthew said he’s thrilled with his new position at Cascade and looks forward to using his political and policy skills in a new context.

“I’d love to help turn the club and its members into a political powerhouse: to be an organization that can get good things done in the state legislature, and then can turn around and help elect a great new crop of bicycle-loving legislators who can do even more good things,” he stated.

Matthew lives in Olympia and will primarily be working from Olympia during legislative session.