Advancing the CIC Mission

C.J. grew up in the Puget Sound area, learning from an early age about the beauty and value of environmental diversity of the Pacific Northwest. After leaving to pursue educational and professional goals, graduating from Carleton College and Mitchell Hamline School of Law, he and his husband eventually returned to the area, joining the Ocean Shores community in 2021. A regulatory attorney by profession, he loves living in the relaxing atmosphere of the Washington Coast while continually learning more about the plants, animals, and environmental forces that make it so unique.

Beth was a huge fan of the TV series Here Come The Brides. This devotion contributed to her relocation to the Great Northwest after receiving her Bachelor’s Degree from Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles. Beth has worked as a restaurant manager, domestic violence advocate, payroll & HR manager. She retired from corporate life as an employee benefits account manager specializing in complex self-funded clients. Beth’s Third Act began when she moved with her mother to Ocean Shores in 2021. She started volunteering at the Coastal Interpretive Center in 2022. She loves being a cheerleader for the center. She hopes her curiosity, passion, whimsy will help advance the goals of this wonderful organization.

Cathey and her husband, Bob, moved to Ocean Shores after retiring 10 years ago. They both found Ocean Shores to be “a great little town by the sea” and wanted to do their part as community servants, so they jumped into volunteering “pretty much on day one,” according to Cathey. Cathey and Bob both value education and believe it is the key to success, so she volunteered at the Elementary school as a reading tutor, with the Kiwanis to help provide scholarships to local seniors continuing education, and as a member of the North Beach School Board. “I have always felt the Coastal Interpretive Center is an undervalued asset to our community, so when the opportunity came up to join the team, I felt it was a great fit for me,” Cathey said of her decision to join the Board. She added, “I look forward to a partnership with the schools to teach our kids the importance of the whole region historically, environmentally, and ecologically.”

I am a retired Kindergarten teacher.  We came to Ocean Shores as weekenders in 2007 and I became a nearly full time resident in 2014 when I retired.  I have always wanted to live by the sea, and developed a strong interest in Marine Biology during my teaching career.  I volunteered at the elementary school for two years. We had visited the CIC as adults and have toured it with our grandchildren.  Education, Marine Biology, and taking care of the amazing environment we have in Ocean Shores are very important to me.

For the past six and a half years I have served as the City Administrator for the City of Ocean Shores. Previously, I spent 20 years working in international development in the fields of education, politics and technology oriented programming. During that time, I served as the Executive Director of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in Romania, and as Director of IREX in Romania, Moldova and the Philippines. In the 1990’s I was employed in Russia with the International Science Foundation where I lived in Siberia. I hold a Master of Arts Degree in International Political Science, specializing in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asian area studies, and a Juris Doctorate in Law specializing in Comparative and International Law.  

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Jean Stevens is currently the president for the Coastal Interpretive Center’s Board of Directors. Jean’s professional background includes a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing, 40 years as a Registered Nurse, a Master’s degree in Business Administration and 28 of her professional years in administration of hospital nursing, critical care and kidney dialysis. Jean and her husband Vince began coming to Ocean Shores in 1981. As time moved on, they were living and working in Spokane, but bought their second home in 1984 in Ocean Shores. Through their work and relocations to Alaska and Portland, Ocean Shores has always been their consistent home center of beach and local social enjoyment. This included many visits to the Center to learn and understand some of the wealth of information available. Jean joined the board in 2014 and has served as treasurer for 7 years. She is pleased to give volunteer hours to the treasurer’s position and any other Center needs.