Dean Willard

Biography

As a senior in high school, Willard interned with Alaska Attorney General Will Condon. Willard attended Brigham Young University, Idaho. He is married to Dorothy Willard.

Career

From 1993 Willard was Vice President at Perception Management, a public relations and political campaign consulting company. He was responsible for information technology functions. Then in 1995 to 2006 he was partner, Technology Consulting at Accenture. In 2006, he became Vice President, Enterprise Information Security at T-Mobile USA. In 2008, he left T-Mobile USA to start his own IT Security consulting business, working as a technology management and information security consultant.

Behind the scenes work

As a member of the 5th District Democrats, he's been a district committeeman, and the chairman of the King County Democrats endorsements committee. Willard worked behind the scenes on several campaigns including Joe Mallahan's recent Seattle mayoral campaign. Willard managed Oregon Democrat State Rep. Tim Josi's 1990 political campaign, and served as his Legislative Assistant during his freshman term for the 1991 session.

2010 Campaign for State Representative

Dean Willard challenged the incumbent, Representative Glenn Anderson, for position 2 in the 5th Legislative District on the grounds that the constituents are not well represented in the all-Republican district. The district has changed over the last ten years since his opponent was first elected. His platform issues includes tax reform and funding for schools. He has criticized the current tax system as over-reliant on sales taxes and as regressive. He has also criticized the Business and Occupation Tax, calling it unfair to small businesses, and stated that exemptions on property tax often favor large businesses. Willard says that K-12 basic education is in a very poor state due to the lack of proper funding. Willard cites his corporate and entrepreneurial experience as a means to solve the state’s ongoing budget crisis, with stated goals of promoting economic development and improving the public school system. Willard was endorsed by the 5th Legislative District.

2011 Campaign for Seattle Port Commissioner

Dean Willard is running against incumbent Bill Bryant. Will "Walkin' Will" Knedlik has withdrawn from the race. Willard has endorsements from the 5th Dems and the 37th Dems

Community service

Willard is on the board of directors for the Seattle Youth Symphony, the steering committee for Treehouse for Kids Golf Tournament, and the Washington Community For Self-Help Gala.