 An attorney and former police officer, Jon Schorsch, maintains his active involvement with the Port of Seattle Police Department after he was medically reinstated following an accident at sea in 2017 which caused him to be blind. Jon Schorsch also volunteers in various community programs, such as Starbucks Corporation’s Diversity Mentoring Program.
Starbucks Corporation’s Diversity Mentoring Program is an annual program handled by the company’s Law and Corporate Affairs Department. It seeks to connect the company’s in-house lawyers with junior lawyers in private practice into a one-on-one mentorship relationship. Junior lawyers, who come from diverse backgrounds, will benefit from Starbucks Corporation’s experienced in-house lawyers who will share their insights about learning the practice of law, success in belonging to a law firm, and other facets of the private law practice environment. The program is open to all private practitioners in Washington State who are in their first three years as an attorney. Additional requirements include membership in one or more minority bar associations. The Law and Corporate Affairs Department receives assistance from the King County Bar Association in identifying junior lawyers holding a Washington license who could benefit from the program.
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 Experienced law enforcement officer Jon Schorsch served as a sergeant with the Port of Seattle Police Department. During his time with the Department, Mr. Schorsch completed civil and criminal investigations with his team of 20 police officers. He became blind in 2017 after an accident at sea. Despite his blindness, Jon Schorsch volunteers with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) as a self-defense instructor.
NFB has collaborated with Getty Images and Tactile Images to deliver up to 45 million tactile renders to the world’s blind population. The collaboration opens opportunities to enhance learning and cultural inclusion for the blind, visually impaired, and physically disabled. The blind will be able to experience the images on display by stimulating their sense of hearing, smelling, and touch. The images use Braille and embedded sensors activate audio descriptions, and images emit distinct smells. These sensory stimulations will replace the sense of sight. The partnership demonstrates NFB’s commitment to increase tactile literacy among the blind. NFB will continue to provide the blind with access to paintings, photographs, and other images.  Jon Schorsch retired in 2007 as a police sergeant with the Port of Seattle Police Department. He is currently a resident at Bothell, Washington. Since retirement, Jon Schorsch has participated in organizations such as the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), an organization that advocates and coordinates programs for the visually impaired.
As one of the largest and oldest associations, the NFB offers the visually impaired with free audio news service by NFB-Newline. Qualification to use this service includes blindness, low vision, deaf-blind, and print-disabled disabilities. It also includes impaired ability for reading a printed page that results from vision loss, dyslexia, or a physical disability. NFB-Newline subscribers have access to 500 publications that offer job listings and weather alerts, along with other relevant news. Examples of their publication offerings include the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CNN, BBC, ESPN online, Consumer Reports, and the Smithsonian. NFB-Newsline subscription is available by a few methods. You may register by contacting a state’s Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped or by phoning the NFB at (866) 504-7300. Another way is by downloading the mail-in application at the NFB web site or applying through NFB’s online platform.  After earning his degree in criminal justice and sociology from Washington State University, Jon Schorsch attended Seattle University (Seattle U). At Seattle U, Jon Schorsch earned a master’s degree in public administration (MPA).
Seattle U’s MPA program provides its students with support, including access to scholarships. After completion of the MPA program, students are grounded in the principles and concepts for advancement in a career in government or the nonprofit sector. An example is the Public Administration Departmental Scholarship. This is available to all incoming students who demonstrate financial need. The other prerequisite is to describe your interest in leadership roles in an area of public administration. MPA students also may obtain a scholarship through Americorp’s Alumni Scholarship. The scholarship awards students $3,000 toward tuition during the first two years of the program. A prerequisite for applying is completion of a service assignment as specified by the program. Those with financial need are prioritized for selection.  Jon Schorsch is a retired sergeant from the Port of Seattle Police Department. During his time there and afterwards, he earned degrees in criminology and sociology, public administration, and law. As a lifelong learner, Jon Schorsch also earned a certificate in mediation through the Volunteers of America (VOA) organization.
VOA is an organization with a platform for empowering the nation’s most vulnerable to society’s ills. They have influenced these problems by impact investing. Impact investing involves investment in companies that positively impact people or the environment. In the case of VOA, this mission also includes partnering with corporate and philanthropic entities. The VOA has recently added the 2019 Sustainable Goals to its mission. It is a set of goals adopted from the United Nations and includes improving health and well-being of people, reduction of poverty and hunger, and building sustainable communities. This effort is just one of their funding opportunities that advocates for the nation’s most vulnerable people.  Jon Schorsch, a successful attorney and retired Seattle law enforcement officer, served until recently as a public defender in King County. Currently, Jon Schorsch co-mediates conflicts at the Volunteers of America dispute resolution center in Everett, Washington.
To compliment his professional work, Mr. Schorsch enrolled in the Human Resource Management Certificate Program at the Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWTech). which currently offers 91 professional certificates, each of which signifies completion of a specialized technical training program. Students can obtain either a certificate of completion (CoC) for programs less than 45 credit hours, or a Certificate of Proficiency (CoP) for programs greater than 45 hours. The human resource (HR) management certificate program is designed for working professionals interested in an HR career, or those currently working in the field who wish to advance. The program provides students with strategies to improve employee communication in addition to enhancing their skills in employee management and operations. Moreover, the HR certificate program enhances students’ employee-development skills, and allows them to participate in the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM). For additional information on the HR management certificate program, visit www.lwtech.edu.  Jon Schorsch is a former Port of Seattle Police sergeant and church deacon who recently acquired a juris doctor and a master in public administration from Seattle University. As an attorney, Jon Schorsch has completed programs at the King County Department of Public Defense and the Starbucks Corporation Diversity Mentorship Program. Currently, he serves as a mediator at the Volunteers of America Dispute Resolution Center in Washington.
Outside of his professional work, Mr. Schorsch actively supports charities, including the United Way and Sight Connection, where he served on the board of directors. Sight Connection is a community service organization that helps individuals with vision impairments maintain their independence. The organization also sells a variety of supports and resources to alleviate issues associated with vision loss, which is commonly a result of medical conditions, such as cataracts, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy is an eye disease that occurs when high blood sugar levels in people with diabetes cause blood vessels in the retina to become damaged. There are two stages of diabetic retinopathy. The first stage, non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), causes macula swelling, tiny blood vessel leaks, and a condition called macular ischemia, which causes blood vessels to close off. The second stage, proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), occurs when the condition has advanced beyond NDPR. The retina grows new blood vessels that result in bleeding that can block vision and cause scar tissue. In severe cases, PDR can lead to problems, including blindness, macula issues, and detached retinas.  After serving as a sergeant with the Port of Seattle Police Department for more than a decade and gaining experience in legal mediation, Jon Schorsch remains active with the department's Benevolent Association. Jon Schorsch has never let his blindness restrict him, and maintains membership in the United States Blind Golf Association (USBGA).
Founded in 1953, the USBGA enables individuals with visual impairment or blindness to play golf and compete in tournaments for the sport. Those eligible for membership in the association include those with sight below 20/200. Each year, the USBGA hosts a variety of competitions for its members, who play with guidance from a coach with sight. The association encourages members to attend events such as the annual ISPS Handa U.S. Open. This event takes its name from Dr. Haruhisa Handa, who has achieved success in areas ranging from business to the arts. A noted philanthropist, Dr. Handa believes in enhancing the lives of others, especially through the “power of sport,” such as competing in golf tournaments. The 2019 ISPS Handa U.S. Open Blind Golf Championship will take place April 4-8 in Green Valley, Arizona.  A dedicated public servant, Jon Schorsch served as as a police sergeant at the Port of Seattle Police Department for over a decade before acquiring a Juris Doctor degree from Seattle University and interning at the King County Department of Public Defense. Currently, Jon Schorsch serves as a deacon at Mill Creek Community Church.
In addition to his current work, Mr. Schorsch participates in the Starbucks Corporation’s Diversity Mentorship Program. Starbucks, a leading provider of coffee and tea beverages, currently operates more than 24,000 retail stores in over seventy countries. Founded in 1971, the firm also prioritizes ethical sourcing practices, environmental stewardship, and community involvement through programs like its diversity mentorship initiative. Starbucks’ Law & Corporate Affairs Department manages the firm’s Diversity Mentorship Program. The program, which consists of a one year mentoring period, pairs experienced lawyers at Starbucks with junior attorneys from different backgrounds and disciplines. Over the course of the program, participating junior attorneys develop legal expertise and how to succeed in a range of practice environments. Eligible attorneys include those in their first three years of practice or those who participate in a minority bar association or diversity group.  Over the course of his career, Jon Schorsch has been engaged in public service. An experienced law enforcement officer, Jon Schorsch served 14 years as a police sergeant for the Port of Seattle Police Department.
The Port of Seattle Police Department provides primary law enforcement services to the Port’s seaport properties. The department is committed to, among other things, providing professional law enforcement services. To meet this commitment, the department offers a Police Training Officer (PTO) program to newly hired officers, whether entry level or lateral. The PTO program establishes a training team for all recruits consisting of two PTO trainers, a sergeant, a commander, and an evaluator. During the program, the new recruits evaluate themselves and their performance on the job, learn from their mistakes, and journal everything they have learned to solidify their learning experiences. New recruits go through a 17-week PTO program while laterals go through an 8-week PTO program. During this time, the recruits monitor and evaluate their progress in 15 essential competencies and their PTO evaluators add comments to these written evaluations. During the final week, a board meeting takes place where recruits are asked a number of questions before being informed of the PTO cadre’s decision. |
AuthorPublic Administration Professional Archives
August 2018
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