Joseph S. Bowman IV was recently appointed to the Highline College Board of Trustees by Gov. Jay Inslee.
Bowman joins a board that has served a collective 29 years at Highline.
“Joe Bowman has an amazing passion for community, care and service in his work and advocacy efforts throughout South King County,” Highline College President John Mosby said. “His addition to an already powerful and committed Board of Trustees will serve Highline College well into the future.”
Bowman, a Federal Way resident since 2005, has 20 years of pastoral experience and is the founding pastor of Integrity Life Church, also based in Federal Way.
He has championed many initiatives, programs and revitalization projects for Federal Way residents and students within the Federal Way Public Schools district. For five years, Bowman served as president of City Vision (now named Federal Way Community Connections), a City of Federal Way initiative aimed to deepen support of its residents by bringing together nearly 50 nonprofits. Bowman has also served on the Integrity Life Church board and the boards of Federal Way Community Gardens, Pastors for a Better Federal Way, and the “Chiefs Call,” a citizens advisory board to Federal Way Police Chief Andy Hwang. The father of four has also served in a supporting role in writing the equity policy for Federal Way Public Schools.
Approximately 21% of Highline College students live in Federal Way with many of them coming from Federal Way Public Schools.
But Bowman is connected to Highline in more ways than through a school district of which the college serves. Bowman has participated in Advancing Leadership, an organization Highline has partnered with to provide diversity and equity training, and he’s been part of Highline’s annual Black and Brown Male Summit. The summit, which brings together young men of color for various learning opportunities, workshops, storytelling and presentations, has been at Highline for more than 10 years.
When asked what his goals would be as a Highline College Trustee, Bowman responded he’d like to learn and grow in this role, but would also like to increase visibility for the Highline College Foundation so that it may provide more scholarships to students. He’s also interested in integrating the college’s athletic program with at-risk youth in surrounding communities.
“Highline is the industry leader at recognizing the diverse ethnic, gender, lifestyle, social and religious differences of the community, and creating an inclusive environment based on respect and trust to forge ahead, united,” Bowman said. “The college, while holding a myriad of ideas and philosophies, has been nobly working effectively as a team with the administration and students to achieve the institute’s core values.”
In addition to Bowman’s civic and religious work, he is a family man who has been married for 23 years and has four children ranging in age from 7 to 13 years old. He’s authored “The Promise Prematurely Delayed: A Couple’s Infertility Journey” and enjoys the Seahawks, audiobooks, cooking, basketball, movies and bowling in his spare time.
Bowman replaces trustee Bob Roegner, who completed his two terms in September 2020 after serving nearly 10 years on the Board of Trustees.
During Roegner’s time on the board, he served as chair during the 2013-14 and 2018-19 academic years, as vice chair 2017-18 and was the Washington State Association of College Trustees (ACT) legislative representative for eight consecutive years.
“Bob Roegner has been an incredible supporter of Highline College for many years,” Mosby said. “He is an exceptional ambassador for the college in the community. I will truly miss him as a colleague, boss and mentor. A kind, generous and caring individual, Bob models our values and standards for which I’ll always be grateful.”
Learn more about the Highline College Board of Trustees here.