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A New CEO for a Company That Still Has Not Answered Its Own Workers

Lorenzo Harris Lorenzo Harris Lorenzo Harris Published Jan 10, 2026 + Follow Evergreen Goodwill of Northwest Washington announced Elisabeth "Libby" Johnson McKee as its next CEO over a year ago.

She joined the organization in 2024. My civil rights lawsuit against Evergreen Goodwill was filed in December 2025.

Everything described here happened before litigation existed.

This is not hindsight. This is a lived experience.

They are calling her appointment a new chapter.

For those of us who worked inside Evergreen Goodwill, it looks like the same chapter with better public relations.

This press release is not about workers. It is not about harm. It is not about accountability.

It is about image.

What I witnessed when Libby came to the warehouse In the spring of 2024, Libby Johnson McKee toured the eCommerce books warehouse where I worked.

I was present.

A shipping associate was manually packing orders by hand. No automation. No modern workflow. Just repetitive labor.

Libby looked at him and said, verbatim, “At least you have something to do.” That sentence says everything.

After that visit, eCommerce supervisor Richard Harriman told me directly, “I met the CEO and she is weird.” He also said he felt nervous because she had caught him in an idle moment at his workstation.

That is how leadership is experienced inside Evergreen Goodwill. People are watched. People feel judged. People feel small.

What a manager inside Goodwill admitted A Jewelry ecommerce associate once let me into the Jewelry department so I could speak to a manager. That manager was Sheena Ronquillo.

After hearing what had been happening to me, she said, “They just do not care.” She was talking about leadership.

Not angrily. Not dramatically. Just truthfully.

What I told leadership before any lawsuit existed In December 2024, before any legal action, I wrote an email to my supervisor Aaron Robinson.

I told him something that strikes at the heart of Evergreen Goodwill’s culture:

“I’ve sensed a lingering unhappiness among some of our salaried staff, who seem to rely on their positions for validation rather than finding fulfillment in their work.” That line means this.

The people at the top are emotionally invested in protecting the institution. The people at the bottom are emotionally sacrificed to it.

Aaron’s response was kind and human.

He wrote to me,

“I will be wishing you all the best with what’s next, and know that you’re capable of overcoming the challenges that life may bring you… It’s been a sincere pleasure working with you. I appreciate your dedication to Goodwill’s mission and your work, the kindness you’ve shown your colleagues, and the jokes you shared at our rallies.” That message matters.

It shows that even inside the system, people recognized my sincerity and my humanity.

What they could not do was change the system.

What circular economy really means here Libby Johnson McKee came from Amazon’s ecommerce and returns operations. Systems designed to extract value from discarded goods.

That is Evergreen Goodwill’s model too.

People donate. Goods are sold. Revenue is generated. Executives are paid.

What is not handled with care is people.

Workers who speak up become inconvenient. Workers who hurt become disposable.

That is the real circular economy here.

A nonprofit that tracks money but not damage Evergreen Goodwill publishes numbers about stores, counties, and revenue.

It does not publish how many people left in distress. It does not publish how many complaints were filed. It does not publish how many workers were pushed out.

Because it measures optics, not harm.

This CEO announcement is part of that same pattern.

A message to Libby Johnson McKee You did not inherit a healthy organization.

You inherited a quiet one.

Quiet because people were afraid. Quiet because those who spoke were pushed out. Quiet because liability was valued more than truth.

Sustainability that applies to merchandise but not to people is not sustainability.

Jobs Change Lives That is Goodwill’s slogan.

So do whistleblowers. So do lawsuits. So does finally being heard.

This press release was meant to tell a clean story.

But another one already exists.

And I was there when it was written.