Tri-Cities CEO with ‘passion for serving and social justice’ named MLK Spirit winner
Lynn Carlson is more than just a solutions finder, although that’s often what she’s tasked with doing in her role as an organizational development practitioner.
She’s someone who’s always willing to help someone for the betterment of her community. It’s at the core of her values and what drives her professional talents.
“I truly do feel like all boats rise with the tide, that we are connected to each other as humans,” she told the Tri-City Herald. “To help other people thrive, succeed, live their lives, feel a sense of joy — I just feel like that’s a lot of the reason that I love doing what I’m doing.”
It’s also a reason why Carlson, 51, of Pasco, was selected to receive the 2025 Martin Luther King Jr. Spirit Award, a prestigious recognition of community members whose work in the Tri-Cities reflect the spirit, philosophy and teachings of the late civil rights leader.
She will be honored with the accolade 5:30 p.m. Monday after the annual Columbia Basin College bell-ringing ceremony, at the MLK Jr. statue outside the T building on the Pasco campus.
It’s not just her receiving this award, Carlson says, reflecting on the South African philosophy of ubuntu, or “I am” because “we are.”
“We do this work together. We do this work collectively,” she said. “I don’t feel like it’s me accepting this award. I think it’s a reflection of the work I do in partnership with other community leaders and other organizations... One person doesn’t receive this award. We receive it together because we do this work together.”
CBC President Rebekah Woods said the award stands as a testament to MLK’s enduring legacy of service, equality and justice.
“I am always humbled by the nominations and the service of the nominees to our community. This year’s Spirit Award winner, Lynn Carlson, exemplifies passion for serving and social justice,” Woods said.
Carlson says she was left in “shock and awe” after she learned she’d be a Spirit Award winner.
She was especially humbled to share this award with her peers and past winners, including 2022 recipient Naima Chambers-Smith, 2021 recipient Daishaundra Loving-Hearne and 2020 recipient Chaune Fitzgerald.
“For me, the legacy of Dr. King was not only about civil rights but also about seeing each other in our full humanity,” she said. “His legacy was very much about what it takes for people to thrive in the world.”
“He was trying to get resources and bridge the divides of socio-economic status, and that is a lot of the work I do in the community. It’s helping people break those generational cycles, whether it be trauma or poverty.”
‘An insatiable learner’
Carlson is CEO of the Pasco-based consultation firm Gemini Corps. Its mission is to help businesses and nonprofits through “constant tensions and facilitate change.”
She specializes in organizational development and diversity, equity and inclusion, and belonging assessments and intervention to “create healthy and productive workplaces.”
Her clients run the gamut, from small nonprofits to school districts and large governments. Carlson says the issues they work on are as unique as the companies themselves.
Many organizational leaders and employees might already know what the solution is. But Carlson says it’s her job to get them to say “the quiet part out loud.”
“They all have their own histories that inform what’s going on inside the organization today. So, that’s what keeps it interesting to me because I’m an insatiable learner and I have a high degree of curiosity,” she said. “What does the solution look like is the unique part.”
Carlson moved to the area seven years ago after her physician husband took a job in Hermiston. Since then, she’s established ties with several social justice groups and organizations doing important work in the Tri-Cities, including Women of Wisdom Tri-Cities, Urban Poets Society and Restoration Community Impact.
She also currently serves as board secretary of the Tri-Cities Diversity and Inclusion Council.
“The thing that I love about the Tri-Cities is that even though we have 330,000 people in our metropolitan service area, we have dozens and dozens of community groups,” she said. “It is interconnected and people can come together and pool resources and make a collective impact — make a positive impact on the community.”
Some global companies in recent months have abandoned diversity initiatives, with news headlines in recent months touting a serious “backlash” against DEI, or “diversity, equity and inclusion.” Some point to a softening of political will in the years since George Floyd’s death at the hands of police.
Carlson says this cycle of “progress and regress” is nothing new — it happened in the wake of the Civil Rights Act and the Reconstruction Era.
But technology and social media are making these movements accelerate faster — making them “trend.” Carlson says there are businesses and nonprofits that will always see the moral and cultural value of diversity and equity.
“There are organizations — for decades, starting back with IBM in the 90’s — that understood that in order to compete in the marketplace they needed diverse talent, because that diverse talent led to innovation and creativity. And, so, those organizations aren’t going to stop doing the work. They’re not going to stop creating work place cultures of belonging, and a diverse talent pipeline that creates innovation and creativity.”
Virginia roots
Carlson says the Tri-Cities can sometimes mirror what goes on at the national level — divisions can emerge between people with different backgrounds, but so can moments of unity.
The echoes of racism and Jim Crow can still be felt across America, Carlson says, and she feels it’s time to mend those root harms.
“We have given reparations, as a nation, several times throughout our histories to several different communities. And every time the conversation for the Black community comes up, it stalls. I feel like that is the first opportunity to be able to repair those centuries-old harms, centuries of impact,” she said.
Just 3% of Fortune 500 CEOs are Black men and women, she says. Plus, Black home buyers remain the most “cost-burdened” demographic in the nation, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Carlson’s roots trace back to Portsmouth, Virginia, where, as she puts it, she spent 25 years in “corporate America,” leading teams for Fortune 100 companies. She built up experience doing team building, product launches, regulatory compliance and a bevy of other roles.
She decided to make a career shift and pivot after 25 years. She went back to school and earned her master’s in organizational psychology and organizational development before launching Gemini Corps in January 2020.
After moving to the Tri-Cities, she discovered Fuse, the Richland co-working space and business incubator. It’s here she met fellow Spirit winner Kimberly Harper and moderated her fireside chat.
Carlson went on to present at the Tri-Cities Regional Chamber of Commerce “Diversity Summit,” where she was introduced to Chambers-Smith and Fitzgerald.
In addition to historic civil rights activists, Carlson cites several modern-day thought leaders as role models, including activist Adrienne Maree Brown, author John A. Powell and DEI strategist Lily Zheng.
This story was originally published January 20, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
