2025 State Conference
Date: Sat. May 17, 2025
Location: Courtyard Marriott Tacoma Downtown
1515 Commerce St
Tacoma, WA 98402
Attire: Smart Casual
Lunch and refreshments will be provided throughout the day.
SAVE THE DATE! Join us for our 2025 State Conference. This annual meeting of the members allows the Board to present what they’ve worked on for the last year, talk about what’s on the horizon, announce the results of any elections, and it allows state leadership to discuss the future of YOUR Guard.
Intersted in staying at the Courtyard Marriott for the conference? The hotel is offering our special group rate. Book your room before Friday April 18, 2025 to secure the special $136.00 USD per night rate.
2024 State Conference
Looking Back and Moving Forward
Date: Sat. April 20, 2024
Location: Courtyard Marriott Tacoma Downtown
1515 Commerce St
Tacoma, WA 98402
The 2024 NGAW State Conference was a big success! We so appreciate Maj Gen (R) Don Dunbar and his wonderful presentation on the History of the National Guard. To truly understand who you are and where you’re going, you definitely need to look at where you’ve come from and how your organization was formed. The National Guard is an amazing and unique entity, not just part of Big Army & Air. We are Citizen Soldiers who can and will respond appropriately and successfully. We are proficient and ready. We are noble and trustworthy. The National Guard is a National Treasure, and our story needs to be shared.
Our conference also featured fantastic presentations by Maj Gen Daugherty, BG Sellars, and BG Welsh, as well as Marcy Weldin from NGAUS. Thank you so much for speaking. NGAW also genuinely appreciates our awesome Corporate Partners who joined us: BLR Aerospace, Helmets to Hardhats, and Serket USA.
We swore in Director of Membership Tanya Ulsted and Director of Development Steve Vuleta for the 2024-26 Board term. We handed out two scholarship awards, and we even had a raffle for a knife from our Corporate Partner Gerber.
Thank you to everyone who joined us. Make sure to mark your calendars now–our 2025 State Conference will be on May 17!
2023 State Conference
Bring Your Voice to the Capitol
The 2023 NGAW State Conference was Saturday May 13. We had an incredible speaker from our featured sponsor Boeing. Amanda Achong was inspiring! She addressed the challenges of hanging up the uniform, becoming a civilian employee, and finding an organization with a mission bigger than yourself. Her suggestion: find an organization that matches your values and invests in you. You, the Soldiers and Airmen of the Washington National Guard, are our greatest resource!
We also had fantastic presentations from the WA Secretary of State, the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs, the Washington Student Achievement Council, EANGUS, and NGAUS. We announced our 2023 scholarship recipients and new Board members, and we raised money for next year’s scholarships with our silent auction.
The annual conference is an opportunity for the membership to meet with the Board and state leadership to address the current state of the Association and learn about upcoming opportunities. Thank you to everyone who attended. Please contact our office at ngaw@ngaw.org if you would like to connect further with any of our speakers or sponsors. And if you missed out this year, make sure to join us next year!
Featured Speaker
Amanda Achong is Director of Engine Contracts in Supply Chain Propulsion for Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA). In this role, she is responsible for managing contracts and commercial matters with Boeing’s engine partners. She was named to this position in May 2022. Previously, she led Asia Structures for Supply Chain Contracts & Sourcing in BCA, responsible for major contracts, negotiations, strategy, and business planning with key partners in Japan, Korea, China, and Southeast Asia.
Prior to Boeing, Achong served in the United States Air Force as a Contract Specialist, primarily responsible for the acquisition of a variety of commodities, construction, and performance-based services. Achong also led training and development as well as contingency planning and readiness for key hurricane response assets for her unit, and acted as a key interface to civic leaders and distinguished visitors in support of Public Affairs.
Achong is a member of the Institute for Supply Management, World Contracting & Commerce, and Association of Supply Chain Management.
Achong earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a global focus from Troy University and a Master’s degree in Communication and Leadership studies from Gonzaga University.
2022 State Conference
Guard Your Future
We were excited to return to an in-person conference this year! The 2022 NGAW State Conference was held at the McChord Club on Saturday June 25. We honored our scholarship recipients, gave out awards, voted on a bylaws change during the business session, and discussed the upcoming national conferences. We enjoyed lunch, networked during the no-host social, and raffled off some fun prize packages.
The annual conference is an opportunity for the membership to meet with the Board to address the current state of the Association and learn about upcoming opportunities. We thank everyone who attended and look forward to seeing you next year! Check back next winter for location and registration information.
