Garbe Reser candidate for 16th District Senate seat

Danielle Garbe Reser is a proud American, community builder, and farmer's wife who is running for the Washington State Senate. Inspired by the military service of her grandfather and the small-town values she learned growing up in Eastern Washington, she has dedicated her life to serving our country and our community. From the Situation Room to the boardroom, she has the leadership qualities and experience that our region and our state need for our future.

Danielle's diplomatic career with the U.S. Department of State started on September 10, 2001. She served our country from 2001-2015, including with danger and hardship posts at the U.S. Embassies in Beirut, Lebanon and Jakarta, Indonesia. Her crisis management experience ranged from helping the American victims of the Bali terrorist attacks in 2002 to facilitating humanitarian responses to the Syrian war.

Danielle has worked with representatives of both Republican and Democratic administrations, proudly advancing America's interests first. She was both on the staff of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and on the National Security Council staff during the Obama White House. She had special assignments as diplomatic advisor to the U.S. Senate staffing issues on the Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees and at the U.S. Department of Energy working on global energy challenges and climate change.

In 2015, Danielle returned home to Eastern Washington to serve as the CEO of Sherwood Trust; with over $30 million in assets, it is the largest private foundation serving Walla Walla and Columbia counties. Over the years she led Sherwood Trust, she oversaw investments that created jobs, built community infrastructure, and strengthened nonprofit operations and programs. The rural funders' tour she created helped attract over half a million dollars in new grants to the region. Danielle won national recognition in 2019 with Exponent Philanthropy's "Outsized Impact Award" for her rural philanthropy initiative. In 2017 she received Philanthropy Northwest's "Ambassador of the Year" award.

Raised in Moses Lake, Danielle graduated from Whitman College, which she was able to attend on a women's leadership scholarship established by the same family that created Sherwood Trust. She earned a Master's in Public Administration at Columbia University on a full ride scholarship through the Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Program with the U.S. Department of State.

Danielle has been a volunteer for Whitman College for more than two decades with a passion for ensuring that future generations will also be able to afford college. She currently serves as the Vice Chair on Whitman's Presidential Advisory Board. She is also a member of Walla Walla's Noon Rotary Club and serves on committees for the YWCA and Community Council.

Her husband, Todd Reser, is a fifth-generation farmer from a Walla Walla family that also has a long commitment to public and community service.

Danielle is running for the State Senate to bridge the divides between Eastern and Western Washington and to be an advocate for rural communities, particularly for child care and early learning programs, job creation, and affordable healthcare.

-Danielle Garbe Reser