About Me

The People's Community Empowerment Institute (PCEI) is a "heart project" of non-profit Executive Director and former City Councilmember,
Krystal S. Marx. 

It's a pleasure to meet you!

I grew up splitting my time between Aberdeen and Bellevue, Washington; in turns homeless and an only child, and stably housed with a large family. My parents instilled in my siblings and I a fierce understanding that everyone deserves respect, understanding and the best we have to give. 

I began teaching self-defense and de-escalation in 2013, and added Bystander Intervention in 2015, providing critical, practical knowledge where we need it most: our everyday lives and interactions.

While a contractor with She Should Run, I led multiple bipartisan cohorts of 20+ women from all over the country, helping them prepare for a run for elected office and then building up their skills in campaign management, fundraising and networking. In 2017, as a newly elected Councilmember for the City of Burien, WA, I experienced first-hand how difficult it was to 'break in' to those spaces, and vowed to do something about it.  

With over 15 years in the nonprofit sector, I've held positions that ranging from development, program facilitation, operations, accounting and everything in between. As the inaugural Executive Director of Seattle Pride (2019 - 2022) and current Executive Director of Real Change Homeless Empowerment Project, I realized I had the skills to pull it all together and create a means by which to pass on what has worked and call out what hasn't. 

Finally, I'm a proud bisexual, disabled woman, a mother of four (three of them teens, two of them trans), am married to / the caregiver of my husband James, an Army combat veteran, and enjoy spending time with my other partner as well. Our two chihuahua-terriers are never too far away, whether I'm painting, reading urban fantasy or writing my own. If all else fails, you can find me where there's coffee, gummy worms and ocean air...