Derek's Background

Six years ago, the people of the 26th District decided they wanted a change. They wanted a leader who could get real results on our real priorities. They decided Derek Kilmer was the person who could get things on the issues we care about.

Since then, Derek Kilmer has served our community in Olympia – first as a State Representative and then as State Senator.   

In the State Senate, Derek is a member of the Transportation Committee, the Economic Development, Trade, and Management Committee, and is the Chair of the Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee. Derek also serves on the Joint Committee on Military and Veterans’ Affairs, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education’s Legislative Advisory Committee, and on the Board of the Washington State History Museum. 

Derek’s leadership on economic development and small business issues has been recognized by a variety of organizations.  Derek is the three time recipient of the Washington Economic Development Association’s LEADER of the Year Award.  In 2008, Derek was named a “Legislative Business Star” by Enterprise Washington’s Business Institute.  In 2009, Derek was named a “Legislative Hero” by the Washington Restaurant Association. 

Derek has also been recognized as a champion of Washington’s veterans and public safety leaders.  He was the 2007 recipient of the Glenn Galbreath Award from the northwest chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America.  In 2007, Derek received the “Legislator of the Year Award” from the Washington Council of Police & Sheriffs (WACOPS) for his efforts to keep our communities safe.

When not in Olympia, Derek is an accomplished economic development leader. Serving as the Vice President for the Economic Development Board (EDB) for Tacoma-Pierce County, Derek has worked with hundreds of employers, focused on growing and keeping good, high wage jobs in our community.  

Prior to his work at the EDB, Derek was a management consultant for McKinsey & Company, helping several major Washington State businesses, non-profit organizations, and government agencies function more efficiently, effectively, and strategically.  

Derek is active in the community.  Serving on the board of the Gig Harbor-Peninsula Area Chamber of Commerce, Derek helped develop the organization’s business and economic development strategy, playing an active role in efforts to recruit and retain jobs in the Greater Gig Harbor Area. Derek is also a member of the Bremerton and Port Orchard Chambers of Commerce as well as the Key Peninsula Business Association.  Derek has been named one of the “Forty under 40” by the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal in 2006 and by the Business Examiner in 2007. 

Derek, the son of two school teachers, believes a strong educational system is fundamental to Washington State’s success. He was appointed by Governor Gary Locke and Governor Christine Gregoire to serve as a Trustee on the Board of Tacoma Community College, which has a campus in Gig Harbor. Derek is the former Vice Chair of Communities in Schools of Peninsula, a nonprofit organization focused on helping the kids of Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula succeed in school and in life and currently serves on the board of the Peninsula Schools Education Foundation.  

Derek was born and raised on the Olympic Peninsula. He received a doctoral degree from the University of Oxford in England where he studied comparative social policy with a focus on economic development policy, and received his bachelors’ degree in public policy from Princeton University. Derek and his wife Jennifer, the Executive Director of the Gig Harbor Peninsula Historical Society, live in Gig Harbor. He has been an active leader in the Gig Harbor community, serving as a member of Gig Harbor Rotary and of the Gig Harbor United Methodist Church.

Derek and Jennifer have two little girls - Sophie and Tess.