Asyia Gover Poetry & Prose

WA MEDIATION ASSOCIATION ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD (2024)

Thank you to my colleagues for nominating me and for trusting me with our rockstar Housing Stability program! The work I do is important to me because it improves our community, one household at a time. My deepest thanks to the people of Whatcom County for bringing our mediators into some of the deepest, most painful conflicts of their lives. Let’s keep building a more safe and stable Whatcom County for all! ✊

From the award nomination: “Mia [Asyia] was instrumental in creating and managing conflict resolution services for the Eviction Resolution Pilot Program (ERPP) in Whatcom County. As ERPP sunset, Mia continued to lead the transition to voluntary Housing Stability conflict services. Along with her leadership of the Housing Stability team and compassionate service to clients, Mia has provided vision for outreach. She continually finds creative ways to increase awareness of housing-related conflict services in our county, forging relationships, and piloting housing related trainings. Her ear is always to the ground listening to the emerging needs of our community.”

EVICTION RESOLUTION PILOT PROGRAM (ERPP) (2021 – 2023)

ERPP was a statewide court diversion program designed by the Washington State legislature and Superior Court, and implemented by Dispute Resolution Centers as authorized under RCW 7.75 and RCW 59.18.660. Asyia “Mia” Gover was the lead case manager (Eviction Resolution Specialist) for this program and oversaw its implementation and development from passed legislation through the program sunset on June 30th, 2023. This role required synthesizing information from a wide variety of sources including laws, court procedures, peer organizations, internal policies, staff feedback, and client needs; in order to create and maintain a program that complied with all requirements while equitably serving a high volume of clients. Mia performed and supervised all daily activities of the program including direct service to clients, management of staff, and coordination with partner agencies.

MEDICAL CANNABIS PATIENT SERVICES (2016 – 2020)

Medical cannabis access in Washington State is facilitated at medical offices and retail locations by the authority of the Department of Health and Liquor and Cannabis Board. Asyia “Mia” Gover was the medical department manager at a licensed retail cannabis business, and she supervised the program implementation and all essential functions. Primary responsibilities for this role included compliance with RCW 69.51A, WAC 246-70 through 246-72, I-502, and WAC 314-55; while administering core functions and value-added services for medical cannabis patients. Mia performed and managed all daily activities of the program including registration of patient information, medical product sales, and internal and external continuing education.

Click here to view sample presentation slides from MMJ support group content

CRITICAL CANNABIS NARRATIVES (2019)

Fairhaven College offers graduating seniors the opportunity to design and teach an undergraduate course to satisfy the practicum requirement of the interdisciplinary concentration. Asyia Gover developed and executed FAIR 297O: Critical Cannabis Narratives, a four-credit class investigating cannabis history and culture from a phenomenological approach. Content of this course included a variety of primary source texts, three field visits, and individual phenomenological research projects. Asyia performed all teaching responsibilities including instructional design, coordination with field sites, facilitating class sessions, and evaluating student work.

Click here to view the syllabus for Critical Cannabis Narratives