Meet Marcia Kelbon

Marcia benefitted from our state’s opportunities and wants to ensure that our children and grandchildren can continue to thrive here as well. She is the grandchild of immigrants, and in the first generation of her family to go to college. She worked her way through schooling, earning a Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University and then a Masters of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington, where she conducted forestry-related research. She discovered a love of the Pacific Northwest over 40 years ago, and never left.

She then worked for the U.S. Navy for four years as a civilian engineer, before leaving to earn her law degree at the University of Washington School of Law. While in law school Marcia worked an externship at the Washington State Attorney General’s office in Snohomish County, handling child abuse and neglect cases. After passing the bar, she began practice as a patent attorney, protecting the inventions of entrepreneurs as they started business as well as working for established companies.

Marcia was fascinated by the energy and promise of emerging business, and after 12 years in private practice leaped with both feet into a start-up biotechnology company for which she had obtained core patents. She served as that company’s top lawyer, referred to as its General Counsel, and as a senior executive for 19 years. During this time, Marcia guided the company from being a start-up to being a publicly traded, revenue-generating company with an approved commercial product. And through that process, she helped create over 250 high-paying technology jobs. Marcia understands what it takes to finance and grow a business.