Uncommoners: Breean Beggs

Nonprofit: When Breean Beggs was a student at Whitworth, he had a lot of ideas about how to make the world a better place, but not many people were listening. So he got a law degree at the University of Washington, because when you can take people to court they have to listen.

In 2004, Beggs took a position with the Center for Justice in Spokane and has effectively carried out its mission of giving voice to the voiceless. He has been at the center of numerous controversies, including the death of Otto Zehm, the disbanding of the hybrid city-county municipal court system, the challenge to booking fees imposed on jail inmates and advocating for a healthy Spokane River.

The causes have not always been popular, but Beggs has been undeniably effective in bringing together government powerbrokers and the powerless to work out solutions.