Louie Opatz
Louie Opatz is a contributing writer at the University of Washington Continuum College, where he previously worked as a full-time editor and writer. Louie has worked as a barista, ginger beer delivery driver, baseball coach, FedEx shipping specialist, barback, communications director, teaching assistant, sports editor and bottling milk on a dairy farm, among others odds and ends.
He lives in Los Angeles, where he works as a writer and reporter for Streets Are For Everyone, a 501(c)3 that aims to improve the quality of life for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers by reducing traffic fatalities to zero. Since 2020, Louie has organized and volunteered for SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition, a nonprofit on the east side of LA that feeds, clothes, supports and empowers our unhoused neighbors as they struggle with housing insecurity.
Louie is a lifelong baseball player, which brought him to Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., where he earned his bachelor’s in English and journalism. He also holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing: Nonfiction from Portland State University. As a car-free LA bike commuter, he thinks most of life’s ills can be solved by hopping on a bicycle.
Articles by this author
Helping Older Adults Understand the Brain
A grant from the Dana Foundation helps OLLI-UW create a first-of-its-kind program to help older adults understand brain health.
Digging Into the Culture and Diversity of Language
With a goal of providing students greater access and a different perspective on language diversity, linguistics instructor Lorna Rozelle is collaborating with Continuum to offer LING 234 as an asynchronous Summer Sessions course.
Blending Two Perspectives For One Global Vision
The Distinguished Humphrey Fellowship Program brought together global leaders to share strategies on advocating for the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in their communities.