David Bannick, ’12, arrived at the University of Washington in 2008, a third-generation Husky following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.
Bannick grew up in the Seattle area’s Eastside, in a Redmond home infused with the values of the University. Reflecting on his parents’ service to the greater community, Bannick recalled his mother’s involvement with Operation Sack Lunch, where she would take him along with her, hand in hand, as she supported the organization addressing ongoing food scarcity. Bannick shared that it was his parents who taught him “everyone in society has a responsibility to others,” and it was with this foundational understanding of the world that he arrived on the steps of the UW campus.
Freshly graduated from a rigorous preparatory school, Bannick entered the UW intent on pursuing a business degree. He hadn’t been on campus long before realizing he had every resource for any possible pathway one could choose.
“I think what I liked the most about the UW when I got there was that you could pave your own way and do anything,” shared Bannick.
Within this newfound sense of space and freedom, Bannick sought out the best way for him to “give back.” It was his deep-set community service values, rooted from a young age, that directed him to switch majors, eventually landing at political science with a minor in human rights.
Asking good questions
Bannick surged into human rights classes, researching systems impacts, incarcerated prisoners and global human rights crimes. His studies prompted him to seek out justice-oriented service opportunities where he could apply all he was learning in leadership and service to the community. This led him to the doors of the Dream Project.
The Dream Project, originating in 2005, prepares UW undergraduates to mentor in middle and high schools, helping low-income and first-generation students overcome systemic barriers to college. Dream Project undergraduates attend classes and trainings, learning about complex educational equity issues as they participate across King County schools in peer mentorship programs.
The program’s appeal to Bannick was that “we had the immediate tools, as recent college applicants ourselves, to help these students successfully navigate into college.” Bannick wanted to offer the support to others that he had received from so many over his high school years.
Bannick remembers the first day he entered the Dream Project classroom, a lecture hall filled with 200 students who all somehow seemed to know one another.
“The energy and connection was palpable,” he said as he submersed himself into this community focused on relationships and service for the greater good.
His work began at Ingraham High School, tasked with supporting students on their college essays. Bannick, a long time writer, thrived in the process of supporting student narratives, of learning who each student was and reflecting back the importance of their voice in the world.
“I fell in love with being a mentor and I knew that was going to be something I carried through my time at UW.”
Creating long-lasting change
As the program progressed, he spent hours with high school students getting them scholarship and FAFSA applications, figuring out the resources needed to best traverse the complexity of admissions and financial aid applications. With each student he met, he asked what are the tools they would need to succeed. Bannick cites the power of the Dream Project as rooted in “the power of seeing a person exactly where they are.”
Bannick’s ability to troubleshoot and strategize solutions to challenges led him to become a high school lead for the Dream Project his junior and senior years. In this role he led Dream Project mentors at his assigned high school, engaging in much public speaking. He used this time to develop and strengthen his confidence, voice and leadership style. He cites this experience as having created the foundations that led him directly to his job today as a trial prosecutor at the King County prosecuting attorney’s office.
David Bannick, ’12, majored in political science and minored in human rights. He is now a senior deputy prosecuting attorney in the domestic violence unit with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s office. Photo by Ian Teodoro.
For the public good
Through the upheaval and pandemic of 2020 and 2021, hate crimes spiked not just across the country, but also across the city of Seattle. Bannick ran hate crime investigations, negotiations and trials, still ever-focused on justice as his key goal.
His experience with the Dream Project taught him how to center his work in justice by building strong community partnerships. To this end, he met with community groups, building trust between them and the judicial system. He integrated the voices and feedback from marginalized communities to develop victim support models, and worked with law enforcement to bring these models to life. He ran education initiatives to increase awareness of hate crimes and the underreporting of hate crimes. Bannick’s time at the Dream Project taught him “about equity and the difference between equity and equality.” He applies these lessons every day within his work.
Today, Bannick is a trial attorney for the domestic violence unit, handling the most serious domestic violence cases that occur in King County. Working to serve people who have been victimized and don’t have a voice, he continues to center his work in justice and equity. Bringing all of his past experiences to this progressive prosecuting office, Bannick makes certain people are safe, are able to tell their story in court and get the resources they need. Looking back at his time at the Dream Project, Bannick shared, “I learned that I wanted a life where I was helping to solve some of the problems in our community. It showed that we can all make an impact.”
David Bannick’s time at the Dream Project taught him “about equity and the difference between equity and equality.” He applies these lessons every day within his work.
