SOLD OUT! – YPIN: International Women’s Day | Virtual Speed Mentoring Event

This event is currently sold out. Write ypin@world-affairs.org to be put on the waitlist.

Back by popular demand, the Young Professionals International Network (YPIN) is excited to announce its first virtual Annual International Women’s Day Speed Mentorship event. Mentees will rotate through mini tailored mentorship sessions with the Northwest’s top female leaders.

This event is perfect for early-career women seeking to enhance their leadership potential, or mid-career professionals looking to make a career change or accelerate their current trajectory. You will be exposed to new businesses, vocations, and opportunities, and have the chance to hear from this year’s incredible keynote, Iesha Berry, Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer at Slalom Consulting.

Keynote Speaker

Iesha Berry is a member of Slalom’s Global People Leadership Team where she serves as the Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer. With over twenty years of global experience in I&D across various companies and industries including Bank of America, Microsoft, Pfizer, and Prudential Financial Iesha leads I&D as a business imperative and is also responsible for stewarding Slalom’s efforts in the equity, environmental, social, and sustainability areas. Most recently, Iesha was SVP of Market and Site HR at Bank of America and previously served as an HR executive and Head of Diversity & Inclusion for the Wealth Management division there. Berry received a M.A. in Human Resources and Industrial Relations from University of Minnesota and a B.A. in Psychology from Tougaloo College.

About the Mentors 

Laurie Alook is a Partner and Pacific Northwest Market Leader at Mercer. Mercer is a global consulting leader that is redefining the world of work, reshaping retirement and investment outcomes, and unlocking real health and well-being. With 15+ years of professional experience, Laurie is a business leader with a proven history of leading through change, engaging people and delivering financial results. She is also an actuary who is passionate about using data to tell a story. And when she’s not on the job, Laurie is a mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend, volunteer trying to balance it all. Laurie has lived and worked in the United States and Canada. She has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and finance from the University of Alberta and is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.

Maya Babla Appiah leads Microsoft's Inclusive Hiring team within the Global Talent Acquisition organization, where her vision is to ensure that existing hiring pathways into Microsoft are  equitable and inclusive. This team is the hub for diversity & inclusion programs, partnerships and strategies for Microsoft recruiting.

Maya has a unique point of view on diversity and inclusion, the future of work, and the skills economy. After starting her career in the nonprofit global development sector in Washington, DC, she moved to San Francisco with the goal of mobilizing the immense talent and resources in the tech sector towards social impact goals. While working at LinkedIn, she consulted with Fortune 500 companies on their recruiting strategy, working with recruiting teams around the world to identify and land top talent.

Outside of the office, Maya uses her voice and advocacy to support communities of color. Maya serves on the City of Seattle's Immigrant and Refugee Commission and is helping guide the Seattle expansion of the nonprofit Upwardly Global, an organization that supports immigrants, refugees and asylees to rebuild their professional careers in the US.

 Emily Bancroft is responsible for the strategy, oversight, and management of VillageReach programs and global operations, working closely with a global team of more than 200 employees. A leader in systems change, much of Emily’s work is focused on aligning governments, donors, private sector partners, and NGOs to help scale and sustain innovations. She is recognized for her global leadership in improving supply chains and for developing scalable and replicable digital health solutions in low- and middle-income countries. Prior to joining VillageReach, Emily worked with the International Training and Education Center on Health (I-TECH), Physicians for Human Rights, and NPower, a pioneering social enterprise focused on transforming the way nonprofits use technology to achieve their mission. Emily is a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Health Services at the University of Washington. She holds an MPH from the University of Washington School of Public Health and a BA from Princeton University.

Celeste Bernard, VP of Product Experience / LPL Financial With more than 20 years experience as a journalist, visual storyteller, UX designer, product strategist and data geek at media, eCommerce, healthcare and fintech organizations, Celeste realized early on how much she loved being part of the creative process and solving problems. As VP of Product Experience, she's helping to design tools that allow 17,000 independent advisors to manage more than $800 billion in assets for millions of investors across the U.S., which in turn helps them meet their financial goals. Prior to joining LPL, Celeste led User Experience & Design for Fred Hutch and was Global Director of Content Strategy at Expedia.

As a career relationship builder, Suman Bhat-Kincaid has always believed that forging strong connections grounded in mutual respect are at the core of every successful partnership.

For the last 9 years, she has worked in the nonprofit sector raising awareness and expanding financial support for healthcare organizations working both in the US and abroad. With specialties in corporate and foundation partnerships, she last served as Senior Corporate Partnerships Officer at Bloodworks Northwest, building strategy to increase institutional support around blood research, blood banking and transfusion services in the Pacific Northwest.

Prior to Bloodworks, she spent nearly seven years at SightLife, a global health organization focused on restoring sight to the blind. Suman was the Manager of Corporate and Foundation Partnerships, supporting SightLife’s programs in India, China, Nepal and Ethiopia.

Before she joined the nonprofit sector, she specialized in customer care, logistics and planning in the transportation industry, where she established customer care systems and built customer service departments from the ground up.

Suman holds a BS in International Management from Butler University and an MPA from the University of Washington.

Meghan Browne is the Head of Client & Sales Operations at Sterling, a global leader in the background screening and identity sector. In her role, she leads a team that provides the processes, tools and training that Sterling teams use to support clients and grow the business. Meghan is a general manager skilled at building new teams, ventures, and products. She has extensive experience leading strategy development, product development, operations, partner engagement, and technology implementation in the technology, education, non-profit, financial services, and healthcare industries.

Colina Bruce leads the Seattle University Youth Initiative’s K12 team as the Director of Education Partnerships, responsible for strengthening education and support systems for neighborhood scholars and their families attending Bailey Gatzert Elementary, Washington Middle, and Garfield High. During her time at Seattle U, Colina has worked with families in programmatic and advocacy capacities, served as Staff Representative on the Board of Trustees Mission, Inclusion and Culture Committee, served on the Leadership Team spearheading the strategic planning process at the Center for Community Engagement, and engaged regularly with school administration, community partners, the City of Seattle and Seattle Public Schools on efforts related to the Seattle Public Schools strategic plan.

With more than 15 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, Colina has a demonstrated history serving as an advocate of educational equity for ALL students and families, working directly with students, families, and school administration to promote strategies that stimulate inclusive environments and practices linked to student achievement. Colina has served in a range of roles at various organizations, such as the College Success Foundation, Bike Works, The Seward Park Audubon Center, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Club, and The Union Gospel Mission. Colina is a Seattle native, and a double alum of Seattle University, most recently earning her Masters in Nonprofit Leadership. A few of Colina’s passions include being a mommy to two amazing kiddos, running a small business specializing in handcrafted wood wick candles, eating, traveling, music, and spending time with family.

Jessica Crawford is the Director, Global Technical Team and is responsible for VillageReach’s immunization program portfolio. As such, she has developed and led health innovations focused on strengthening immunization supply chains in Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi.

In her role, she manages partnerships with global institutions and funders, governments and other civil society organizations. She sits on People that Deliver’s board and currently serves on Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance’s Immunization Supply Chain Steering Committee (iSC2), where she co-leads creation of Gavi’s next immunization supply chain strategy. She also oversees VillageReach’s work improving data availability and use, promoting equitable health product access through supply chain design, and creating system design tools and resources. More recently, she joined the COVAX Country Readiness and Delivery – supply and logistics working group.

Between the years of 2013 to 2015, she built and led VillageReach’s country office in Malawi, where she provided programmatic expertise in supply chain strengthening, human resources for health, digital health, and community health and development. Also in Malawi, she led VillageReach’s Health Center By Phone program, a first of its kind national health hotline providing direct, toll-free, patient access to health workers leveraging telemedicine and call center technology to national scale.

Jessica has more than 15 years of experience in the design, implementation, and evaluation of health system programs across multiple countries including Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mozambique. She holds a Master of Public Health and a Master of Arts in Policy Studies from the University of Washington, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Cell and Molecular Biology and Bachelor of Arts in Sociology.

Anjali Desai is the Director of Strategy at Panorama. In her role, she develops stakeholder engagement and advocacy strategies, provides strategic communications for complex global health projects, and leads a team that focuses on outbreak preparedness. Anjali prioritizes thoughtful collaboration, creative problem solving, and action-oriented approaches when engaging with partners. Her passion for social impact and justice stems from her upbringing in Zambia. Most recently, as a program officer for the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program at the State Department, she developed and executed community engagement strategies with the Affected Populations, Human Rights, and Community Engagement unit. She co-led the development of a $100 million fund focused on key populations and led processes to improve global, regional, and local community engagement across PEPFAR programs, policies, and country plans. Prior to PEPFAR, Anjali supported two initiatives at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research center: one to promote support for biomedical HIV prevention research, and the other focused on research to improve the cancer screening process for breast, colon, and cervical cancer. Anjali holds a Master of Science in Global Health and Development from the University College of London, and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and a Certificate in Project Management from the University of Washington. A passport always by her side, Anjali is a keen traveler and has a goal of experiencing 50 countries by age 50 (she’s currently at 38 countries and counting).

Kathleen A. Doty is an Advisor for Treaties & Agreements at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). She has more than ten years of international law experience and specializes in international security governance. Prior to joining PNNL, Doty served as Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center at the University of Georgia School of Law. There, she taught and conducted research on international law issues ranging from the DPRK sanctions regime to the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. Previously, she practiced treaty law as Assistant Counsel for International Law and Arms Control at the U.S. Department of the Navy, Office of the General Counsel. She has also held staff positions with the American Society of International Law, the California International Law Center, and served as a judicial clerk on the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals. Doty’s leadership positions have included Vice Chair of the Lieber Society on the Law of Armed Conflict, and Chair of the Non-Proliferation, Arms Control, and Disarmament Interest Group of the American Society of International Law. She served as an NGO observer at the U.N. High Level Meeting of the General Assembly on Nuclear Disarmament, the 63d Session on the Commission of the Status of Women, and Guantánamo military commissions proceedings in the case of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. Her writing has appeared in law reviews and online at IntLawGrrls. Doty received her Bachelor of Arts cum laude from Smith College and her Juris Doctor from the University of California-Davis School of Law.

Yvonne Eldridge works within Nike, Inc. Global Marketplace Procurement as Senior Manager, leading global efforts in strategy development, tactical execution, contract structuring and negotiations, and cross-functional collaboration that most closely touches the digital and in-store consumer experience.

Yvonne is a WNS – Denali consulting alumni previously based in Bellevue, WA, prior to joining Nike, and worked as Director of Operations for Self Service Networks software. She holds a BA in Public Relations and brings more than 20 years of experience in operations, business development, program and team development, procurement, and vendor management.

Yvonne finds her balance in triathlon, yoga, and the PNW outdoors, and serves on professional committees for the advancement of culture and community and phenomenal females in the workplace.

Michele Frix is Chief of Staff at Seattle Foundation. She previously worked with the foundation’s key partner on global philanthropy, Seattle International Foundation (SIF). During her seven years with SIF, she launched initiatives and built programs with stakeholders to address poverty and inequality around the globe. She led their grantmaking strategy, overseeing more than $17 million in grants in over 65 countries. Prior to SIF, Michele worked as a Research Analyst for the Technology and Social Change Group at the University of Washington.

Michele is a board member of Splash, an international nonprofit committed to providing clean water for kids across Asia and Africa. She has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington’s Jackson School of International Studies, with a minor in Human Rights. In 2015, Michele was named an American Express NGen Fellow, and a member of the inaugural class of Henry M. Jackson Leadership Fellows. In 2017 she represented Seattle in the Young American Leadership Program at Harvard Business School.

Corrie Frasier – As a Partner & Managing Director, Philanthropic Partnerships, North America, and Head of Seattle Office, Corrie works across Purpose to help funders harness the power of participation for good.

She has spent more 20 years working with philanthropies and other purpose-driven alliances and organizations to help them build partnerships and trust with their partners and the communities they serve, innovate on their public engagement strategies, and bring new programs to life. While her work has cut across a wide range of programmatic areas spanning from global health and development to U.S. education, disability justice, and entrepreneurship, all of it has centered around building more transparent, inclusive and effective systems for change.

Corrie joined Purpose from Uncommon, the consultancy she founded in 2012. During her tenure there, she advised the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Nations Foundation, Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, The Lemelson Foundation, the Kauffman Foundation, the George Lucas Educational Foundation, Washington Global Health Alliance, the Entrepreneurship Funders Network, and others on new strategies, projects, and programs.

Prior to founding Uncommon, Corrie spent eight years at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She holds a B.A. from the University of Washington.

Beyond her work at Purpose, Corrie is committed to advocating for justice, equity, and inclusion for people with disabilities. She currently serves on the board of Seattle Adaptive sports, where her teen son played wheelchair basketball before winning an athletic scholarship to play intercollegiate ball for Edinboro University .

When not at work, Corrie spends her time binge-listening to podcasts, reading fiction, or walking her favorite path in the woods near her home with her husband.

Alejandra Gonza is Director of Global Rights Advocacy, a Seattle based non-profit dedicated to use international human rights mechanisms. Formerly, she was the Director of the International Human Rights Clinic at the University of Washington’s School of Law, where she now teaches Human Rights Advocacy as an Affiliate Professor of Law. An Argentine lawyer, Gonza served as an attorney at the Inter-American Commission and the Inter-American Court, and has litigated before both institutions. She has published on several topics on human rights, such as freedom of expression, personal liberty, indigenous rights and property rights. She was a visiting scholar at the University of Notre Dame Law School.

Claudia Harner-Jay is the Deputy Director of PATH's Market Dynamics program, with 20 years of experience developing markets and creating and overseeing partnerships with private, public, and international organizations to solve global health and agricultural problems. In her current role, she oversees a portfolio of projects across child health, maternal health, reproductive health, and WASH; designs, develops and implements health technology market access strategies globally; and provides technical guidance and managerial leadership to project teams. Before joining the Market Dynamics program, Claudia led PATH's Innovation Countdown 2030 initiative to identify 30 high-impact innovations that can transform global health by 2030. She also led the commercialization team for the $25 million Safe Water Project to increase access of water treatment and storage products for low income consumers in four countries through innovative public-private partnerships. Two business models were scaled after project completion and have reached over 500,000 consumers. Claudia also led PATH's collaboration with Merck for Mothers to increase access to life-saving maternal health technologies, where the team's recommendations led to Merck's investment in two innovations for reducing maternal mortality. Prior to PATH, Claudia worked at Monsanto Company, where she created the company's strategy to enter the smallholder farmer market in Mexico and obtained funding for startup activities; at the Harvard Center for International Development; at Nike; and at UBS Financial Services Company in Zurich, where she earned her Swiss Banking Diploma. Claudia has presented at Clinton Global Initiative Panels; published numerous papers on market development and product introduction in developing countries; and briefed the leaders of multinational companies, donors, and public sector agencies on promising technology partnerships with PATH. She holds an MBA and an MS in Environmental Policy from the University of Michigan, and a BA in International Affairs from the University of Puget Sound. Claudia is fluent in German and Spanish. She has worked in Switzerland, Mexico, Brazil, India, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Cambodia, Panama, Ecuador, Indonesia and South Africa.

Thao Hong works on financial inclusion for the poor at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Thao previously held positions in commercial aircraft sales, brand marketing, and international strategy at Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Prior to joining the private sector, Thao was a Foreign Service Officer focusing on economic issues in East Asia at the State Department, serving overseas as a Vice Consul in Shanghai and Taipei. Thao briefly served under the Obama administration in her role as the Director of Trade Policy for the United States Trade Representative’s Office. In these positions, Thao helped promote U.S. commercial and economic interests abroad through work with high-level government officials, business leaders and local citizens. She attained her B.B.A. in Finance and a Certificate of International Studies in business at the University of Washington and completed the Advanced Economic Studies Program at the Foreign Service Institute. She is fluent in Chinese, Vietnamese, and has basic knowledge of Japanese and French. A long-time friend of the Council, she participated in Global Classroom programs in high school, interned with the Council in college, and for the past five years has served on the board of trustees. Thao also volunteers her time mentoring Foster Business School students

Katelin Kennedy is a Director on Resonance’s Impact Advisory team working with Fortune 500 company and foundation clients on a range of issues including human trafficking, ICT4D, sustainable agriculture and women’s empowerment. Before joining Resonance, Katelin spent close to a decade in the private sector, working in responsible sourcing at Amazon and managing cross-sector partnerships to increase responsible sourcing, combat human trafficking, reduce youth unemployment and stop food waste with Hilton Hotels. Katelin started her career working on local economic development projects with local NGOs and multilateral donors including USAID, MCC and World Bank in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. Katelin holds an MBA from Georgetown's McDonough School of Business and a BA in International Relations from Appalachian State University.

Vanessa Laughlin left a career in management consulting in early 2018 to focus full time on developing Banister Advisors.  Her 15+ year professional background spans a variety of functional areas, including strategy development, implementation planning, business process improvement, product marketing, technology implementations, organizational design, and change management.

Vanessa holds an MBA with distinction from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington and a BA in Economics from Tufts University. When she's not building spreadsheets to plot out home improvement plans or volunteer activities, she might very well be found in her sewing room working on a creative project or spending time with her husband, two young sons, and beloved chocolate lab.

Professor Jennifer Lenga-Long is the Associate Director of the Graduate Program in Sustainable International Development at the University of Washington School of Law. She instructs the Legal Problems of Economic Development Seminar and has taught the Development Innovations Lab, Global Health Law, and Legal and Policy Solutions for Improving the Global Health of Women, Children and Adolescents. She has also served as a faculty mentor and content expert for the Strategic Analysis, Research & Training (START) Center in the University of Washington Department of Global Health, which provides research and analytic support to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Through her teaching, she has supported the initiatives of Kenyan judges engaging the informal justice sector to increase access to justice, partnered with NGOs working on behalf of communities impacted by large-scale development projects, and conducted research on issues related to human trafficking.

Professor Lenga-Long has experience as a commercial litigator with Davis Wright Tremaine LLP in Seattle, where she served on the Pro Bono Committee and the New Associates Committee. Her practice included media defense, representation of nonprofit organizations in litigation matters, appellate work, and pro bono representation of asylees and survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking.

Professor Lenga-Long has worked with the Human Rights Clinic and Education Centre, a grassroots human rights organization in Cameroon.  She clerked for the Hon. Robert Beezer of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and is a graduate of the University of California Berkeley School of Law and Miami University. She has served as Vice President of the Advisory Board to the Washington Medical-Legal Partnership and Co-Chair of the King County Bar Association's Pro Bono Committee and is an alumna of Leadership Tomorrow.

Leslie Llado is a program management professional with 10+ years of experience leading strategic initiatives in Africa, Asia, Central America, and the United States for corporate, non-profit, and government organizations. She joined Splash in October 2017 and currently serves as the Director for Infrastructure and Product Development, in charge of overseeing Splash’s global water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure standards and supply chain and leading Splash’s social enterprise to sell best-in-class handwashing stations. She has eight years of experience working on sustainable water resource initiatives, with the last five focused on projects in rural Ethiopia with A Glimmer of Hope Foundation. Leslie is a trained hydrogeologist and environmental scientist who is passionate about working with local stakeholders to solve complex problems. Outside of the office, you can find her digging in her community garden, listening to live music, or exploring the PNW outdoors.

Jennifer Malloy began her work with refugees in Vietnam in 1992 where she taught English to those designated for U.S. and Canadian resettlement. She has worked with refugees and immigrants in Washington State since 1995, where her focus has been on refugee resettlement and English language instruction. She has worked for a variety of agencies including the former Catholic resettlement agency, International Rescue Committee and Literacy Source. She now works as the Administrator for the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance (ORIA), which is the state agency tasked with the distribution of federal Office of Refugee Resettlement dollars. ORIA has fourteen programs providing an array of services to refugees from employment & training to naturalization.

Rebecca Mann, deputy director, Financial Services for the Poor (FSP), leads on strategy, financial planning, and operations.Rebecca joined the foundation in 2012. In her previous role, she led the research initiative in the FSP team, focused on the optimal design and regulation of a wide range of fintech products and payment services which can be offered digitally and used at low cost. Previously, she was an attorney in the public law and financial services regulation group at Herbert Smith Freehills in London, UK. Rebecca graduated from the University of Sydney with bachelor degrees in Economics and Law. She also holds a master of public administration from the London School of Economics and Political Science and is studying for a Ph.D. in political science at the University of Oxford, writing about the political economy of technology reform and public service delivery in developing countries.

Maria May, senior program officer, leads the Gates Foundation’s efforts to accelerate impactful usage of digital financial services by unbanked and low-income people globally. She spent seven years with BRAC in Bangladesh, where she co-authored a book on its community-based tuberculosis control program, established the Social Innovation Lab, and led the R&D team for the microfinance program. She oversaw the launch of BRAC’s innovation fund for mobile money, which incubated pilots on digitizing school fees, emergency cash transfers, savings deposits, and other development activities.

Maria was a founding member of Harvard’s Global Health Delivery Program, where she wrote a number of case studies and research articles. She also consulted for the Brookings Institution, the Bridgespan Group, Harvard South Asia Institute, and Teach for All, and completed a fellowship with the New York State Health Department’s AIDS Institute. Her writing on financial inclusion, social innovation, and development has been published in outlets including the Lancet, the Guardian, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and the Center for Financial Inclusion.

She is originally from North Carolina and studied Sociology and Health Policy at Harvard.

Jacqueline Miller is president and CEO of the World Affairs Council of Seattle. She held senior positions in policy organizations and non-profits on the east coast before moving to the Pacific Northwest. She serves on the Mayor’s International Affairs Advisory Board; is a member of the Civic Council for UW’s Master of Arts in Applied International Studies (MAAIS) program; and serves on the Washington State Advisory Committee for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. She is chair of the board of Global Ties U.S and is a member of the Board of Advisors of the George H.W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations. She is also a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Prior to joining the World Affairs Council, Jacqueline served as Director of External Relations at Independent Diplomat in New York, working with marginalized democratic political actors to help them navigate the United Nations, the EU, and other international diplomatic fora. Previously, she was a Senior Associate at the EastWest Institute in New York, where she created and led the U.S. program. At EWI, she focused on national security policy, the U.S.-Russia and U.S.-China relationships, as well as nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation issues. She was deputy director of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Washington (DC) programs, where she oversaw CFR’s DC meetings program as well as outreach on Capitol Hill and the diplomatic community. Prior to that, she was deputy director of the Russia and Eurasia program at CSIS. She has also taught at The George Washington University, where she undertook graduate work after earning undergraduate and graduate degrees from Cornell University.

Roshni Naidu is currently director of technical product management at Bluecrew.  Previously, she used to work as a Manager of Product Management at Amazon in the central Machine Learning team.  In her free time, she runs a free PM interviewing guide series and does stand-up comedy.  She one day hopes to meet the Rock or Tina Fey!

Leslie O'Brien is the Senior Director of National Accounts and Client Experience at 98point6, an on-demand text-based primary care provider and behavioral health specialists. Her work helps reduce costs of healthcare while increasing accessibility to primary care physicians and behavioral health specialist. She oversees a team of inside sales managers focused on providing a superior client experience for retention. Leslie and her entire team renewed 100% of their business for 2020! Leslie also serves on the Board for Summit Assistance Dogs. In her free time, she sings with the Seattle Choral Company and enjoys traveling and outdoor activities with her husband and their two children.

Mary O’Reilly is Chief of Staff at Panorama Global, an action tank dedicated to solving the world’s most intractable problems. Mary works closely with Panorama’s CEO Gabrielle Fitzgerald and senior leadership team to further the organization’s goals.

Prior to joining Panorama, Mary worked as Project Director at Not Impossible Labs, a social impact innovation lab dedicated to ""changing the world through technology and story."" She has international experience working in East Africa and Europe, developing and implementing complex initiatives that span global development, health, refugee education, youth development, and technology.

She holds a dual master’s degree in Global Media and Communications from the London School of Economics and Political Science and USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Her postgraduate research focused on the communicative power of storytelling and photography to catalyze change.

She currently serves on the board of Youth in Focus, a Seattle non-profit dedicated to empowering young people through photography and providing arts education to those who might not otherwise have access to it. Mary is native of California and spent much of her childhood living in France. She is a triple citizen of the U.S., Ireland, and the U.K., and is fluent in French.

Pamela J. Oakes, Managing Director of The Profitable Nonprofit, has remained at the forefront of driving racial equity solutions across the globe. She consulted with the top 100 corporations in South Africa during the post-apartheid Racial Reconciliation period, conducting training workshops for government, corporate, community, and faith-based organizations in the areas of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Gender Equity, Employment Equity, Affirmative Action, Organizational Transformation, and Change Management. Currently a Nonprofit Fund Development expert with a passion for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA), Pamela is a certified state trainer for the Washington Nonprofit Association, the Nonprofit Association of Oregon and well as a certified specialist for 501 Commons. She has conducted nonprofit training workshops for Social Venture Partners, Global Washington and delivered presentations at the 2018 and 2019 Washington Nonprofit Association annual conferences. Pamela worked for nearly a decade with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As a grant maker managing a multi-million dollar portfolio, her team worked to create a more equitable system of promoting social mobility and economic development for low-income, underrepresented, student populations of color. She remains a champion for empowering women and girls in developing nations and is on a personal mission to increase the distribution of philanthropic resources earmarked for under-resourced, under-represented, marginalized communities by building capacity in BIPOC-led nonprofits, charities and social impact enterprises Pamela attended the University of Washington where she majored in Political Science. A native of Seattle, Pamela enjoys travelling the globe, experiencing new cultures and collecting African-American art.

Alinne B. Oliveira joined Bryant Christie Inc. in November 2017 as a Trade Policy Specialist. As part of the Global Access team, she works to open foreign markets for U.S. agricultural commodities, monitors trade policy issues, and supports BCI’s MRL monitoring systems. Prior to joining BCI, Alinne served as Head of the International Relations department for the Brazilian Confederation of
Agriculture and Livestock (CNA), an organization that represents over two million farmers in Brazil. At CNA, she was responsible for advising the president on international and trade policy matters, developing advocacy strategies, and leading the work of seven international specialists as well as offices in Brussels and Beijing. She also worked as International Negotiations Specialist for the Brazilian National Confederation of Industry (CNI), and for the Brazil Industries Coalition, in Washington D.C., as a registered lobbyist representing the Brazilian private sector interests in the United States. She has experience volunteering and working in multiple countries. Alinne is a Project Management Professional (PMP), earned a Master’s in Latin American Studies from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, an executive certificate in Mastering Trade Policy from Harvard University, and a Bachelor’s in Political Science from the University of Central Florida.

Julie Pham, PhD is CEO, CuriosityBased, a consulting practice that helps build connection, collaboration, and inclusion through fostering curiosity in the workplace. She headed community engagement at Washington Technology Industry Association from 2014-2020. She has also worked in marketing at Microsoft and Avidian Technologies. She got her “real life MBA” by running her family’s Vietnamese-language newspaper, Northwest Vietnamese News, during the 2008 recession. Before turning to business, Dr. Pham lectured at UC Berkeley and Vietnam National University-Hanoi and was the first managing editor at Journal of Vietnamese Studies. Dr. Pham serves as the Vice Chair of the Leadership Tomorrow Curriculum Committee and as the co-chair of the Community Involvement Commission (City of Seattle). She has served on the boards of Impact Hub, Social Venture Partners, MLK Business Association, and National Association of Asian American Professionals. She was honored as the winner of 2019 Female Founders Alliance Champion Awards in the Advocate category, a member of the 2018 Harvard Business School's Young American Leaders Program, a 2015 German Marshall Memorial Fellow, and a 2011 Puget Sound Business Journal ’40 under 40’ honoree. She earned her PhD in history at Cambridge University as a Gates Cambridge Scholar and graduated magna cum laude from UC Berkeley, where she studied history. She blogs for the South Seattle Emerald.

Tamara Power-Drutis is the director of research and strategy at The Vida Agency, a boutique woman and minority owned creative agency that helps public agencies and businesses have human conversations with our community. She leads qualitative and quantitative research initiatives to inform communications, strategic change, infrastructure development, and campaigns. Tamara is the writer and co-creator of the Growing Old Project, an audio series exploring Seattle's urban forest and the humans that live within it. Active in our Northwest community, Tamara has served as a commissioner for Earth Day Northwest 2020 and on the Leadership Council of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation and World Affairs Council board. She is a product of Washington State, a graduate of Tacoma’s Pacific Lutheran University, and a proud card-carrying member of the U.S. National Parks.

Kirby Pratt is a marketing professional with over 10 years of experience, primarily in hospitality and retail organizations. She joined Han Santos as Marketing Director in the summer of 2020. Kirby manages all marketing functions for the firm including internal and external communications, social media, and events.

Upon graduating, Kirby joined Holland America Line and spent four years shipboard in Entertainment and Events. After leaving Holland she went to Nordstrom where she worked within the Customer Experience team. Her three years at Nordstrom culminated as Customer Relationship manager, where she managed the growth of key client relationships and facilitated sales trainings.

More recently, Kirby was the Senior Marketing Program Manager for Restaurants Unlimited (presently Landry's Inc.) where she implemented the organization’s project management framework and lead campaign ideation, strategy, and execution. When the company was acquired in 2019, she continued to manage all marketing efforts as part of the transition team.

Kirby is a skilled problem solver and executes her work with enthusiasm and creativity. Her efforts support both our clients’ marketing initiatives and internal needs throughout the firm. For that reason, her background in service and relationship management from highly regarded organizations, including Disney, in addition to her event management experience makes her an integral part of the Han Santos Business Operations team."

Adrienne Quinn is a Distinguished Practitioner at the Evans School and teaches Executive Leadership, Managing People in Nonprofit and Public Agencies and Homelessness and Social Justice. Most recently, Adrienne was Director of King County Department of Community and Human Services where she managed a staff of nearly 500 and a biennial budget of $1.5 billion. Under Adrienne’s leadership, King County adopted and implemented the voter approved Best Starts for Kids, implemented performance based contracting and visual management systems, and integrated the Medicaid mental health system with the substance use disorder system. Her previous professional experience includes serving as Executive Director of the Medina Foundation, Vice President of Public Policy and Government Relations for Enterprise Community Partners and Director of Seattle’s Office of Housing. Her professional affiliations and community service have included Locals Executive Committee for the American Public Human Service Association, Planning Commissioner for the Seattle Planning Commission, Housing Development Consortium Board, and Board President for Plymouth Housing Group. Adrienne holds a Juris Doctor degree from Seattle University, a Master of Divinity from Harvard University and a B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross.

Alison Davis Riddell is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at balena, a technology startup enabling developers to build and deploy IoT applications. She previously held roles in product, marketing, business, and strategy at the company and has helped it scale to a nearly 100 person team with millions of dollars in revenue and hundreds of thousands of IoT devices managed on the platform. Prior to balena, Alison was the Chief of Staff to the CEO and Founder at Impossible Foods, a Bay Area startup transforming the global food system by creating plant-based meat and dairy products, where she led special projects including development of the initial go-to-market strategy. Before transitioning to operating roles in fast-growing companies, Alison started her career in the investment world as an Analyst at the University of Washington Endowment, a $5b+ fund investing across global markets and asset classes.

Annette Russell is the Han Santos Chief Finance and Operations Officer. She is one of the founding members of the firm and manages all members of the Business Operations team.

Annette’s career began in public accounting with Deloitte & Touche. There she supplied audit and assurance services for clients, including the Boeing company, Hotel Monaco (Kimpton Hotel Group) Brown and Cole, and Jorgensen Forge.

After leaving Deloitte, she gained extensive experience in corporate accounting, SEC reporting, and financial planning for Fortune 500 publicly traded companies, such as Nordstrom, Inc., and Discovery Communications. At Nordstrom, Annette was a key member of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) implementation and Oracle implementation.

Annette’s blend of strong interpersonal communication, passion for customer service and diverse accounting experience make her an essential member of the firm. With over 20 years of professional finance and accounting experience, Annette is not just a seasoned accounting professional but is an established organizational leader."

For 16 years Kirstin Sandaas served in a variety of finance and accounting functions at Saltchuk Resources and its operating subsidiaries, including Sea Coast Towing. Most recently, Kirstin was the CFO for Foss Maritime, a global marine services business that was formed in Tacoma in 1889. During her tenure, Foss nearly doubled its revenue and transitioned from a West Coast-focused organization to a global marine services business.  In addition to overseeing the finance and supply chain evolution, she implemented a major ERP system and led changes to standardize business practices and increase efficiency. Prior to joining the Saltchuk organization, Kirstin worked at Optiva Corporation, makers of the Sonicare toothbrush, and with public accounting firms Ernst & Young LLP, Clark Nuber P.S. and Arthur Andersen & Co. Sandaas holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in accounting from the University of Washington.

Kirstin has been working at Seattle Foundation since 2017.

Jennifer Spatz is the Founder and CEO of Global Family Travels, a Bellevue-based company whose mission is to “Learn, Serve and Immerse,” and which offers educational and immersive travel experiences, both globally and locally, to build cultural bridges and to foster global citizens. She is also Co-Founder and Chapter Lead of Impact Travel Alliance for Greater Seattle, an organization which provides education, advocacy, and community-building around sustainable tourism.

Prior to founding Global Family Travels, Jennifer spent her career in international development, trade, and finance, including roles at Weyerhaeuser Company as an Export Credit Manager, and International Trade Economist for USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. She holds a double B.A. in International Studies and Anthropology from Bates College, and a M.S. in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University. Jennifer lives with her husband and two children in Bellevue.

Amy Stillion has a passion for creating collaborative partnerships that positively impact people and communities. As the Chief of Staff at Mojang Studios, the creators of Minecraft, Amy focuses on the operational rhythm of the franchise, builds diversity and inclusion and team health initiatives, and develops leadership communications and company narratives. She is both personally and professionally committed to improving the human experience and creating inclusive and nurturing environments where everyone can feel safe and secure and supported in doing their best work.

Before joining Microsoft and Mojang Studios, Amy worked across the non-profit space building programs and partnerships aimed at improving human experiences and health outcomes. She has advised corporate partners on their strategic planning processes related to social responsibility and worked with individual philanthropists to focus their giving in ways that achieve the highest impact outcomes. In 2019, she co-chaired The Walt Disney Company’s Hospital and Wishes Advisory Committee to establish the focus of Disney’s five-year, $100M commitment to improving the pediatric experience and she served as an advisor to the CHARIOT program at Stanford Children’s Health. Currently, Amy is a member of the Board of Directors for the Seattle Universal Math Museum, a local organization focused on making math accessible and fun for all.

Bettina Stix, Director, Right Now Needs and Disaster Relief, Amazon in the Community Bettina Stix joined Amazon in 1999. Her career at Amazon started as a books editor. She led international website teams for both Germany and France, was responsible for Global Policy in Customer Service and the expansion and benefits program for Amazon Prime. In 2017, she started Disaster Relief as part of Amazon’s newly formed Amazon in the Community team. In her role, Bettina oversees Amazon’s philanthropic programs for Disaster Relief by Amazon as well as Right Now Needs which seeks to eliminate the impossible choices between food and rent, healthcare or school supplies for families and children in need. Her desire is to leverage Amazons products, logistics and ingenuity to make a difference for our communities around the world. Bettina is a board member of Farestart, a local Seattle non-profit, that transforms homeless, hunger and poverty into human potential. She has a PhD in Comparative Literature and an MA in History from the University of Stuttgart.

Kate Thorson is an Engagement Manager at Camber Collective, a strategy advisory firm focused on health and social impact. She works with nonprofit and foundation clients to guide strategy development, operational and program design, and investment planning. Prior to Camber, she worked in program management for Partners In Health, a global health and social justice nonprofit organization, where she worked to bring innovative community-based healthcare and social programs to underserved rural communities in Rwanda. Kate earned a Bachelor of Science from University of Wisconsin and an MBA from the Foster School of Business at University of Washington, where she was also a START Global Innovation Fellow and a Leadership Fellow at the Center for Leadership and Strategic Thinking. Kate serves on the Board of Directors at Health Alliance International.

Brenda Tyler (she/her) is a former Peace Corps volunteer with over 10 combined years of experience in the fields of fundraising and international development. With a Masters of Science in Peace Operations (mediation, negotiation, and conflict resolution focused degree), Brenda has researched and written for the International Peace and Security Institute, been a grant writer for international nonprofits and local Universities, conducted trainings and presentations on effective donor communication and stewardship, and is a former bakery owner and trained barista. Currently the Manager of Donor Stewardship at Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands (PPGNHI) and Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky (PPINK), Brenda builds out robust stewardship programs to retain, engage, and educate Planned Parenthood supporters. She encourages you to ask her anything.

Julianne Donnelly Tzul has been the Executive Director of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Boise since 2011. She holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. from Oberlin College. Tzul grew up in Pocatello, Idaho and has provided services to immigrants and refugees in Boise, Los Angeles, San Antonio and Washington, D.C. Before joining IRC, she directed a program to defend children and adults in immigration detention with the Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project of Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc. Through her work with the IRC, Tzul has substantially increased low-cost immigration services available in the Treasure Valley, organized emergency responses for refugees and other community members who lost housing due to mass evictions or fire, improved the quality of IRC refugee services and increased the number and depth of relationships between refugees and Idahoans.

Maria Valencia has a background in recruiting. She holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration – human resource management from Central Washington University. Prior to joining Seattle Foundation she served as the HR Recruiter at Associated Recreation Council. She is passionate about learning and helping create the best HR practices. During her free time she enjoys taking her pup Lucky out on hikes, watching movies inspired by true events, spending time with family and friends and eating lots of food.

Cara Kadoshima Vallier brings a broad range of varied experience in the public and private sectors to her work in Councilmember Pedersen's office. She previously worked in government at the Seattle City Attorney's Office as a paralegal in the Torts and Environmental Protection sections and has focused on regulatory compliance, cost-recovery actions, city ordinances, state and local permits and planning, and public records requests.

A proud graduate of Franklin High School, Cara grew up in Seattle, earned her BA from the University of Washington and a MPP (Masters in Public Policy) from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Aside from her time in private, public, and non-profit organizations, Cara has participated in several statewide and local political campaigns, and has enjoyed working in public affairs, development, and advocacy. She was appointed by the Mayor of Los Angeles to serve on the Committee to Apply the Convention to End Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and served on the boards of the California League of Conservation Voters and the Little Tokyo Service Center, an organization committed to improving the lives of underserved individuals and families and promoting the equitable development of ethnic communities and their rich cultural heritage.

For Councilmember Pedersen's team, Cara focuses on issues related to Homelessness, Human Services, Affordable Housing, Economic Development (including the major civic projects such as the downtown waterfront), Libraries, Education, Technology, and Public Health."

Sarah Whittemore is a Senior Program Officer on the Philanthropic Partnerships team (PPT) at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, whose mission is to encourage and enable more intentional giving by all. Sarah leads the learning program for a signature program of PPT, the Giving Pledge (www.givingpledge.org), which is a public commitment by the world’s wealthiest individuals and couples to give the majority of their wealth to charitable causes. More than 200 individuals/families have taken the Giving Pledge from over 20 countries. In her role, Sarah manages a number of events throughout the year for the Giving Pledge community to build relationships, to share with and learn from one another to improve effectiveness of giving, and to exchange ideas about philanthropy. Prior to her current role, Sarah managed the Program Liaison team in the Executive Office. In that role, Sarah worked on the planning and logistics of public activities such as trips, speeches and events for the foundation’s Co-Chairs and CEO. Previously, Sarah was an Associate Program Officer on the US Program Advocacy and Policy team where she provided grantmaking and project support to the team. Before joining the Gates Foundation, Sarah was a Program Evaluation Associate at EdVestors in Boston, MA. She earned her B.A. in Education Studies from Trinity College and her M.Ed. in International Educational Development from Boston University.

As a partner with Ampersand Community, Nancy Woodland, fuels nonprofit transformation and excellence through trusting relationships and anti-racist diligence.  After 13 years as Executive Director of WestSide Baby, a nonprofit providing diapers, clothing car seats and other basic needs items to more than 300,000 children and grew the staff from 2 to 25, Nancy stepped away in 2019.  She learned to lead and manage alongside incredible staff, board members, supporters and volunteers.  Most of those individuals are white people while that has shifted considerably since 2017. The children and families receiving WSB’s items are mostly Black and brown. Representation to those impacted by a nonprofit’s activities matters.

At Ampersand Community, she partners with nonprofits working towards a definition of excellence that connects traditional focus areas such as board governance and recruitment and retention strategies to mission impact in accountability to those affected.  This includes engaging Black and brown community members to share the solutions they already have forthe many challenges nonprofits are tackling.

Nancy is a wife, mom to two almost-adults, sister, aunt and friend.  She’s a learner, lawyer and collaborator.  She propelled a non-profit forward by making mistakes in public, bringing in expertise and outside voices.  She took risks, with support. Shewasn’t afraid to “do things differently”, speak at large events or throw on rubber boots if the toilets backed up.  All in an ED’s day.  

Nancy has a BA from Michigan State University and a JD from Loyola University in Chicago.   She litigated child abuse, neglect and foster/childcare licensing cases for four years as an Assistant Attorney General She proudly serves as a board member for the National Diaper Bank Network, King County Children and Youth Advisory Board and Verity Credit Union.

Jamie M. Zimmerman leads the foundation’s work to increase low-income women’s economic empowerment through access to and usage of digital financial services. Prior to this appointment, Jamie led the team’s efforts to drive global scale of digital financial inclusion by cultivating partnerships which accelerate and maximize collective impact. Jamie joined the foundation in 2017 after several years as an independent global advisor to several partners, including the World Bank, CGAP, IFC, USAID, UNCDF, BFA Global, World Food Program and the International Rescue Committee. From 2006 to 2013, she directed the Global Assets Program at New America, a Washington DC based think tank, and was previously deputy director of Globalization Studies at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, where she authored, with Dr. Susan Aaronson, Trade Imbalance: The Struggle to Weigh Human Rights Concerns in Trade Policymaking. Jamie holds a B.A. in Foreign Languages and International Economics, and a Master's in International Political Economic and Development, both from the University of Kentucky.

We are finalizing the list of mentors so make sure to check back in the upcoming week. Once registered, we will follow up with a form to collect your mentor preferences. We look forward to seeing you soon!

The link and instructions on how to join will be sent to registrants in advance of the event. Please be sure to provide a valid email address with your registration.

This event is sponsored by Tiller Global and Joe Coffee