Meet The Peers

Shada Al-Nasser is Board Chair at Eat Happy Now, where she brings her leadership in product management and passion for social impact to drive community-based solutions to hunger. A former Principal Product Manager at Microsoft, she has led global initiatives and now channels that experience into civic and nonprofit work. She co-chairs the Policy Prioritization...

Melike Alpay was born in Berlin, Germany, and grew up in Istanbul, Turkey. She has an undergraduate degree from Istanbul University School of Law, holds a J.D. from Seattle University Law School, and completed her Master’s for an LL.M. degree at the University of London. Melike has almost 20 years of professional experience across Europe,...

Emily has lived in Colorado, Mexico and California before calling Seattle home since 2011. After serving many years as a Director of Scientific and Grant Strategy for a life science company, Emily transitioned to working as a consultant in the life sciences industry, guiding the development of multidisciplinary medical technologies ranging from smart monitoring devices...

Ahisha Avant has a diverse background and a passion for making a difference. Originally from the Southeastern United States, she has lived in various corners of the world, including California, Maryland, Japan, and Germany. It was in Monterey, California, during her service in the Air Force, where she met her husband and they’ve been happily...

Erin Azose was born and raised in the Seattle area. Erin currently lives on Mercer Island with her husband & two girls, Emily and Rachel. She attended the Art Institute of Seattle where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design. While at the Art Institute she was on the Dean’s List as...

Born in New York, Jeanne Ballot grew up in Barrington, IL, a Chicago suburb, moved to Seattle in 2005 and to Mercer Island in 2010. Jeanne is married to Kevin Millison and is the proud stepmother of two college students, mom of two middle schoolers, and pseudo-mom for one dog, two cats and, over the...

Meghan Banta grew up in the PNW, returning in 2011 to raise her children on Mercer Island. Professionally, she spent 15 years in healthcare improvement work, leaving her role overseeing supply chain at Swedish Health System in 2023 after the Covid pandemic. She spent years in finance and data analytics, driving patient outcome improvement work...

Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Anna is grateful to still call it home alongside her extended family. She spent the past 25+ years in marketing and customer-focused roles, including 13 years at Microsoft, where she focused on improving customers’ support experiences. Life outside of work is just as important to Anna—she loves gardening,...

Catherine Booms, M.D. grew up in Minneapolis, MN and has loved living in Seattle since 2007. She works part-time as a hospitalist physician at EvergreenHealth and full-time as a mother to two young boys. After graduating from Cornell University, Catherine worked in health care quality for seven years before attending the University of Minnesota Medical...

Aly is originally from Portola Valley, CA and grew up in New Canaan, CT. As an adult, she has lived in New York City, Washington DC and moved to the Seattle area in 2008. She currently lives in Mercer Island, WA with her husband and four children. She graduated from Dartmouth College with a BA in Psychology and...

Margaret grew up on Mercer Island and graduated from University of Washington.  She met her husband, Boris, in college at 19 years old and has been married for 27 years.  Together, they have 4 kids: Sam, Gracie, Neiso and Joshua.  Margaret has her Masters in Education and Psychology.   Margaret worked with families and adolescents...

Kristy Charles is a proud Ohio native and a graduate of The Ohio State University. She relocated to the Seattle area 27 years ago and loves calling The Pacific Northwest her home. After spending a decade in sales, Kristy chose to stay at home to raise her three children. During this time, she has contributed...

Although she grew up an Army brat, Jana spent the majority of her childhood in Alexandria, Virginia where she met her future husband in middle school. She graduated from James Madison University in 2000 with a BS in Speech Pathology and Audiology and moved to Seattle following graduation. She received her Doctorate in Physical Therapy...

Kelly is a native of Rockford, Illinois (home of Cheap Trick!) and graduated from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Shortly thereafter she moved to Portland, OR and then on to Seattle, WA. She worked as an Art Director in the graphic design field for over 10 years before having children....

Julita Liauw Eleveld was born and raised in northern New Jersey, but other than a two-year stint in investment banking in New York City, 6 months backpacking around the world, and a year as a Fulbright Scholar in Singapore, she has lived on the West Coast for 30+ years. She worked in brand and product...

Christina Fitzpatrick is a Northwest native and attended the University of Puget Sound where she received a degree in Communication. After exploring public relations and marketing roles, she found her passion in college recruitment and worked for global professional services firm, PwC, for 24 years.  There, she held various local and national titles overseeing the...

Jennifer Flood is originally from the California Bay Area and has lived in the Seattle area with her family of five for the past decade. After graduating UCLA as a Political Science and Psychology double major, Jennifer joined Teach For America and served as a bilingual teacher in a low-income school district in California. It...

Linda Floyd grew up in Victoria, B.C. and currently lives in Seattle. She graduated with a BA from York University in Toronto and traveled the world extensively in her 20s before settling in Dubai where she worked as a television and radio announcer for Dubai television and an associate producer for Star TV. When she...

Cassie was born and raised in The Woodlands, Texas, outside of Houston.  After attending the University of Texas at Austin and majoring in Mathematics she returned to Houston to start her career in the energy transportation business, where she has worked over the last 20 years (currently in the Natural Gas group at Vitol).  Cassie,...

Kimberly Miyazawa Frank, J.D. leads a global organizational development strategy consultancy, kimberlyfrank.com. Her 30+ years of experience across sectors and industries have centered on driving transformational change by addressing policy and redesigning systems. In the community, Kimberly serves on the national board of Gift of Adoption, as the board president of SeaVuria – Seattle, the...

Milah Frownfelter, M.D. has lived in the Northwest for over 30 years, in that time developing a deep appreciation for its cultural diversity, outdoor lifestyle, natural beauty and forward-thinking values. She attended Seattle Public Schools, graduating from Garfield High School, then the University of Washington for both her undergraduate and medical degrees, completing an internal...

Jessica was born in Bolivia and grew up in the Seattle area, graduating from Shorewood High School and the University of Washington where she received a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering. After college and a few eye-opening internships, she ran towards the tech industry and spent eleven years at Microsoft working in Denver, Sydney, and London...

Angela Garinger grew up in Dallas, Texas and has called Seattle home for the past three years. She is a dynamic sales leader, pipeline architect, and culture-driven Vice President of Sales at Outreach. With a deep expertise in lead generation and a passion for redefining pipeline creation, she has elevated Outreach’s Sales organization to be...

Corrinalyn Guyette is the Vice President of Strategic Growth & Partnerships at Innovega Inc., a MedTech company developing advanced vision technology designed to transform how people with visual impairment experience the world. In her role, she focuses on strategic partnerships, market development, and helping accelerate the company’s path to commercialization. Corrinalyn brings over 15 years...

Pam Hinnen moved around a lot as a Navy pilots’ daughter but has strong roots in Portland, Maine. After a decade in restaurant management on both coasts, Pam received her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the George Washington University. Following graduation, she practiced PT and taught Pilates in DC until she and her husband and...

Julie Hsieh, M.D. is an entrepreneur, arts leader, and civic official with a strong track record in building mission-driven organizations. She is the Founder of the Yuan Ru Art Center, a Bellevue-based art gallery and cultural enterprise that supports artists, curates exhibitions, and hosts educational and community programming that contribute to the region’s creative economy....

Mwa Hungwe was born in Zimbabwe as part of a loving close knit family. She migrated to the United States in her late teens and has since called it home. She and her family recently moved to Washington State and settled in Mercer Island. Mwa has supported the Department of Defense as a Business Intelligence Engineer...

Michele grew up in the Bay Area and Texas, and has called the pacific northwest home since 2007. She moved to Mercer Island in 2013 with her husband and two children.  Michele is a Senior Vice President at Visa Inc. where she frequently commutes to San Francisco and travels globally.  Over the past 15 years at...

Kimberly Kamolz grew up in Minnesota. She holds a B.S. in agricultural education from the University of Minnesota and a M.A. in Organizational Communications from Washington State University. Kim has extensive experience as a program, product, and project leader across industries including technology, retail, insurance, and telecommunications. She is now a professional coach with a...

Elizabeth Kaplan, M.D. grew up on Mercer Island, WA. After graduating from Stanford University with a B.A. in Human Biology, she worked with midwives in Kentucky and at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Breast Care Center before deciding to pursue a career in medicine. She went to medical school and did an internal...

Adrianne was raised in Berkeley, California, to which she gives credit for shaping her into a curious, broad-minded, and pretty much not surprised by anything adult. Adrianne attended the University of Washington and holds both a Bachelors in Psychology and a Masters in Educational Psychology. During her senior year of college, she gained a new...

Helen Kelly moved to Mercer Island in 2012 from the San Francisco Bay Area. She was born in Boston, MA and has lived in Germany and Switzerland (as a young child), Phoenix, San Diego, Japan, Los Angeles, and various locations in and near San Francisco. She went to undergrad at University of San Diego and received...

Kim Kelly was born and raised in beautiful Washington State and has lived in Seattle since 1987. After graduating from the University of Washington in Communications, she worked in Seattle advertising and marketing firms, focused on film and video. She still has a passion for film and volunteers for local film festivals when her schedule...

Floret lives in Sammamish and is a proud mother to 3 teens.  She was born and raised in Zimbabwe by parents who instilled the importance of community, kindness, and empathy for others.  She moved to Washington DC for college and earned a Computer Science degree from George Mason University.  After college, Floret worked as a...

Dawn grew up in Connecticut but has called Seattle her home for 30 years.  She and her husband Rich have two daughters, Hannah and Niela. Dawn has spent the large majority of her career at Microsoft, where she is the Vice President of People Analytics.  She is a recognized leader in people analytics and AI-driven...

Nova grew up in the Tacoma area and after stints in San Francisco and Boston, she moved back to Seattle in 2008, where she now lives with her husband and two kids. Upon graduating from Santa Clara University with B.A. degrees in Economics and Philosophy, Nova joined U.S. Bank where she spent time in the...

Sarah Korach is a Director of Strategic Planning & Operations and Chief of Staff at Starbucks, where she partners with executives to drive strategic focus and organizational effectiveness. With more than 15 years of experience across brand, marketing, and go‑to‑market leadership, she brings a strong ability to translate strategy into action and build systems that...

Erin Krawiec grew up in Southern California. She moved to Mercer Island in 2015 and was a Seattleite for over 10 years before that. She is currently the CEO of her home and manages the lives of three active kids. Erin has a B.S. degree from UCLA and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management...

Jody moved to Mercer Island in 2011 with her husband, David, and two daughters, Hannah and Audrey, relocating from Washington, DC where she had practiced as a lawyer for 18 years – first as a Department of Justice legal fellow and a law clerk on the DC Court of Appeals and the US Supreme Court, and later in private...

Karin grew up in the beautiful state of Montana. After receiving a bachelor’s degree from The University of Montana with a degree in Business Administration/Marketing and a minor in German, she served as a Small Business Advisor with the U.S. Peace Corps in Kenya. She returned to the U.S. for graduate studies – receiving a...

Hello, I am Nancy LaVallee. I have many interests and plenty of worthy causes to support. I speak English and French and I am learning Spanish and Korean. I lead many groups, most notably Scrabble, Games Theory and Hello France. I play a number of games weekly including American and Chinese Mah Jongg and Chess.  I have a husband...

Cristina Martinez was born and raised in Mexico City and moved to Minnesota after completing her medical degree, later settling in the Pacific Northwest with her family. Her background is in medicine and public health, with work focused on community health, cultural competency, and cross-sector collaboration across healthcare, education, and nonprofit settings. Cristina currently serves...

Klorida was born and raised in Albania, a small, resilient country on the Adriatic known for its deep culture of hospitality and community. She came to the United States to study at Olivet College before earning a Master’s in Computer Science from Purdue University. With over 20 years in the tech industry, Klorida has built...

Born in Vancouver, BC and raised in Seattle, Sarah attended the University of Portland where she holds a B.S. in Social work, with an emphasis in Criminology and Psychology. Sarah’s passion and education led her to a career in a variety of high impact organizations such as the Young Women’s Christian Association, the Center Against...

Katie is a Seattle native, growing up on Vashon Island. She earned her bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education from Western Washington University and later completed a Master’s in Reading and Literacy from Seattle Pacific University. She spent ten years teaching elementary school in the Highline School District before spending the last two decades raising her...

Born and raised in the suburbs of New York City, Michelle left her home state to attend Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia from where she graduated with her BBA. She began her career in Southern California as a consultant with CGE&Y in strategy and business process definition. In 2001, Michelle moved up to Seattle where...

Amy Phillips was born and raised in Alabama and has called Seattle home since 2013. After graduating from the University of Alabama, she spent a decade in medical sales before making a career pivot to the fitness industry. While living in Chicago, Amy discovered her passion for group fitness and went on to open and...

Lesley Poole was raised on Mercer Island and graduated from Duke University. She moved to San Francisco to work in corporate retail for Gap, Inc. Lesley met her husband on a blind date in San Francisco and relocated back to Seattle in 2003. Lesley continued her work in retail at Nordstrom, Paper Source and a...

Barb grew up in Chicago. As an undergraduate she attended the University of Michigan and the University of London and later received her JD from the University of Chicago. She was a partner in an LA law firm and then became SVP and head of litigation for California Federal Bank. In 1995, Barb and her...

Sharmila is a dynamic, accomplished leader and a social entrepreneur, who founded Eat Happy, a Nonprofit organization. Eat Happy’s mission is to tackle food waste and hunger by leveraging innovative technology. Helping those less fortunate has always been her passion, hence being actively involved with non-profits like Upaya, Pratham, and Indian American Community Services, by...

Karla Rimmer is a Washington native, raised in Eastern Washington. She graduated from Johns Hopkins University, and has spent the intervening years in New York, North Carolina and Connecticut, along with two previous stints in Seattle. After a career working as a Clinical Transplant Coordinator and a period working in pharmaceuticals, she is now a...

Annie is a practitioner of body-centered healing through many paths, including Classical Five Element Acupuncture and soulful life coaching with an emphasis on Internal Family Systems.  She has run a thriving acupuncture practice in the Seattle area since 2003, treating all ages and conditions.  She is passionate about Five Element Acupuncture’s ability to bring you...

Hailing from Houston, Texas, Amy Severson moved to Seattle decades ago for a job opportunity. Although she still misses the Southern heat, she has enjoyed making the PNW her home. Amy has a BBA from TCU (Go Frogs!) and is an experienced business leader with over 20 years in the travel industry. After starting her...

Xixi Shakes is a lifelong caretaker who believes deeply in kindness, collective support and the interconnectedness of humanity. Whether she is caring for her family, supporting her community, or giving back through volunteer work and donations, she’s committed to making a positive impact. Originally from Beijing, Xixi holds a BA from Beijing Language Institute and...

Molly grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and has lived in Seattle for almost 20 years. Along with her husband and their three kids, she lives in Madison Park and spends most of her time with her family enjoying a variety of sports and outdoor activities. After earning a B.A. in History from...

Christy currently lives on the south end of Mercer Island with her husband Brian, and two kids.  She moved to the Seattle area in 1992 after living in various locations throughout the country as the daughter of an NFL coach.  After attending University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, she taught Biology at Newport HS in Bellevue for 5...

Lissa Shook is a Seattle native who returned to the Pacific Northwest after exploring other parts of the country and the world. She is currently an Assistant General Counsel at Microsoft, and previously worked at the Office of the Federal Public Defender and Davis Wright Tremaine. A graduate of Duke University and the University of...

I’m Jennifer Sik, and I’m so excited to join the Pitch Your Peers community. While my professional background is in wealth management at Merrill Lynch, I am passionate in local philanthropy, having spent over a decade on the board and grant committees of the Washington Women’s Foundation. I’ve lived on Mercer Island for years and...

Jill was born and raised in Rochester, NY, and studied broadcast journalism and political science at Syracuse University. She spent 10 years in New York City working in the PR industry for brands including Hasbro, Garnier, and Maybelline and magazines including Self, Woman’s Day and Premiere. Having always wanted to live on the West Coast,...

Monica Stephenson chronicles stories of artisan jewelry designers on the award-winning jewelry blog, idazzle.com. In 2015 she launched ANZA Gems, which fuels development in Kenya and Tanzania through fair trade gem purchasing and supporting education in gemstone communities. She is a board member of the Women’s Jewelry Association, Ethical Metalsmiths, and the Uganda Fistula Fund...

Janelle grew up in Yakima, WA, and then attended the University of California at Santa Barbara where she holds three majors. Janelle is now an accomplished professional with a strong track record of building successful revenue organizations within large companies like Amazon and Microsoft and start-up environments at Convoy and Stackline. Currently, she is a...

Waverly Swenson grew up on Mercer Island, and after years living and working around the country she is happy to be raising her family back in her hometown. After graduating from Syracuse University with a B.S. in Marketing she worked in Advertising Account Management at agencies in New York, Seattle and San Francisco on accounts...

Megan was born and raised in Bellevue and has a BA in Marketing from the University of Notre Dame. With over 25 years in the insurance industry, Megan currently works with Truluma, where she has been since 2006, in the disability brokerage arena designing leading-edge income and asset protection solutions for brokers and financial advisors’...

Kim grew up on Mercer Island and graduated from Mercer Island High School.  She attended the The University of  Washington where she was affiliated the Kappa Delta Sorority.  After graduating as a proud Husky, Kim married her husband of 25 years, Troy.  They moved to Florida where he attended dental school and Kim became a...

Mina Velamoor spent 15 years with Microsoft leading global product management teams and building insightful technology solutions for big data needs across product lines. Her expertise with data driven decision management helped steer product development for some of Microsoft’s leading businesses through a combination of creativity and collaborative leadership. Through her time at Microsoft, she...

Dina moved to Seattle from Philadelphia as a young child and now resides on Mercer Island with her husband and 3 children. Before getting married and starting a family she worked in retail with The Gap Inc. which took her to San Diego in store management and then to San Francisco as a Merchandiser for...

Robin Waterman, a Chicagoland native, settled in the PNW in 1998. Mid-way through her undergraduate degree, Robin opted for a summer adventure working at Yellowstone National Park’s Old Faithful Inn. Following summer employment and an eventful national park escapade, she continued her wanderlust, joining new friends on a road trip through Montana and into the...

Marni Wright grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii. She left after high school to attend Connecticut College, then moved to Seattle where she obtained a Masters in Urban Planning and a law degree from the University of Washington. Marni is a partner in the real estate group at Pacifica Law Group, with a practice focused on...

Julie Yee is a Philadelphia native who lived in San Francisco for five years before moving to Seattle in 2000. She has been committed to philanthropic service over the past two decades in a variety of roles including board leadership, nominations, and fundraising with a special interest in nonprofit formation and governance. When she is...

Suzanne Zahr is an architect, general contractor, creative strategist, and community builder whose work bridges design, culture, technology, and social impact. She holds a Master of Architecture from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s degree from George Washington University in Civil Engineering and Fine Arts, an interdisciplinary foundation that informs her approach to design, systems thinking,...