BOARD OF DIRECTORS

I have been an Olympia resident since 1997 and am passionate about engaging in and supporting social justice work that can make a difference in the quality of life for folks “on the ground.” I so appreciate the continuous ability of the Community Sustaining Fund to offer low-barrier seed money to worthy projects in Thurston County. In my work world I am a co-founder of Uncommon Solutions, Inc., a consultant firm based in Olympia, WA since 2007. For five years I was an adjunct professor at Evergreen State College, teaching health policy in the Masters in Public Administration (MPA) program and am currently a visiting clinical professor at Seattle University School of Law. 

I moved to West Olympia in 1984, joined the co-op, raised two boys, got active in the SW Olympia Neighborhood Assn. in the heyday of environmental, anti-war, and racial justice organizing.  For a few years, I was part of a committed group of people bringing out Works in Progress a unique community paper created by volunteers for over 30 years. Coverage of the organizations supported by the Community Sustaining Fund was always a highlight – a chance to learn about the range of incredible grassroots efforts necessary to make Thurston County a healthy place for children and other living things. 

Long ago, I worked for the state (WUTC and Office of the Insurance Commissioner) and for a change of pace spent a few years as Administrator of the SeaMar Community Medical Clinic on the Westside. Eons before that, I was in Washington DC, first at the Institute for Policy Studies and then as Legislative Assistant to Senator James Abourezk (D., SD) and speechwriter for George McGovern(ment) as we called him.

In 1998, I came to study at The Evergreen State College and ended up making my home in Olympia.  After years in Thailand, Chicago, Texas, and Seattle, I found Olympia to be an inspiring place to put down roots.  Our community is lively in the arts, political engagement, environmental and social activism, and is beautiful and relatively peaceful.  My academic background is in physics, computing, and environmental sciences, and I’ve worked and volunteered at various environmental agencies, our local schools, youth arts non-profits, and KAOS Community Radio.  Currently, I serve on the Olympia Food Co-op Board of Directors and am the liaison from the Co-op Board to the CSF Board.

I was born and raised in New Jersey. I am in the middle of my fourth decade living in the Puget Sound region, and 35 years having lived in Olympia. I have been a member of the CSF for over 2 decades, which has been both a humbling and gratifying tenure. I believe quite strongly in the ability of consensus-derived decision making and inherent values of diverse communities on many levels. I enjoy making and playing music, cooking (and eating), swimming, biking, getting dirt under my fingernails and visiting exotic and not-so-exotic land, especially if I do so with Alice, my soul-mate for over forty years. I am retired Science Coordinator for the Governors Salmon Recovery Office (GSRO), and previous to that position, I was the Skokomish Indian Tribe’s Director of Natural Resources, supporting habitat restoration with an emphasis on the complexities of estuarine landscapes. I am a Libra and so I try to achieve balance–but can be thwarted, as this can be a dynamic AND abstract concept– especially when I have the right side of my brain challenging the left. I am an advocate for natural resource protection for federal, state, local, tribal and NGOs with an emphasis on floodplains, wetlands, salmon habitat, and particularly treaty rights. I serve on the boards of the Deschutes Estuary Restoration Team (DERT), and the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group (SPSSEG). I wear shorts at least until the first frost, as long as I have a vest and hat.

I was fortunate to have moved many times while growing up in a military family. I was born in Japan and lived in Colorado, Arkansas, New Mexico, Alabama, Missouri, ICELAND! and Delaware. I attended college in Missouri and Ohio (go Buckeyes!) and moved to southern Tennessee to live on The Farm, the largest collective/commune in the country in 1973. After 12 years in Tennessee, my family settled in northern New Jersey for 30 years when my husband’s company moved its operations there.
My husband, Steve, and I made the big move west to Olympia in 2015, following my son who attended Evergreen, graduating in 1999. I have enjoyed exploring the forests, creeks, lakes and sea but have much more to see and do!
I became interested in the Community Sustaining Fund while working as a volunteer cashier at the Olympia Food Coop. After my friend Desdra passed away in 2023, I reached out to CSF about joining the team. Desdra had been on the CSF Board and had spoken many times about the great work of CSF and the wonderful like-minded people involved. I joined the CSF Board in March of 2024.

I am happy to be a new board member of the C.S.F.. I have lived in Olympia since 1988. I married my husband, bought a house, raised our two children, both of whom attended and graduated from O.S.D. I graduated from The Evergreen State College, B.A..Then graduated from St.Martins University, Master in Teaching. I retired from N.T.P.S., after 23 years teaching as an Elementary Art Specialist. During my tenure at N.T.P.S. I was a N.T.E.A.Union Rep for 9 years, N.T.E.A. rep at the N.E.A. National Representative Conventions for 7 years, Member of W.A.E.A. 22 years, Member of Womanade, Olympia branch 3 years. Member O.S.D P.T.A., Board member .T.P.S./ P.T.S.A. I have volunteered for fundraising for The Thurston County Food Bank through O.S.D. and N.T.P.S. And contributed to P.O.S. and many more community events.