Board of Directors
Committee for Children is governed by a volunteer board of directors who serve three-year terms, and no director serves more than three full consecutive terms. An executive staff team works with the board and is composed of representatives from the executive, finance, marketing and client relations, and program development and research departments.
Board of Directors (click on name to read bio)
- Sarah Stanley (President)
- Reed Koch (Vice President)
- Paige Hamack (Treasurer)
- Yoko Miyashita, JD (Secretary)
- Marcia Boyd
- Debra Boyer, Ph.D.
- Richard N. Brandon, Ph.D.
- Michael Herschensohn, Ph.D.
- Lois Maag
- Sabrina Powers
- Ed Rogan
- Karen Tvedt, Ph.D.
- Jonas Simonas (Emeritus)
Sarah Ellen Stanley has applied her skills and experience in management, curriculum implementation, branding and strategic planning, cross-cultural awareness, editing, writing, and broadcasting to various roles as an educator, journalist, and international consultant. She worked with foreign correspondents in the Pacific Rim as managing editor of Pacific Rim News Service and has consulted for the Japanese Consulate. She has taught and helped implement curricula at LABO, a Japanese international exchange company, and Vashon Island High School. A recipient of the Society of Professional Journalists Investigative Journalism Award, Stanford University Fellowship, and Japanese Government Research Fellowship, Ms. Stanley has a bachelor of arts degree in political science and communications from the University of Washington and master’s degrees in teaching from City University and social science from the University of Chicago. In addition to her community service on the Queen Anne Helpline board of directors, Ms. Stanley has also served on the boards of Copper Canyon Press and City University. She joined the board in 2005.
Reed Koch is the former general manager of Assistance Platform at Microsoft, where he was responsible for the strategy and execution of Microsoft’s Assistance Platform, starting with Version 1.0. He has also been general manager of FrontPage Windows, SharePoint Services, and PhotoDraw. Mr. Koch has also served as group program manager, group product planner, and product manager of Microsoft Word. In these roles, he organized design and shipping of Word 2000 and Word XP, started the product planning group and organized product planning for Word 95 and Word 97, and developed the first usability testing at Microsoft to design Word and test it against WordPerfect. Mr. Koch holds a bachelor of science in liberal arts with a major in mathematics from Reed College. He joined the board in 2006.
Paige Hamack is a technical accounting and reporting expert with extensive experience with large multinational companies. She is currently the group manager of external reporting for Microsoft, where she manages the preparation and review of the company’s periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Hamack was director of technical accounting and SEC reporting for Getty Images, Inc. She also established accounting policies and project-managed the largest private placement funding for Vitessa, a technology start-up company. Hamack began her career in Portland as an auditor for the accounting firm Deloitte and Touche, and worked in the accounting department at Tektronix, Inc. Her experience also includes providing technical accounting guidance for more than 50 business combinations and joint ventures, and assisting in the worldwide implementation of new accounting software. Hamack has a bachelor of arts degree in accounting from Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon. She joined the board in 2009.
Yoko Miyashita, JD is an intellectual property attorney currently serving as in-house counsel for Getty Images, an international digital media company. Before she joined Getty Images, Ms. Miyashita was an associate with Perkins Coie LLP, where she worked with the Business and Technology Group and served as pro-bono counsel for CfC. Ms. Miyashita received her Juris Doctor from the University of Washington School of Law and her bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley. Ms. Miyashita is the mother of two young children. She joined the board in 2008.
Marcia Boyd is the principal of John Rogers Elementary School in the Seattle School District. She is actively involved in both the Seattle Association of Elementary School Principals and the Elementary School Principals Association of Washington. She is currently the secretary/treasurer for Seattle principals’ group and west-side vice president of the state organization, for whom she was the Seattle regional director for five years. Other professional affiliations include membership in the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the Association of Washington School Principals, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and the Washington State Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Ms. Boyd received both her bachelor’s degree in education and her master’s degree in school administration from Western Washington University. She joined the board in 2002.
Debra Boyer, Ph.D. is a cultural anthropologist with 25 years experience as the principal investigator of studies on urban street cultures, runaway and homeless youth, child sexual abuse and trauma, sexually exploited adolescents, adolescent pregnancy, and women’s reproductive health. She holds faculty appointments as auxiliary faculty in the School of Social Work and Department of Women’s Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle. In her work as an applied anthropologist, she has provided leadership to local and national programs and interventions for homeless and sexually exploited youth and has developed programs for a continuum of care for homeless youth. Dr. Boyer is a co-founder of Committee for Children, its first board of directors president, and is an active volunteer on the Youth Impact Council for United Way of Seattle/King County. She participates in numerous local and advisory groups of behalf of homeless and exploited children. Dr. Boyer is the proprietor of Boyer Research, through which she conducts ethnographic and policy research. She rejoined the board in 2003.
Richard N. Brandon, Ph.D. is senior research fellow at the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington, where he directs the university’s Human Services Policy Center (HSPC). The center focuses on educating and caring for children, building public understanding and support for better policies, conducting program evaluations, and profiling child and family well being. Dr. Brandon also directs the Washington Kids Count project, which tracks, analyzes, and communicates information about the well-being of children and families in Washington and advises state governments and foundations. Dr. Brandon has conducted studies on financing a wide range of education and social services for state agencies and legislatures and has been a consultant to state and local governments, as well as numerous national organizations and agencies. He was staff director of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He joined the board in 2007.
Michael Herschensohn, Ph.D. has directed the Children’s Museum, the Museum of History and Industry, and Northwest Folklife, for which he received the 2006 Mayor’s Act Award. As a member of Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, he is leading the centennial celebration of The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, the 1909 World’s Fair that put Seattle on national and international maps. In addition to this work with Committee for Children, Dr. Herschensohn has served with such community organizations as Successful Schools in Action, the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum, the Maritime Heritage Foundation, the James W. Washington Foundation, and Historic Seattle. Dr. Herschensolm received a master of arts degree in historic preservation planning from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in romance languages and literature from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Herschensohn joined the board in 2005.
Lois Maag is the strategic advisor in community relations for Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, where she heads up brand marketing and communications. She served as Starbucks Coffee Company's first community affairs manager, responsible for the corporation’s local and national community affairs strategy. There, she managed the team responsible for contributions, volunteerism, and workplace giving. Prior to joining Starbucks, she was responsible for communications, public affairs, and brand marketing at Seattle Center. Ms. Maag holds a bachelor of science from Indiana University and University of Edinburgh and a certificate in Corporate Community Involvement from the Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College. She is a past volunteer with United Way, Leadership Tomorrow, and Phinney Center. She joined the board in 2009.
Sabrina Powers is a corporate attorney for the Microsoft Corporation, where she is the lead attorney for personal computer and embedded devices operating system software licensing. Powers also recently worked for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where she led the team that manages commercial transactions in support of grant making for the Global Health Programs. She is a five-year volunteer with OutdoorsForAll, providing ski instruction to individuals with disabilities. Powers earned her juris doctorate at Seattle University School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts at Vanderbilt University. She joined the board in 2010.
Ed Rogan is vice president and executive recruitment practice leader at Waldron & Company, where he is responsible for leading all activities related to the firm's retained executive recruitment practice. A 25-year old consulting firm with offices in Seattle, WA; Portland, OR; Scottsdale, AZ; Salt Lake City, UT; and Boise, ID, Waldron’s services include retained executive recruiting, career management, leadership development, organizational development, interim and contract placements, and management coaching. Mr. Rogan received bachelor of arts degrees in sociology (cum laude) and psychology from the University of Houston and a master of arts in industrial/organizational psychology from University of Colorado at Denver. He is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and a former volunteer for FareStart, a Seattle area nonprofit. Mr. Rogan joined the board in 2004.
Karen Tvedt, Ph.D. is a noted policy expert and advocate on behalf of children and families. As executive director of the legislatively-established Early Learning Council, Tvedt played a major role in crafting recommendations to the governor and legislature about strategies for improving early childhood learning outcomes in Washington State. Tvedt was policy division director in the Child Care Bureau in Washington, D.C. She also serves as expert administrator for the Child Care Policy and Research Consortium. Before her federal service, Tvedt served as program manager and supervisor, then chief, of the state's Office of Child Care Policy. She has also worked as a preschool teacher, child care provider, child care center director, preschool administrator, and child welfare worker. Tvedt earned her Ph.D. at Portland State University, master of arts at the Evergreen State College, bachelor of arts from the University of Washington, and associate of arts in early childhood education from North Seattle Community College. She joined the board in 2009.
Jonas K. Simonis is principal of Jonas K. Simonis Consulting, which specializes in railroad operations and management. He works with clients in such areas as operations, marketing, strategic planning, supervision, project management, problem-solving, staffing, budgeting, cost control, and information systems. As a consultant, he has conducted management communication studies, designed and assisted in the implementation of an operation accountability system, and testified as an expert witness on railroad operations. Before starting his firm, Mr. Simonis worked for Burlington Northern Railroad in a variety of roles including service director—automotive and machinery and superintendent—corridor management. Mr. Simonis joined the board in 2000.
