Composed of leaders from finance, education, research, legal, nonprofit, and business communities, Committee for Children’s board of directors serves as the governing body charged with providing oversight and counsel on matters related to the organization’s mission, vision, strategic plan and financial sustainability. The composition of the board reflects a broad range of expertise, with all members demonstrating a strong commitment to fostering the safety and well-being of children through social and emotional learning and development. Kumar Mehta, PhD President Read Bio × Kumar Mehta, PhD President Dr. Kumar Mehta is the bestselling author of The Innovation Biome: A Sustained Business Environment Where Innovation Thrives. He is the founder of Bridges Insight, a think tank helping organizations in the public and private sectors accelerate their rates of innovation. Dr. Mehta currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future and speaks around the world about innovation, disruption, and preparing for an uncertain future. Previously, he was the CEO of Course5 Intelligence, an innovative data-analytics company employing more than a thousand professionals worldwide. He also spent 14 years at Microsoft Corporation in a variety of roles. Dr. Mehta holds a PhD in pharmaceutical socioeconomics from the University of Iowa. He joined the board in 2016. Shannon Orton Vice President Read Bio × Shannon Orton Vice President Shannon Orton is an education professional who currently serves as communications director for Spruce Street School, where she oversees marketing, PR, and alumni relations. She started her career at the Colorado Outward Bound School as an instructor and then course director, working with students from varied backgrounds, ages 14 to 65. She has since taught in the Seattle Public Schools in every grade from kindergarten through eleventh, focusing on multi-age classrooms, project-based learning, and integrated, theme-based curricula. Orton holds a bachelor of arts from the Evergreen State College and a master of arts in education from Seattle’s Antioch University. Orton joined the board in 2015. Erin J. Maher, PhD Secretary Read Bio × Erin J. Maher, PhD Secretary Dr. Maher is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Oklahoma. She is also an adjunct associate professor of pediatrics in their College of Medicine and senior associate director of the Data Institute for Societal Challenges. Her research focuses on the intersection of poverty and child maltreatment, child well-being, and family functioning. She works with state agencies to evaluate social programs in these areas. Alonda Williams Treasurer Read Bio × Alonda Williams Treasurer Alonda Williams is a senior executive with more than 20 years of leadership experience across the technology, education, and nonprofit sectors. She has led teams for several Fortune 500 companies—including Microsoft Corporation, Verizon, and Qualcomm—where her performance has been awarded and recognized with high honors. While Williams has deep subject matter expertise in product management, marketing communications, and CRM, she is also passionate about people development and coaching others for high performance. She is known for her direct yet collaborative style. Williams currently serves as the senior vice president and chief experience officer for one of the largest nonprofits in Washington State, the YMCA of Greater Seattle. She is responsible for membership sales, customer experience, digital strategy, marketing, and communications. She leads her team and is also a member of the senior leadership team, where she is a spokesperson and shapes policy and long-term organizational strategy. In addition to her professional experience, Williams has served as an adjunct instructor at Rutgers University and Bellevue College, where she taught marketing, human resource management, and CRM. She has also taught several corporate leadership development programs through City University of Seattle. Williams is also a TEDx organizer and brings communities together to share ideas for TEDx events. Outside of work, Williams is committed to empowering young people, with a particular focus on empowering young girls. She is the author of Penny and the Magic Puffballs, a children’s book created to build healthy self-esteem in young women. Williams is an active volunteer with several nonprofit organizations and is married with two teenaged children. Board Members John C. Andrews × John C. Andrews John is retired from a long career in high-tech sales management. He worked for both small and large high-tech companies such as Computer Associates, Digital Equipment Corporation, and Unisys. He also worked for several consulting services firms specializing in business and technology consulting, including KPMG Consulting, Statera, and Aquent. His most recent position was as the vice president of international sales at Daptiv Software, a company that specialized in project portfolio management solutions. He is currently involved in angel investing and commercial real estate. John served on the International committee at CFC and joined the CFC Board in 2016. Reed Koch × Reed Koch Reed Koch is the former general manager of Assistance Platform at Microsoft, where he was responsible for the strategy and execution of Microsoft’s More 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. Mike Mecham × Mike Mecham Mike Mecham is a principal at NIRO International, a global consulting and advisory firm with private equity, venture capital, technology start-up, and nonprofit clients. Mecham currently serves on the boards of Horizon House, the Fulcrum Foundation, and Committee for Children. He worked for 22 years in executive business development, corporate development, strategy, and finance roles for technology, media, and telecommunications companies, including Google, YouTube, and McCaw Cellular Communications. Mecham has an MBA in strategy, finance, and multinational management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in business administration from the University of Washington. Heather Tow-Yick × Heather Tow-Yick Heather Tow-Yick is superintendent of Issaquah School District near Seattle. She previously served as deputy superintendent of the Mukilteo School District, also in Washington State. Prior to that, Tow-Yick was chief of staff to the CEO at Teach for America and launched the organization’s work in Rhode Island. Her experience also includes roles as chief transformation officer and chief of staff for Providence Public Schools, consultant at the Bridgespan Group, and special assistant to former New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein. She began her career as a middle school English teacher in the Bronx. Tow-Yick has a master’s degree in secondary English education from Columbia University Teachers College and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Brown University. Jenny Vaydich, PhD × Jenny Vaydich, PhD Dr. Jenny Lee Vaydich is an associate professor of psychology at Seattle Pacific University. Her research focuses on child and adolescent emotion regulation and stress coping, parental emotion socialization, and the cultural contexts of child development and family functioning. As a clinical psychologist, Dr. Vaydich has worked with diverse parents, teachers, schools, and legal experts to support parent and child well-being. She has provided workshops, trainings, and curriculum for parents and teachers on child emotional development and mental health. Dr. Vaydich continues to work with parenting groups in the community and provides trainings and consultation on coparenting plans and support for parents and children through divorce transitions. She is committed to supporting children and families in culturally relevant ways. Dr. Vaydich’s past projects have included evaluating the cultural acceptability and cultural adaptation of parenting program content, and she currently focuses on projects supporting parent-child discussions about race and cultural understanding. Tom Weeks, PhD × Tom Weeks, PhD Tom Weeks is the former executive director of human resources for Seattle Public Schools, as well as a former Seattle City Council member, where he sponsored Seattle’s first Families and Education levy as chair of the Human Services and Education Committee. Mr. Weeks has served on numerous education-related boards, including Lakeside School District, the New School Foundation, and League of Education Voters, and has been a lecturer at the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. He holds a PhD in public policy from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College. Tom enjoys athletics and has coached girls’ high school teams in basketball, volleyball, and softball. Emeritus Advisors Paige Hamack × Paige Hamack Paige Hamack is a finance professional with a passion for driving positive social change, particularly in the areas of education and our built and natural environments. She is a consultant with Camber Consulting LLC, as well as an entrepreneur and investor. Before joining Camber Consulting, Ms. Hamack was director of finance for Microsoft Corporation. Previously, Ms. Hamack performed accounting and financial reporting roles at Getty Images, Tektronix, and Deloitte & Touche, among others. Ms. Hamack holds a CPA license from the state of Oregon and a bachelor of arts degree in accounting from Linfield College. She joined the board in 2009. Yoko Miyashita, JD × Yoko Miyashita, JD Yoko Miyashita 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 Committee for Children. Ms. Miyashita received her juris doctorate 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. Board Advisors Margie Kates, MEd × Margie Kates, MEd Margie Kates is a former educator and administrator, most recently serving as program administrator and adjunct faculty member at Seattle University’s College of Education. With a background as a K–6 teacher, curriculum coordinator, and principal, Ms. Kates has extensive experience with Second Step and successful implementation of SEL in a school setting. Ms. Kates has served on several education-related boards, currently serves as president of the Women’s University Club of Seattle, and is a board member of Seattle Education Foundation. She holds an MEd in educational administration and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Washington. Board Emeritus Marcia Boyd × Marcia Boyd Marcia Boyd is the (retired) principal of John Rogers Elementary School in the Seattle School District. She is past-president of the Elementary Principal’s Association and was Seattle Regional Outstanding Principal in 2011. 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 served on the board from 2002 to 2012. Debra Boyer, PhD × Debra Boyer, PhD Debra Boyer is a cultural anthropologist with 25 years of 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 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. Michael Herschensohn, PhD × Michael Herschensohn, PhD Michael Herschensohn 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 led 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 his 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. Herschensohn received a master of arts in historic preservation planning from Cornell University and a PhD in romance languages and literature from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Herschensohn joined the board in 2005. Gail M. Houck, PhD, RN × Gail M. Houck, PhD, RN Gail M. Houck is a professor and chair of family and child nursing at the University of Washington. Previously she served as a professor and program director of the PhD, MPH, and post-master DNP programs at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, following a long and esteemed career of teaching, research, and practice as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. Much of her research has focused on family and child health and related outcomes. She’s written numerous articles and a book, Depression in Children and Adolescents: Guidelines for School Practice, published in 2013. She’s also contributed chapters to many other books; presented at dozens of local, national, and international conferences; and received several honors and awards, including the Distinguished Faculty Award for Service in 2013 from Oregon Health & Science University. She’s led and served on a long list of professional committees and been a respected advisor and program evaluator. She received her master’s degree from the University of Oregon and her bachelor’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Washington. She joined Committee for Children’s board in 2014. Lois Maag × Lois Maag 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 bachelor of science degrees 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. Samantha Pak, PhD, JD × Samantha Pak, PhD, JD Samantha Pak is senior director and intellectual property counsel for Stryker Corporation, where she provides technical, business, and IP legal support to Stryker’s business partners and its MedSurg and Neurotechnology Group. Dr. Pak has legal experience in private practice as well as in-house, working at Miller Nash Graham & Dunn LLP, various Seattle start-ups, and the Boeing Company. Previously on the board of directors of nonprofit Dwankhozi Hope, she is a member of the ChIPS PNW Chapter for Women in Law & Technology, the Washington State Patent Lawyers Association, the Association of Corporate Counsel, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association. Dr. Pak holds a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences with a minor in biochemistry and a doctorate degree in biomedical engineering from University of Illinois, and her JD and intellectual property certificate is from Chicago-Kent College of Law. As a well-seasoned legal counsel, strategist, and analytical thinker, she brings experience in global leadership, legal expertise, and intellectual property to Committee for Children’s board. As a mother of two and wife of a medical doctor, Dr. Pak sees SEL as vitally important to helping children better process and deal with conflict and frustrations. She is honored to be serving with a group of passionate, smart, driven people to carry out CFC’s mission and values. Dr. Pak joined the board in 2019. Ed Rogan × Ed Rogan Sarah Ellen Stanley × Sarah Ellen Stanley 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, a Stanford University fellowship, and a 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. Susan H. Willis, MD × Susan H. Willis, MD Dr. Susan Willis is a child and adolescent psychiatrist with over twenty years of clinical experience in a solo practice. She served as a psychiatric consultant for Youthcare’s Bridge Program for sexually exploited youth and 45th Street Clinic’s Homeless Youth Program. Dr. Willis is active in the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Medicine and the American Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She holds a BA from Mount Holyoke College and an MD from University of Connecticut School of Medicine. She completed her residency in psychiatry and a child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and is double board-certified in adult general psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry.