Children and Youth Advisory Board

Janis Avery, Chief Executive Officer for Treehouse, devotes her time to promoting educational equity for youth in foster care through advocacy for systems change, ensuring integrated strategy and accountability, maximizing community collaboration, and resource development. Janis holds a Master of Social Work and Certificate in Human Services Management from the University of Washington. She is a former social worker and an adoptive parent of two children from foster care. In addition to the Children & Youth Advisory Board, she is a member of the State Board of Education.

Nancy Backus, Mayor of Auburn, was elected to her first term as mayor in 2014 and is the first female to hold the office in Auburn’s 125 year history. She served 10 years as an Auburn city councilmember and spent 25 years as a financial manager for the Boeing Company. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in accounting. A strong believer in service to community and bettering the lives of women and girls, Backus has earned the Soroptimist International of Auburn Women Helping Women Award, the Miss Auburn Scholarship Program's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013, the 2012 Leadership Institute of South Puget Sound Distinguished Alumni Award, the Boeing Career Foundation Program (BCFP) 2011 Manager of the Year Award, the Dale Carnegie 2007 Human Principles in Action Award and the 2014 Business and Professional Women’s Woman of Achievement Award. She is president of Sound Cities Association that represents 36 cities and provides a voice for nearly one million people. She is also the chair for the South Correctional Entity (SCORE) and Valley Regional Fire Authority (VRFA) and also serves on the Sound Transit Board of Directors, All Home Coordinating Board, Economic Development Committee, King County Flood Control District, Puget Sound Regional Council and the SELA – Safe Energy Leadership Alliance. Mayor Backus is married and a proud mother to her teenage daughter.

Mackenzie Chase is a Government Relations Manager for Save the Children Action Network (SCAN), where she focuses on expanding access to high quality early childhood education and care for children in Washington. Previously, Mackenzie worked as an Early Learning Policy Associate at Children’s Alliance. She also spent over four years at the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where she worked on diverse policies, including K-12 education issues. Mackenzie is passionate about making sure children have a strong start in life and promoting policies that support children and families.

Bio to come

Abigail Echo-Hawk, MA is an enrolled member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma and is also a member of the Upper Athabascan people of Mentasta Village, Alaska. She is the director of the Urban Indian Health Institute, a Tribal Epidemiology Center located in Seattle whose mission is to support the health and well-being of urban Indian communities through information, scientific inquiry and technology. Specializing in facilitating cross cultural partnerships, she has been an integral part of establishing health research projects and public health initiatives with rural and urban tribal communities across the United States. Her work embodies respect for Native culture, pursuit of excellence in providing opportunities and deliverables, and willingness to work in true partnership with communities. Abigail has concentrated her volunteer efforts on policy and institutional change in order to minimize health disparities for women of color locally and nationally, focused on policy advocacy in areas such as maternal and child health, domestic violence, sexual assault, youth prostitution and educational disparities. Her volunteer board memberships include the Native American Women’s Dialogue on Infant Mortality, Hope Heart Institute, Center for Indigenous Law and Justice and the Coalition to End Gender Based Violence.

Enrica O. Hampton, Ed.D., is the Early Learning Manager and an Early Care and Education Consultant at Kindering. She has worked at Kindering for 20 years supporting the diverse needs of young children and families as a special education teacher, child care coordinator and consultant. She came to the field of special education through her early experiences working in child care. Enrica is the co-chair of the King County Early Learning Coalition and was elected by the coalition in 2013 to participate in Early Learning Advisory Council meetings as regional advisor to help ensure that strategies and actions of the Department of Early Learning are informed by regional voice. Enrica is dedicated to supporting the individual needs of young children, families, and strengthening Washington’s early learning system.

Karen Hart is the President of SEIU Local 925. After receiving her BA at the University of Washington, she became a community and labor organizer. In the 1980s, she organized retired, disabled textile workers to fight for fair compensation from the southern mills that hurt them. She also organized and directed the South End Seattle Community Organization (SESCO) winning health clinics, drug stores and block grant funding for the Rainier Valley. Her first labor organizing was at Swedish Hospital. She has also worked to organize hundreds of low-income women in clothing factories until the passage of NAFTA, when corporations moved work out of the United States. She believes that working people and low-income communities need to empower themselves to win needed improvements in their lives. In the early 90s, she became involved with middle and high school students in Seattle, working first to gain her Masters in Teaching from Columbia Teachers College and then began a teaching career with the Seattle Public School District. In 2004, she was asked to join SEIU Local 925 as the Organizing Director, Early Learning Division Director, Staff Director and now serves as the President.

Katie Hong is Director of Youth Homelessness at the Raikes Foundation, leading the foundation’s efforts to prevent and end youth and young adult homelessness. Prior to joining the Raikes Foundation in 2012, Katie consulted with private philanthropic foundations and nonprofit organizations on strategic planning and organizational effectiveness. She worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for more than five years, where she oversaw its Pacific Northwest Initiative, including efforts to reduce family homelessness and its work in advocacy grant making. Katie has also served as the director for the City of Seattle's Office of Housing, as executive policy advisor to Governor Gary Locke, and as a White House Fellow for both Clinton and Bush administrations. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a master's degree in public policy from the University of Chicago.

Catherine Lester was appointed by Mayor Ed Murray to serve as the director for the City of Seattle’s Human Services Department (HSD) in February 2015. HSD is one of the largest contributors to Seattle’s safety net, providing $89 million annually that supports Seattle’s most vulnerable neighbors. The department’s work includes planning and grant-making to nearly 200 agencies, as well as direct services for youth and families, seniors and those living with a disability. Prior to her work with Seattle, Catherine worked in Ohio and North Carolina in the fields of mental health, juvenile justice, child welfare, family support and neighborhood revitalization. She received a Master’s of Science degree in Social Administration from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. She is a Children & Families Fellow through the nationally renowned Annie E. Casey Foundation. Catherine grew up in Toronto, Canada. As the daughter of two educators, she is passionate about work to achieve positive and measureable impacts for children, families and communities.

Janet Levinger is a Social Impact Leader in the Seattle area. Her vision is to create opportunity through engagement, advocacy and philanthropy, focusing on education, civic participation and reproductive rights. Janet currently serves as a board member of The Seattle Foundation, Thrive Washington, the League of Education Voters, Eastside Pathways and University of Washington School of Education Ambassador Board. She chairs the Outreach Committee for Social Venture Partners Seattle. Janet worked in high tech for 16 years. She has experience in marketing/communications, fundraising, board governance, and training and development. She has a BA in English with honors from Brown University. When not advocating for better opportunity for children and women, she enjoys cooking, bicycling (on a tandem with her husband), hiking, traveling and scuba diving.

Laurie Lippold is Director of Public Policy for Partners for Our Children. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago with a master’s degree in Social Work. Laurie first worked with pregnant and parenting teens in inner city Chicago, moving to Seattle in 1982 where she began as a child care worker and then the clinical coordinator of Youth Advocates’ Therapeutic Family Home, a residential treatment program. With Youth Advocates, she transitioned to foster home licensing and other work with youth in foster care. From there, she moved to Children’s Home Society of WA in 1986 in their foster care program – working to find homes for children at Cobb Center and then began working with CHSW’s Adoption Resource Center (ARC) as a community liaison. She first entered into the legislative arena in 1988-89 through an effort of the ARC to help the WA Adoption Rights Movement and in 1990, Laurie became the Advocacy Coordinator at CHSW. In 1993, she left CHSW to work for the Children’s Alliance as a lobbyist and then as a lobbyist for the Family Policy Council on the implementation of the Community Public Health and Safety Networks. Since May of 2012 she has served as the Public Policy Director at Partners for Our Children, and she continues to lobby for the WA Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics. Laurie is involved with Children’s Alliance Public Policy Committee, Statewide Children’s Advisory Committee, United Way Public Policy Committee, State Homelessness Advisory Committee, Model Courts Advisory Committee and Family Treatment Court Advisory Committee. She is married with two children.

Diane Oakes, MPH, MSW is president and CEO of Washington Dental Service (WDS) Foundation where she has worked for 10 years on strategies to prevent oral disease and increase access to care. She has been instrumental in the development of WDS Foundation’s oral health initiatives, which include a nationally recognized program that has increased dental care access for lower income children, significant expansion of Community Health Center dental clinics and successful advocacy to restore dental coverage for low-income adults. WDS Foundation is founded and sustained by Delta Dental of Washington, a nonprofit organization that is the leading dental benefits company in the state. Diane has an undergraduate degree in psychology from Western Washington University and Master of Social Work and Public Health from the University of Washington.

Zam Zam Mohamed is the Chief Executive Officer for Voices of Tomorrow and a resident of Council District 2. She is an advocate, an activist and a trainer in the early learning field. She creates and delivers cultural responsive trainings in both Somali and English languages. Zam Zam is very passionate about social justice and speaks on equity issues that impact immigrant and refugee children and families. She works closely with community partners to eliminate racial and ethnic achievement gaps that exist for the children and families living in King County. Zam Zam is co-founder and CEO for the nonprofit Organization Voices Of Tomorrow.

Sarah Lytle, PhD, is Director of Outreach and Education at the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (ILABS), at the University of Washington. She is a resident of Council District 4. Sarah communicates the latest science of child development to those who can act on it, including parents, educators, policymakers and opinion leaders, both locally and nationally. Sarah has a B.A. in Psychology and Spanish from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Temple University. Sarah is also a member of the Zero To Three Academy of Fellows.

Mary Jean Ryan is the founding director of the Community Center for Education Results (CCER). CCER staffs the Road Map Project, a community-wide effort to double the number of students in South Seattle and South King County who are on track to graduate from college or earn a career credential by 2020. The project is also aiming to close achievement gaps for low-income children and students of color. Previously, Ms. Ryan served as the Director of the City of Seattle’s Office of Policy and Management. Prior to that, she was Seattle’s Economic Development Director, having established that office in 1992 for then Mayor Norman B. Rice. Mary Jean served in the Clinton Administration in Washington, D.C., as the Associate Deputy Administrator for Economic Development for the U.S. Small Business Administration. In 2009, Ms. Ryan was awarded the Wales Foundation Passionate Citizenship Honoree Award and was named by Seattle Magazine to its 2009 Most Influential People List. Mary Jean has a long-standing interest in education and workforce development. She chaired the State Board of Education during its reconstitution phase and continues to serve on the Board and on the Quality Education Council. Mary Jean has a B.A. from Georgetown University and a M.P.A. from the University of Southern California. She has one daughter.

Brian Saelens is a Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington and a researcher at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. He lives in Council District 1. Brian is trained as a clinical/health psychologist. His work focuses on how to help children and families engage in healthy behaviors. This includes developing and testing strategies to improve the impact and reach of family-based weight management interventions. He also explores how environmental factors and policies affect physical activity and eating behaviors in children and adults. He collaborates with community partners and local public health practitioners to try to reduce health inequities through implementing policy, systems, and environment changes around healthy eating and active living in King County.

Bio to come

Jesse Salomon is a Shoreline City Councilmember for the City of Shoreline and resides in King County Council District 1. On the Children and Youth Advisory Board he represents the Sound Cities Association, a nonprofit advocacy group comprised of King County suburban cities. Jesse earned his law degree in 2002 from the University of Washington. By day he works as a public defender, defending the rights of the accused as a trial lawyer. He has also worked in restorative justice oriented courts. Previous to that he worked in tribal courts with a focus on child welfare. Jesse is co-founder of Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets, a homeless youth service provider.

Nancy Woodland is Executive Director of WestSide Baby, a Seattle area nonprofit providing essential items to local children in need by collecting and distributing diapers, clothes and equipment. Nancy provides vision and leadership to a swiftly growing community cornerstone. Woodland earned her BA in Sociology from Michigan State University and JD from Loyola Chicago School of Law as a member of the first class of CIVITAS Child Law Scholars. She litigated child abuse cases for the Washington State Attorney General’s Office where she handled cases of neglect, abuse and licensing of foster homes and day care facilities and homes. Woodland served on the Children’s Justice Interdisciplinary Task Force and the University of Washington School of Law’s Child Advocacy Clinic Advisory Board from 1996-2006. She volunteered for 10 years for King County Kid’s Court, a program dedicated to preparing child witnesses. She is a founding board member for the National Diaper Bank Network Board. After years of supporting WestSide Baby through donations and diaper drives, Woodland joined the Board of Directors in 2005 and was hired as Executive Director in 2006. Nancy received the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce Community Hero award in 2010. She is also the mom to two great kids.

Mark Pursley, a resident in Council District 5, is the Executive Director of the Greater Maple Valley Community Center, a nonprofit human services agency in SE King County. Pursley previously worked for the City of Seattle in a violent crime prevention role. The bulk of his career was spent with the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County, primarily in the White Center community.

Bio to come

Rochelle Clayton Strunk resides in Council District 3. She is the director of education programs at Encompass, a nonprofit organization delivering early learning programs, parenting education, birth to three early intervention services and pediatric therapy in Snoqualmie Valley. Rochelle holds a bachelor’s degree from Pacific Lutheran University and a master’s degree in public administration from Seattle University. With over 20 years of experience working for various nonprofit organizations, Rochelle has extensive knowledge of many issues facing the most vulnerable residents in our community. For the last five years, children living in rural King County and children with special needs have been an area of emphasis for her. She served on the King County Youth Action Plan Task Force and is currently the co-chair of the Alliance of Eastside Agencies.

Barbara Langdon recently retired (2016) as the director of LifeWire. For over three decades, Barbara has been dedicated to helping those who have experienced and survived domestic violence, working to ensure survivors can access the services they need to feel supported. Langdon started her advocacy for domestic violence survivors in Kentucky and California and came to Washington state in 2006 where she became instrumental in the development and growth of LifeWire, a nationally-recognized agency for those fleeing abuse. Barbara’s leadership has been recognized by numerous awards and recognitions commending her for her dedication, strength, courage and commitment. Most recently, she received the recognition of the entire Metropolitan King County Council who, as a body, recognized Langdon’s retirement as the Executive Director of LifeWire with a Council Proclamation, declaring May 23, 2016, as “Barbara Langdon Day” in King County.

Bio to come

Casey Osborn-Hinman, M.S.Ed., is Campaign Director with MomsRising focused on increasing access to paid family and medical leave and early learning at the state and federal levels. Casey previously worked with the Children’s Alliance where she convened the Early Learning Action Alliance, Washington state’s early learning advocacy coalition. Casey’s policy advocacy is informed by her experience as a former kindergarten teacher. She is committed to learning from and working with local communities to identify systemic solutions to close the opportunity gap for all children and families. Casey is mother to a very curious two-year-old.

Bio to come

Leslie Dozono is a consultant specializing in education policy, advocacy and organizational/coalition development with an emphasis in early learning. Her work focuses on the people, strategies and tactics necessary to achieve results for children – from conceiving of campaigns around state legislation, to writing policy briefs, to creating and facilitating meeting and retreat agendas that help people build relationships and move work forward. In addition to the King County Children and Youth Advisory Board, she currently serves on the board of the Washington State Association of Head Start and ECEAP. Prior to becoming a consultant, Leslie was the Early Learning Policy Director at Children’s Alliance. In that role, she was core in the development of the Early Learning Action Alliance, Washington’s statewide early learning advocacy coalition. Before focusing on policy work, Leslie worked in direct service organizations focused on school-age children, including Atlantic Street Center in Seattle and the National Council of Jewish Women/Los Angeles. She holds a BA in English with honors from Scripps College and an MPA from University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy and Governance where she received the Daniel J. Evans Leadership Award for outstanding leadership. Leslie lives in Columbia City with her husband, preschooler, toddler and dog.

Hye-Kyung Kang, MA, MSW, PhD, is an Associate Professor at Seattle University. She is a first-generation immigrant Korean American social worker and received her MSW and PhD at University of Washington. Kang’s research focuses on cultural citizenship, postcolonial social work practice, community organizing in communities of color and critical pedagogy. She is currently focusing on developing a social justice-focused and community-based advanced clinical MSW program at Seattle University where she is Director of the MSW Program.