Speaker Archives

Nancy Hughes is a graduate of Whitman College, the mother of three, and the grandmother of two. Prior to her work establishing StoveTeam International, she was a stay‑at‑home mom.

In 2003 she met Irma, a young woman whose hands had been burned shut after falling into an open cooking fire. Wanting to help, she transformed a small Rotary club project into an effective international charity that has helped develop local factories to produce life-saving, fuel-efficient cookstoves in the developing world.

Dr. Justin (Tim) Mills joined the Bellevue School District as Superintendent in July 2012. Prior to his role in Bellevue, Mills was Superintendent of the North Clackamas School District in Oregon, a district serving more than 17,000 students.

Mills has also served as superintendent in the Mesa Valley County (22,000 students) and Brush Public School Districts, both in Colorado. He was the Colorado Superintendent of the Year in 2009.

Since 2008, Chris Martin has been leading Airlift Northwest on its mission to improve health and serve the community by saving lives, wherever needed, 24‑7‑365.

By employing some of the most highly trained and experienced nurses and pilots in the country, Airlift Northwest has the ability to handle any patient transport, from advanced cardiac life support to neonatal resuscitation — regardless of the patient’s ability to pay. Airlift Northwest operates out of five bases around Washington State and one in Juneau, Alaska. Chris Martin’s plan to extend Airlift Northwest’s reach and coverage area is motivated by her strong desire to be accessible to as many patients as possible.

Yahn Bernier is a computer game programmer and corporate director for Valve Corporation in Bellevue. He originally grew up beside the beaches of central Florida, with a brief stint in Ethiopia, where his father’s job took the family.

Yahn attended Harvard, where he received a degree in Chemistry, and then attended the University of Florida, where he received his law degree. He then worked as an attorney for a patent law firm in Atlanta. After writing one too many patents for polyester chemicals, Yahn and his wife Beth McCaw moved to Seattle in 1998, when Yahn retired from the practice of law to pursue his hobby of making video games.

Yahn has worked on the technology that underlies most of Valve’s products, from the game software and tools to Steam. He was one of the original programmers on Valve’s first game Half‑Life, which won over 50 Game of the Year awards.

Colin Berg has been a professional writer for 30 years. He has worked for Eddie Bauer for a total of 19 years over a 29‑year period.

For the last 9 years he Colin has been the brand historian and curator of the company archives. In that role, he has traveled to New York and Munich, Germany, to give presentations to media representatives. He has given interviews to several trade publications, including Inventory, Gear Patrol, Mental Floss, and Outside.

Scott Svenson is the co-founder and CEO of MOD Super Fast Pizza, LLC, the pioneer in the fast casual pizza market. MOD, which was the fastest growing restaurant chain in the US in 2015 (according to Technomic), is a culture-centric business inspired by a purpose of making positive social impact. As of October 2016, the company had 172 stores trading across the US (up from 92 at the beginning of 2016). Scott is also the Founder and Managing Partner of The Sienna Group LLC, a long-term orientated Seattle-based investment holding company with a diverse set of holdings.

A Seattle native and a graduate with honors from Harvard University, Scott spent 11 years (1988 to 1999) living and working in London. After six years advising high growth middle-market companies (at Drexel, Burnham Lambert and then Apax Partners), Scott became Deputy CEO of CrestaCare plc, a public company and the third largest long-term healthcare provider in the UK.

Jennifer Tisdel Schorsch serves as President of Water.org, a global nonprofit dedicated to solving the water crisis. Founded by Gary White and Matt Damon, Water.org pioneers innovative, community-driven and market-based initiatives to ensure all people have access to safe water and sanitation, giving women hope, children health, and communities a future.

Armen Stein is the Founder and President of J Street Technology in Bellevue. J Street is a team of developers that builds custom database applications. When a company can’t find an off‑the‑shelf software package to meet its needs, J Street can design and build it to fit its exact requirements. J Street has designed and built database systems for hundreds of clients around the US over the past 22 years, including Microsoft, IKEA, Fluke, Harborview, Bosch, and K2 Sports.

Michael Nassirian is a senior executive, quality architect, and leader with over 30 years of experience building and inspiring teams that delight customers with innovative solutions, spanning many emerging and existing technologies in the US and International markets.

After receiving his Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas, Michael started his career at Texas Instruments, where he led various teams in designing and delivering an ASIC chipset used in military applications. Later on, Michael took the leadership in delivering advanced processors used in SPARC stations.

Dr. Lorraine McConaghy is a public historian in Seattle, and worked at the Museum of History & Industry for nearly 20 years. She retired in 2013, but then un‑retired and is now happily working on a number of contract projects, including corporate history, WWI history, editing, exhibit curation, and writing. Her particular area of research interest continues to be the Pacific Squadron of the U.S. Navy, 1850‑1865.

Dr. McConaghy’s most recent book concerns master and slave in Washington Territory. “Free Boy” explores the twin biographies of James Tilton and Charles Mitchell, and is being developed as a musical by Fifth Avenue Theater, for middle school audiences.

Tony Mestres is the President and CEO of Seattle Foundation, one of the largest community foundations in the country. Recognized for his leadership and expertise in navigating change and working cross sector with business leaders, elected officials and community and philanthropic partners, Tony has redefined Seattle Foundation’s role as a voice for community needs, developing effective philanthropic strategies to address inequities in the region.

In his role, Tony directs the strategic counsel and support provided to more than 1,200 individual, family and corporate philanthropists and oversees the investment of $100 million in charitable grants annually. With more than $800 million in assets, Seattle Foundation’s mission is to ignite powerful and rewarding philanthropy to make Greater Seattle a stronger, more vibrant community for all.

Debbie and Michael Campbell felt they had one more adventure in them before considering retirement in the traditional sense, so they downsized until almost everything they owned fit in a small storage unit. They filled two rolling duffle bags with life’s essentials (including their own pillows), and hit the road to explore all of Europe and beyond. Three years later, having sold their home in Seattle their “Senior Nomad” lifestyle has no end in sight. They have visited 170 cities in 56 countries, including all of Europe, as well as Morocco, Turkey, Israel, Russia, Mexico, and Cuba.

Claudia Balducci has been a passionate supporter of transportation and transit since first taking office as a Bellevue City Councilmember in 2004. Since then, she has been a member and past Chair of the Puget Sound Regional Council’s Transportation Policy Board and the Eastside Transportation Partnership. She currently serves on the Sound Transit Board of Directors as one of three Eastside representatives.

After spending time as Bellevue’s Mayor, Claudia was elected to the King County Council in 2015.

Kevin Wallace oversees all development and acquisition activity for Wallace Properties. He is also responsible for all legal matters for the company’s three divisions: Brokerage, Property and Asset Management and Investment/Development.

Wallace Properties builds sustainable, transit-oriented mixed-use development projects in urban centers throughout the Puget Sound region. Under Kevin’s leadership, Wallace was awarded NAIOP Developer of the Year in 2012 by the Washington Chapter of NAIOP.

Stephanie Bowman currently serves as the Executive Director of Washington ABC, a statewide non-profit organization promoting policies and programs to help economically disadvantaged communities build assets through investments in education, homeownership, savings and small business development.

Stephanie has more than 18 years of experience working in the areas of transportation and economic development on the local, state and federal levels, including at the Port of Tacoma and Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce. She has been active with the American Association of Port Authorities; the Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors and the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association.

Dick Blumenthal began boating on the North shores of Lake Washington at age five. His “yacht” consisted of an eight foot homemade dingy and a pair of oars. He quickly learned how to row, spending many hours fishing and exploring the lake. By age seven, he graduated to a three-horse Evinrude, an engine that seemingly weighed as much as he did. Within a couple years, the family bought a small ski boat and Dick became proficient in that sport using bindings made from tennis shoes nailed to their homemade skis. From this early exposure to the water, Dick’s interests continued to grow. Throughout his childhood, and beyond, he cruised in the San Juans with family and friends, learning of the secrets held by the numerous islands.

An eleven-time Emmy® award winner, Bryan has been a television and video writer/producer for three decades. He has written several books and has been a contributor to numerous magazines and websites. Bryan was also blessed with being a movie reviewer on radio and TV for ten years.

Bill McSherry was named to his position at Boeing Commercial Airplanes in June 2014. He is responsible for Commercial Airplanes’ state and local operations, including Global Corporate Citizenship, in the Northwest and South Carolina regions. He leads a team of specialists who manage relationships with elected officials and business leaders, advocate for key issues that advance Boeing’s business objectives, and find philanthropic opportunities to give back to the communities where Commercial Airplanes employees live and work.

Prior to his current assignment, McSherry was director of State & Local Government Operations in the Northwest region. In that capacity, he was responsible for the company’s government relations strategy and Northwest network, which covers Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii.

Bo Darling and his wife Patricia are members of the Rotary Club of Mercer Island, where Bo served as President from 2007‑2008, Vice President from 2011‑2014, and was a multi-year Director of the Club’s major fund-raiser, the Mercer Island Half‑Marathon.

Bo was born in Houston, TX , but grew up in New York City, with a college education from both Oklahoma State and Yale Universities.