Susan Barley joined Washington Women’s Foundation in 2013. Over the years, she has been a member of the Pooled Fund/Collective Grant Committee, Partner Grant Committee, Advocacy Grant Committee, International Grant Committee, Finance and Governance Committees, Intersect/Convening Committee and Cabinet.

Susan has been an enthusiastic member of our community as we have redefined our mission and values.  She values working with our members, staff, and nonprofit communities to learn more about how we may focus our philanthropic efforts to increase racial/gender equity with a systemic approach. She believes in the power of listening, learning, and communicating as a collective, advocating for systemic change now and for a better future for our children. She also really enjoys the social events!

By training, Susan is a corporate attorney, with her own special projects practice. She has a lot of family in the Seattle area and spends much time with them.  Too much time, perhaps, in the view of her children. She enjoys the outdoors, travel, art, and connecting with friends and family.

Aru Chandorkar joined Washington Women’s Foundation in 2011. She has participated in many committees over the years, chairing the erstwhile Pooled Fund Grant Committee and Impact Assessment Committee. She is a WaWF Board member and serves as Governance Chair. She is proud to be part of a collective that embraces honest, courageous, and thought-provoking conversations—one that is committed to learning, challenging itself, and growing together in pursuit of deeper, more lasting and meaningful impact.

Aru has been a passionate and dedicated community volunteer for more than 25 years, driven by a deep commitment to education, cultural connection, and strengthening families and communities. She is a founding member of the Cultural Committee of Gurukul, an educational initiative that helps children of Indian heritage develop a meaningful understanding and appreciation of India’s rich cultural traditions. Over the years, Aru has also volunteered with YWCA Village and Hopelink in Redmond, as well as Healthy Start, a parenting education and support program serving young families facing challenges. She was an active volunteer throughout her children’s school years, serving as both PTA President and school Board member.

Aru grew up in New Delhi, India, and made the United States her home in 1988. Having raised her family in an increasingly diverse community, she has developed a deep appreciation for the richness that different perspectives bring. Aru enjoys unwinding with a good book and a steaming cup of ginger chai.

Bobbie Conti graduated with a BS in Zoology from UW in 1995 and has not used it since. Instead, she has taken a variety of roles over the years, most recently at Microsoft in the Gaming Division, where she is responsible for Live Site, Security, Compliance, and Telemetry. In her spare time, she gardens, knits, quilts, runs, lifts, cooks, and eats. Her husband is a woodworker, her son is a student and a chef, and her two cats are sweet but short on brains. Bobbie believes in the power of opportunities and the need to ensure people have them, which is why she is a part of the Washington Women’s Foundation (desiring to do well, at doing good). She has been with the WaWF for since 2021 and looks forward to many more.

Cedra DuFlon-Heide joined Washington Women’s Foundation in 2003, drawn by the opportunity to be part of a community of women committed to learning, growing, and advancing equity together. Over the years, her involvement has deepened through service on numerous Grant and Board Committees, as well as leadership roles including Governance Chair, Board Chair, and Co-Chair of the CEO Search Committee.

Raised in Oakland and Berkeley, California, Cedra brings a strong sense of community and thoughtful leadership to her work. She is a graduate of Humboldt State University and built a career in human resources leadership, focusing on supporting organizations and the people within them to thrive.

A Washington resident since 1994, Cedra embraces the region’s natural beauty and values being close to both the water and the mountains. In her free time, she enjoys sports, food, friends, and exploration. Her long-standing dedication to Washington Women’s Foundation reflects her belief in collective giving, the value of multigenerational relationships, and a deep commitment to building a more equitable and just community.

Janet Frohnmayer is an experienced board leader and community volunteer. As Board President of the Diabesity Institute, she supports efforts to advance the science of metabolism. She previously led Educurious as Board President, helping expand access to innovative project-based learning opportunities. In addition, she has co-led Convening and formerly Intersect for Washington Women’s Foundation, where she also serves on the Cabinet. Janet formerly served a stint in government, leading the Mercer Island School Board as President for six of her eight years on the Board. Prior to joining the school board, she brought national speakers to Mercer Island in her parent education role. Her professional career included Bain & Company as a management consultant, Seattle Northwest Securities and Procter & Gamble. Janet received an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and a BA from Stanford University. She was raised in the Northwest and is happy to call Seattle her forever home.

Janet joined Washington Women’s Foundation in 2002 and has really appreciated being part of the Foundation’s growth and evolution. She loves our role as a leader and edge expander in the philanthropic arena and is also grateful to the Foundation and fellow members for all she has personally learned while on this collective journey.

Barbara Hebenton Fielden joined the Foundation in 2005. In addition to serving on the board, Barbara has been Cabinet Chair, on Pooled Fund Grant Committee leadership, lead the inaugural Women & Girls Grant Committee, and participates on as many grant committees as she can. She previously served on the boards of Seattle Shakespeare Company, Seattle Academy, PEPS and the Northwest Advisory Board of the Trust for Public Land. Now retired, Barbara practiced law for over twenty years at Juno Therapeutics, as General Counsel of Active Voice, and in private practice. Barbara is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School.

Barbara joined WaWF because she believes in the power of our collective: the learning opportunities and impactful, thoughtful grant making, and the friendships and community that result.

Catherine Gelband is a retired corporate attorney and former school administrator who joined Washington Women’s Foundation in 2013 and served in leadership roles, including cabinet chair. She has chaired numerous nonprofit boards and is committed to supporting community resilience.

Catherine grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and attended Yale College and Northwestern Law School. She enjoyed a career in corporate law and worked as a school administrator prior to her retirement. In her free time, she loves to read, garden and root for her favorite teams.

Melinda Herrin joined the Foundation in 2017 and has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2019. Throughout her tenure, she has served as Board Secretary and contributed to numerous committees, including the Pooled Fund/Collective Grant Committee, Governance Committee, Membership Taskforce, and Member Engagement Committee. Melinda is passionate about supporting women and girls and is excited to embark on the Foundation’s new direction. She continues to be inspired by its commitment to listening, learning, and adapting alongside local nonprofits. Most of all, she is grateful to collaborate, and share great moments, with all the incredible women she’s met through this collective.

Professionally, Melinda is a mechanical engineer and Principal at Metrix Engineers/CMTA in Renton, a firm specializing in mechanical and electrical building consulting and design. She leads a dedicated team designing high-performance mechanical systems for K–12 schools.

Outside of work and WaWF, Melinda loves spending time with her husband and twins, traveling, exploring the outdoors, cheering on Seattle sports teams, and playing lacrosse.

Nikki Huang joined the Foundation in 2018 and is energized by the collective giving process and its ongoing learning opportunities. She has served on the Pooled Fund Grants Committee (2019-2020), the Capacity Building Grants Committee, and the Membership Taskforce, and currently serves on the Development and Communications Committee.

Since 2014, Nikki has been the Director of Development and Marketing for Denise Louie Education Center, a nonprofit early learning organization serving families across King County. In this role, she oversees all philanthropy efforts to grow the agency’s capital and unrestricted funding, along with all marketing and external communications. From 2023 to 2025, she also taught advanced fundraising strategies at the University of Washington.

Nikki brings more than 25 years of nonprofit experience, having taken on roles ranging from Development Manager at Highline Medical Center Foundation to Executive Director of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Washtenaw County. She has served as a Board Member for the International Community Health Services Foundation and API Chaya, and sat on Komen of Puget Sound’s grant committee. Nikki is a Board Member for the Kawabe Memorial Fund, holds a Master of Public Administration from Seattle University, and is the mother of three.

Kris Kaminishi envisions a more just and inclusive society through the power of philanthropy, nonprofits, and advocacy working together. She is the past board chair of the Washington Women’s Foundation, the past chair of the King County Library System Foundation, and a board director at Sound Generations and the Puget Sound Grantwriters Association. She is a former state team lead at Common Power whose mission is voting rights access for all. For the past two decades, she has been a nonprofit and philanthropic leader, grantwriter and grant maker, organizer, and community advocate. She’s a lifelong PNW resident and graduated from the University of Washington.

Kris joined WaWF in 2007 and wants to walk alongside others to realize our individual and collective power to approach community issues with collaboration, humility, and a desire to learn.

Martha Lucas was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and grew up in North Seattle. She is a proud Garfield High Bulldog and double Husky. She received her Bachelor’s degree in political science and Masters in Health Administration. Since 2014, Martha has been a full service insurance broker in Commercial, Life, Medicare Insurance plans, and Disability. In 2021, Martha became the Executive Director of the largest African Diaspora nonprofit, Washington State Coalition of African Community Leaders (WSCACL) which represents 60 African descent member organizations and 90 African descent individual community leaders. WSCACL provides unique core services of video/audio translation in over 30 major African languages and outreach to their combined shared media network reach of 140,000. Since 2020, WSCACL membership has tripled, every African diaspora region has joined membership for the first time, nearly $1M has been secured for diaspora programming, committee membership increased from 3 to 20 active permanent volunteers, and WSCACL became the first African led and African serving non profit in WA state to adopt a shared co-governance model with a 35 Community Advisory Council that includes representation from every region in Africa, African American, Caribbean, LGBTQIA+, religious leaders, business owners, professionals, and non profit leaders.

Martha joined Washington Women’s Foundation in 2021, because I wanted to learn more about how to successfully apply for WaWF grants to help our member organizations that apply and to network with like-minded women or women identifying professionals, advocates, and disrupters. With women and civil rights under constant attack, it is important to return back to the women’s rights days of working across communities and with our allies to ensure we do not return back to the 1950s.

Mellicia Marx learned about WaWF from a friend over lunch in 2022. She was so inspired by the conversation that she joined the Grant Engagement Team before their meal ended. Since then, she’s been a part of GET, the Membership Engagement Team and attended as many events as possible to learn more about the foundation. The more she learned, the more she loved it.

Her prior career was in philanthropy including several years of public service and nonprofit work. Mellicia also has a Masters in Public Administration. Since 2013, she’s been the owner of Poplin Style Direction where she provides personal styling services for women, empowering each member of her community to look and feel her best as she communicates her authentic personal style.

Karyn McKelvey joined the Foundation in 2021 and has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2024. In addition to Board service, Karyn has participated as a member of Collective Grants Committees, the Convening Committee, and currently serves on the Grantee Engagement Team. She loves being a part of the Foundation’s collective to learn and give together, and advocate for women and girls across Washington’s communities.

Karyn has worked in the Seattle area nonprofit and philanthropic community for two decades, including roles in private philanthropy, fundraising, programs, and project management. In her current consulting work with grantmaking and philanthropy organizations, Karyn enjoys being a strategic partner to enhance administrative practices and operations and help clients move resources to communities more efficiently. During her career, she has worked in the arts, health and human services, education, and environmental sectors – with deep personal commitments to social justice and caring for our planet and all creatures.

Karyn grew up in Bellevue, WA, graduated from Gonzaga University, and holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Washington. She loves the natural beauty of Washington State; outside of work, you will find her exploring tide pools and forests, volunteering in wildlife rehab, hiking or snowshoeing, and tending to an ever-growing jungle of houseplants.

Rene Murry joined Washington Women’s Foundation in 2021. She is a committed leader and policy advocate with a strong foundation in social work, community engagement, and organizational governance. Her career includes roles as a foster parent recruiter, legislative advocate, and board member for multiple nonprofits, where she has helped shape policies that support women, families, and underserved communities.

Ingrid Nelson joined Washington Women’s Foundation in 2022. She had a 40 year career in all aspects of media including training and developing sales and leadership for major media companies. Ingrid joined WaWF to focus on advocacy and grantmaking in justice-related areas.

Ingrid’s greatest joy is spending time with her family—her artist husband, two sons and a daughter, their wonderful spouses, and four perfect grandchildren (two girls and two boys). She loves to travel and learn, be outdoors—hiking or biking. She is also a certified Pilates instructor.

Leslie Rosenberg joined Washington Women’s Foundation in 2023 as part of her journey to understand the non-profit landscape in Washington and to magnify her personal impact by participating in a giving collective. As a member, she enjoys belonging to a community of women focused on questioning norms, making impactful change, and driving giving practices toward equity.

Leslie is a co-founder of Humanize Wealth, a wealth management firm in Seattle focused on helping people activate their financial resources for social impact, environmental justice, and shared prosperity. She deeply enjoys helping people realize the power of their wealth to make meaningful and systemic change. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Bryn Mawr College.

Leslie has also served on the finance committee at Denise Louie Education Center, a non-profit early learning organization serving families who need support the most. Her interests include urban planning, behavioral economics, sustainable coffee, and enjoying the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her daughter, partner, and rescue hound.

Nicole Stellner spent her career in strategic planning and finance roles at Honeywell and Weyerhaeuser. Her education includes a BS in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, an MBA from the University of Washington and a certificate in Nonprofit Management from the University of Washington. Her board service includes Artist Trust, Velocity Dance Center, Seattle Open Arts Place, Annex Theatre, Macha Theatre Works, Seattle Public Theater, Shunpike, and 14/48 Projects. Nicole grew up in Minneapolis before moving to Seattle for graduate school. She is a lifetime arts patron, supporter, volunteer and advocate with a passion for social justice.

Nicole joined Washington Women’s Foundation in 2017 and has served on many grant committees, including Collective Grants leadership. She joined WaWF to learn about collective giving with a passionate group of women. She stays because of our continued transformation and responsiveness to community voices.

Karen Toering has a background as an organizer, cultural worker and consultant for non-profit arts and social justice organizations that is born out of her passion for connecting people to ideas and action. Her work includes social justice philanthropy, base-building and collaboration on media justice and media policy initiatives, strategic engagement in equity and cultural based collaborations designed to close the wealth gap in communities.

Karen’s interest in film and media led her to serve as Consulting Producer for the Seattle Black Film Festival . She is also the founder of the Gary International Black Film Festival in her hometown of Gary, IN, and is co-founder of Sankofa Film Society in Seattle, WA. Karen also enjoys reinvesting in her South Seattle neighborhood as a partner at Black and Tan Hall.

Alison Varco joined Washington Women’s Foundation in 2017 as an opportunity to practice philanthropy in her local community. She has served on the Pooled Fund Grant Committee for 4 years, including two as a co-lead, the Impact Assessment Committee, Women’s Leadership Partner Committee, Capacity Building Committee, and, most recently, Advocacy Committee.

Alison has an undergraduate degree in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Washington, a Certificate in Nonprofit Management and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Evans School of Public Policy and Governance.  She is currently a Program Officer for Women’s Leadership at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where she leads a portfolio of grants dedicated to advancing women’s power and influence in the global health sector. Prior to joining the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Alison spent ten years working for local non-profit organizations in both development and program management.

Alison resides in Ballard with her two young kids.  In her free time, she enjoys traveling, dancing, and exploring Seattle’s dining scene with friends.

Sandy Wolf joined Washington Women’s Foundation in 2023 with a desire to build community while building impact. Sandy is an architect, interior designer, and owner of Office of Ordinary Architecture. She earned her dual bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Interior Architecture from Auburn University, and spent her thesis year at the school’s prestigious design-build program, the Rural Studio. Her work focuses on finding the beauty in the everyday and creating homes that foster healthy communities.