Susan Barley joined the 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.

Sue Bennett joined the Foundation in 1997. She has served on the Executive Committee as Secretary, and as Chair of the Pooled Fund Grant Committee and the 10th Anniversary Committee. Sue is former the Executive Director of Leadership Tomorrow, an organization whose purpose is to educate, inspire, connect, and catalyze cross-sector leaders who work together for collective impact. Prior to this, she was the Senior Learning Manager at Philanthropy Northwest, an organization that works with grant makers in six northwest states and Hawai’i to promote effective, collaborative grantmaking. Sue has served on the boards of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Child Care Resources, Planned Parenthood, The Reed Coleman Family Foundation, and Cancer Lifeline. She graduated from Stanford University. Sue has been a part of the Foundation since the very beginning and is humbled and inspired by the many smart and engaged women who continue to find new ways to learn together and have collective impact. Sue is an optimist and is confident that together we can create a better, healthier, more equitable community for all.

Aru Chandorkar joined Washington Women’s Foundation (WaWF) in 2011. She has served as the chair of the Pooled Fund Grant Committee and the Impact Assessment Committee, and participated in the WaWF DEI training. Aru joined the Foundation impressed (and intrigued!) by the unique model of collective giving. She values the many learning opportunities and cherishes the connections made with fellow members over the years. Aru is proud to be part of a collective that is willing to have honest, thought-provoking and often difficult conversations, and seeks to learn and grow together while striving for a more lasting and meaningful impact. Aru has been a passionate and dedicated community volunteer for the past 25 years.

She is a founding member of Cultural Committee of Gurukul – an educational initiative to apprise children of Indian origin about the vibrant culture of India. She volunteered with YWCA Village and Hopelink in Redmond, and with Healthy Start, a parenting education and support program for young families in need. She was an active volunteer at her children’s schools, serving as PTA President and Board member.

Aru grew up in India and graduated with a Masters in Mathematical Statistics from Delhi University. She moved to the United States in 1988. Having raised a family in an increasingly diverse area, she is a strong advocate for effective collaboration and ensuring all diverse voices and opinions are heard. She loves long walks (rain or shine) and curling up with a good book with 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 the Foundation in 2003 and has served on a variety of Grant and Board Committees. She was born and raised in Oakland and Berkeley, California and is a graduate of Humboldt State University. Her professional experience includes over 20 years of HR leadership in the Seattle area. She previously served as the board treasurer of Yoga Behind Bars – an organization she discovered during the collective grant process. Cedra has lived in Washington since 1994 and loves being close to the water and the mountains. She joined the Foundation to be part of a collective of amazing women who learn, grow and work together to promote a more equitable community.

Janet Frohnmayer is an experienced board leader and community volunteer. She currently serves as the Board President of both Educurious, focused on project-based learning, and the Diabesity Institute, dedicated to the science of metabolism. 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, is the Chair of the Membership and Resource Development Committee, and participates on as many grant committees as she can.  She is a member of  Northwest Advisory Board of the Trust for Public Land and the Sound Generations Board of Directors.  She previously served on the boards of Seattle Shakespeare Company, Seattle Academy, and PEPS. Now retired, Barbara practiced law for over twenty years at Juno Therapeutics, as General Counsel of Active Voice, and in private practice. Barbara is graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School.   

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

Yvonne Hall has been a member of the Foundation since 2001 and currently serves on the Finance & Investment Audit Committee. During her time with the organization, she has held leadership positions as chair of the Finance & Investment Audit Committee and Treasurer. She has also served on the Membership Committee, several Diversity Partner Grant Committees, and the Pooled Fund Grant Committee. Yvonne joined the Washington Women’s Foundation because she believes in the empowerment of women and girls as a source of positive change in our world and enjoys working with other women to bring about those changes. She values the opportunity to learn, grow, and be challenged in the supportive and collaborative culture of the organization. Professionally, Yvonne is one of the founding partners of the Hall & Dornan Capital Partners. She and her team of financial professionals (all women) provide holistic planning and wealth management services to individuals and families. Yvonne earned and maintains the Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) designation and the credential of Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®). She earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Berry College in North Georgia. She also is a certified yoga instructor, practices regularly, and teaches periodically through Smiling Yoga.

Melinda Herrin joined the Foundation in 2017 and has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2019. She currently serves on the Membership Taskforce and previously served on the Member Engagement and Pooled Fund Grant Committees.

Melinda is an owner and principal at Metrix Engineers in Renton; a firm specializing in mechanical and electrical building consulting and design. She leads a team that designs mechanical systems for buildings in the K-12 market sector. She is involved in the Washington State Association for Learning Environments serving on the conference and meeting logistic committees. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and twin toddlers, being outdoors, running, and playing lacrosse.

Melinda is inspired by the Foundation’s willingness to listen, learn, and adjust as needed to make the biggest impact in partnership with the local community. She also enjoys being a part of this collective and meeting new people through the Foundation.

Nikki Huang joined the Foundation in 2018 and is excited about the collective giving process as well as the ongoing learning opportunities. She served on the Pooled Fund Grants Committee in 2019 and 2020 and joined the Capacity Building Grants Committee in 2020; currently serving on the Membership Taskforce. Since 2014, she has been the Director of Development and Marketing for Denise Louie Education Center, a nonprofit early learning organization in King County. In this role, she oversees all philanthropy efforts to grow the agency’s capital and unrestricted funding as well oversee all marketing and external communications.

Nikki brings in over 18 years of nonprofit experience, taking on a range of roles from being Highline Medical Center Foundation’s Development Manager to CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Washtenaw County’s Executive Director. She has served as a Board Member for the International Community Health Services Foundation, API Chaya, and was on the Komen of Puget Sound’s grant committee. Nikki has 3 young children and is currently a Board Member for the Kawabe Memorial Fund and holds a Master of Public Administration from Seattle University.

Kris Kaminishi envisions a more just and inclusive society through the power of philanthropy, nonprofits, and advocacy working together. She is the 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. She is an advisor and former team lead at Common Power with the goal of voting rights access for all. In the past two decades, she has been a nonprofit and philanthropic leader, fundraiser, volunteer 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, strength, 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 has been immersed in the Seattle area nonprofit and philanthropic community for more 15 years. During her career, she has worked in the arts, health and human services, education, and environmental sectors – with deep personal commitments to social justice, 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 this part of the world; outside of work, you will find her exploring tide pools and forests, traveling, volunteering with wildlife, hiking or snowshoeing, and tending to an ever-growing jungle of houseplants.

Karyn joined Washington Women’s Foundation as a member in December 2021 to deepen her learning of collective, trust-based philanthropy and engage in positive social change for our communities.

Leslie Rosenburg joined the 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 invest their values toward social impact, environmental justice, and shared prosperity. She has a Bachelors degree in Economics from Bryn Mawr College.

Leslie serves on the finance committee at Denise Louie Education Center, a non-profit early learning organization serving families who need support the most. She lives in Northeast Seattle with her husband, daughter, and rescue hound, and spends much of her time outdoors exploring the beautiful Pacific Northwest and drinking coffee.

Jennifer Sik joined Washington Women’s Foundation in 2010. She currently serves on the Governance Committee and Membership Task Force.  She also has served on the Pooled Fund Grant Committee, several Partner Grant Committees, the Impact Assessment Committee, and the Intersect Planning Committee, before joining the board.  Jennifer is a Wealth Management Advisor at Merrill Lynch Bellevue, working with clients to transform wealth to life goals and making an impact to the community. Her education includes a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts and English Linguistics from the University of Hong Kong and a Master’s of Applied Finance from Macquarie University, Australia. Jennifer is an alumna of Leadership Tomorrow and has served on various boards, including Women’s Funding Alliance, Mercer Island Rotary Club, and Mercer Island Youth and Family Services Foundation. Jennifer joined the WaWF transformation to be part of a collective force that helps bring more equity to our community.

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, Annex Theatre, Macha Theatre Works, Seattle Public Theater, Shunpike, 14/48 Projects, and 18th & Union. 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 has been a member of Washington Women’s Foundation since 2017 and has served on many grant committees, including the Collective Grants leadership team for the past three years. 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 the 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. In this role, Alison also serves on the Gender Equality Division’s DEI committee, leads her team’s strategy and portfolio related to empowering women leaders, and acts as an internal consultant to teams interesting in advancing women leaders in their 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.