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Board
of Directors
Jennifer Berry
Jennifer Berry is an attorney at Dorsey & Whitney LLP where she practices
labor and employment law. Jennifer is an active member of Dorsey & Whitney's
nationally-recognized Children in Detention pro bono project, for which she
provides free legal assistance to detained immigrant children trying to
escape violence and abuse in their home countries. Jennifer also volunteers
for the Northwest Women's Law Center, where she has served as a volunteer
attorney and as a member of the Law Center's auction committee. Before
attending law school, Jennifer worked as a fundraiser for San Francsisco
Bay Area nonprofits providing low cost legal services for immigrants and
survivors of domestic violence. Jennifer is a trained crisis line advocate
for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, having volunteered
for both La Casa de las Madres in San Francisco and Seattle Rape Relief.
Jennifer received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of
Washington in Comparative History of Ideas and Women Studies; she received
her law degree from the University of Minnesota.
Cedric Davis
Cedric Davis is Director of Marketing and Sales for Emphasis where
he manages market development for new products and image branding. He
is a native of Brunswick, GA and has lived in the Seattle area for 26
years. After receiving his Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Southern
University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he returned
to Seattle where he has gained 10 years of experience in business management,
sales and customer service. His first experience with community service
was with golf clinic as captain of Southern University's golf team and
has, since then, gained extensive experience on committees, programs and
boards serving mostly male adolescents. He was drawn to Powerful Voices
because of their focus on the development of young girls into strong women.
With two younger sisters, a six year old daughter and a five year old
niece he is familiar with supporting adolescent girls so this experience
will be an exciting journey. His passions are faith, time with his wife
and daughter and competition golf and will integrate them into his service
with Powerful Voices.
Minty Jeffrey
Minty Jeffrey is the co-founder of ColorsNW, Inc. in Seattle. Minty started
her career in higher education as the assistant to the Director of Minority Student
Affairs at Seattle University. She left Seattle University to accept a position
as Public Relations Coordinator for the Seattle Times. There, Minty sat on the
newspaper's Diversity Council. A published poet and playwright, Minty, who is an
enrolled member of the Santee Indian Nation of South Carolina, mixed with
Muskogee-Creek/Choctaw/Anglo-American and African-American, gained recognition
as a motivational keynote speaker and private consultant specializing in
Multiethnic Indigenous heritage, transracial adoption, urban native awareness,
Greek Lettered Organizational affairs, multiracialism, multiculturalism and
cultural nuance. Minty serves on the University of Washington's Native American
Advisory Board. She is also a standing member of the CASE District VIII Committee
for Opportunity and Equity.
Melanie Roberson
Melanie Roberson comes to the Powerful Voices with over twelve years of
education and community development experience. Originally from Denver,
CO, Melanie graduated with honors from Wesleyan University, where she
studied African American Studies and Government. After serving in various
community development and educational leadership roles, she earned a Masters
in Education Policy, Research and Administration from Harvard University.
Currently she manages content development for corporate trainers. Melanie
has lived in several large urban cities in the United States and has traveled
extensively around the world to places like Africa, India and Brazil,
and her work and travel to these places has made her deeply passionate
about issues of social justice. As a former high school teacher, she is
also dedicated to working to for high quality education for poverty-stricken
children in her community and around the world. In addition to her role
on the PV board, she is a committed mentor for high school youth, and
volunteers her time with several local, national and international organizations
that serve the educational and health needs of women and people of color.
Daveda Russell
Daveda Russell is a diehard Chicagoan that loves laughter, “talking story”, and
great food and beverage. Daveda currently works for Pyramid. Having worked as
an educator, consultant and manager in a foundation, Daveda brings skills in
collaboration, community engagement and strategic planning to Pyramid and
Powerful Voices. Prior to joining Pyramid, Daveda served as the Manager of
Education for Casey Family Programs, the largest operational foundation in
the country focused on child welfare. There she used her experience as a
university administrator, facilitator and curriculum designer to manage a
national scholarship program as well as identify and implement education
based best practices for children in out of home care. Before she came to
Seattle, Daveda worked as a high school English teacher and performing artist
in Chicago. Daveda earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Aurora
University, and a master’s degree in multicultural education and international
studies from Columbia College-Chicago.
Rachel Schindler
Born in San Francisco, Rachel Schindler learned about the importance of recycling
from her parents at an early age. The mantra of reduce, reuse and recycle was a
constant. After a successful stint in the technology industry, Rachel began
running the business side of Hed Kandi, a music label in London, England. It
was here that she was able to implement a greener lifestyle. When she relocated
to Seattle, she began working full time as an agent with Windermere Real
Estate with a focus on Green Builders. As a member of Built Green and the
EcoBuilding Guild, Rachel is committed to going green in every way. In addition
to her role as a Green ambassador, Rachel is also involved in the
community. Currently a 'Big' in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program she spends
quite a bit of time with her 'little'. She is also the Windermere Foundation
Representative for the Eastlake office. This is an additional responsibility
that enables her to help distribute the more than two million dollars that the
Windermere Foundation donates annually to local non-profit agencies dedicated
to helping homeless and low-income families. Rachel is also a VERY proud Board
Member of Powerful Voices, an amazing organization helping adolescent girls gain
strength and confidence.
Sarita Siqueiros
Sarita Siquerios has over ten years of experience in the nonprofit and
public sectors. This includes work in the areas of program evaluation,
fundraising and development, program administration, and philanthropy.
Since arriving in Seattle in 2002 she has worked as an evaluation
officer at Marguerite Casey Foundation and done community outreach for
Social Justice Fund NW, a regional member-based foundation. Sarita
currently consults for a local grantmaking foundation. In addition to
her role on the PV board she serves as a community advisory board
member at Youth Media Institute, a digital arts-based organization
working with youth around issues of media access, media democracy and
media justice. Sarita received a B.A. in Sociology from the University
of California, Santa Cruz and her Masters degree in Public
Administration from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at
the University of Washington.
Laura Swapp
Laura Swapp brings a variety of experience to her board service at Powerful
Voices. Laura has a background working as a staff member in a non-profit,
where she helped build operational capacity. She is a founding member of
the Community Action Research Center in California, and currently serves
on the advisory committee for the NW diversity learning series.
Ruth Tressel
Ruth Tressel brings two decades of experience as an attorney. Formerly a partner
at Preston Gates & Ellis, Ruth spent several years as General Counsel of a small
start-up in Kirkland, and now has her own firm where her practice focuses on
technology licensing and related intellectual property issues. She also is a
member of the adjunct faculty at the Seattle University School of Law where she
created and teaches a course on electronic discovery. During her professional
career, she has volunteered for various pro bono causes, including the King County
Bar Association landlord tenant program and family law clinic. A native of Seattle,
Ruth obtained her Bachelors Degree in Political Science from Seattle University and
her law degree from Harvard. Ruth has served on the boards of various nonprofits,
including 11 years on the Seattle University Board of Regents, where she currently
holds Regent Emeritus status, and 2 years on the Meridian School Board of Trustees.
Her Meridian Board work currently includes chairing multiple committees, with a focus
on fund development, policy development and governance issues. Ruth also is Co-Chair
of the 2007 Powerful Voices Luncheon and participates on the Fund Development Committee.
Raised in a family of seven girls, and as a parent of a "tween" daughter, Ruth is
well-versed in the issues and challenges confronting adolescent girls.
Lara Underhill
Lara Underhill manages Regional Banking Communications for Wells Fargo in Washington. She
is responsible for media relations and internal communications for consumer and business
banking and the Wealth Management Group. She is a native of Charlotte, NC and has lived
in Seattle since 2000. Lara graduated from the University of South Carolina where she
earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Before joining the Powerful Voices board, Lara
was an active volunteer with the organization and served as Luncheon Co-Chair in 2005.
She is passionate about girls and is thrilled to be a part of an organization that promotes
the empowerment of strong young women.
Brian Wainscoat
Brian Wainscoat is a Certified Public Accountant. His practice focuses on high net wealth
individuals, strategic tax planning, charitable trusts, private foundations and public charities.
Over the past eight years, Brian has worked as the only male in an otherwise all female firm and
has recognized the importance of a flexible work schedule for mothers that wish to maintain a
professional career while maintaining an important role in their children’s development. It is
his goal at Powerful Voices and within the community to continue to support the development of
adolescent girls in becoming successful and confident in their own lives and positive role models
for other girls in their lives. Born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Brian moved to Southern
California and returned to the northwest to attend and graduate from Washington State University
in 1999. He currently resides in the Seattle area.
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