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Staff
Rita Alcantara
Program Director
Rita was born and raised in south Seattle by two amazing Filipino parents. For a short time, she ran away to a
place with a bit more sun, attending Santa Clara University and earning a B.A. in Studio Art and Art History. After
graduating, Rita promptly returned to Seattle, its comforting rain and the strong community that surrounded her here.
After a few years working as a photographer, she felt compelled to give back to the very community that raised her
and so began her journey in the world of non-profit arts education and youth development. Rita is excited to join
the PV team and feels honored to be considered a colleague among individuals of such passion and caliber. Rita loves
karaoke, hip-hop, traveling, eating, being brown and being a girl.
Tyler Bosma
Office Manager
After a boring but privileged suburban Seattle upbringing, Tyler attended the UW, doing his bachelors
studies in Linguistics and Scandinavian Area Studies. After college, he moved to the Georgia, where he had
an amazing learning experience (along with some culture shock) while he worked for two years in a rural factory.
He then started courses in Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia, focusing on queer
theory along with race, class, and gender, eventually earning an MA. Through his work at Powerful Voices,
Tyler is involved with the Children, Youth & Family Sub-Coalition of the Seattle Human Services Coalition and
the Safe Schools Coalition. Tyler loves working at Powerful Voices, and is excited DAILY to be a part of such
amazing and important work in support of girls. In his free time, Tyler volunteers for the United Way Free
Tax campaign and for the Seattle Public Library, since he believes that libraries can be a resource for amazing
personal and social change. Tyler also works as Operations Coordinator for another great Seattle non-profit --
Seattle Works, and is excited for the changes that increased volunteerism will bring to our communities.
Chel Cendana
Instructional Coordinator, Girls RAP
Chel was born in Bremerton and moved to Seattle as a young child. She was a
student within the Seattle Public Schools, and then attended the University of
Washington with a focus in American Ethnic Studies. During her time at the UW,
she was also a youth worker for the YMCA and YWCA. After a few years of being
a working student, she left the area to do a little more learning and growing.
During her time away as a volunteer youth worker in the United Kingdom, she
realized that there was no other place that she would rather return to than
the beautiful Pacific Northwest. She joined the PV team in January 2007 and
is grateful to be able to work within the schools that she once attended.
Chel also enjoys doing work within the Filipino community, supporting local
hip hop, playing the guitar, traveling and being in the company of good people.
Sera Day
GirlsRAP AmeriCorps Intern
Sera was born in Hanford, California, and moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1999. In
2005 she moved to Seattle for a much needed return to the West Coast. She transferred
from Middle Tennessee State to Seattle University and graduated in 2008 with degrees
in Sociology and Women Studies. She has been volunteering with Powerful Voices as an
adult participant in the Girls RAP program since 2006, and is now thrilled to be
devoting another year to PV through JustServe AmeriCorps. In her free time Sera
loves biking around Seattle, yoga, crossword puzzles, traveling, reading, and
local hip-hop. In the future she plans to go to graduate school for Gender and
Cultural Studies and continue working with youth.
Devon De Leña
STAGES AmeriCorps Intern
Devon de Leņa was born and raised by two very progressive parents in a not so
progressive town (Bellevue Wa). She is proud to say that she has four amazing
sisters and grew up in a large tight-knit family. After transferring to Western
Washington University to finish her undergraduate degree she joined a campus
outreach group called Women's Empowerment and Violence Education. Her experience
revealed the injustices of women in her community and inspired her to create a
self designed B.A. in "Cross-Cultural Women's Empowerment." After graduating
Devon traveled to Kenya to work with adolescent girls on healthy lifestyle
choices and HIV/AIDS. Devon is thrilled to be the Just Serve Americorp Member
for PV this year. On her off time Devon enjoys watching movies, cooking and
relaxing with her rambunctious family.
Tanya Kim
Executive Director
At PV she integrates her passion for the arts, youth development and leadership
development. She has over twelve years of experience in implementing and managing
youth programs. She is a member of the Minority Executive Directors Coalition,
Asian Pacific Directors Coalition, Seattle/King County Gang Prevention Taskforce,
Juvenile Detention Oversight Committee, Washington Women’s Foundation Impact
Assessment Committee and Women Business Owners. Outside of PV, Tanya serves on
the Minority Advisory Board to the President of Western Washington University
(WWU) and served on the Korean Community Counseling Center Board of Directors.
Tanya is a graduate of WWU (1997) and completed Stanford University’s Graduate
School of Business Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders (2008).
Erica Merritt
Instructional Coordinator, Girls RAP
Erica Merritt was born and raised in Seattle. She has worked in the field of
social services for over 13 years, which includes 8 years of direct case
management and 6 years of group facilitation/instruction. Erica began her work
with the City of Seattle Parks and Rec. in 1993. She later was introduced to
the world of non-profit through YouthCare in 1996. Erica has since then,
continuously worked in the non-profit sector. Most of her experience includes
working with diverse groups of individuals who vary in socio-economic,
cultural and racial backgrounds. Because of her strong roots in our community,
she has built a strong foundation for networking and forming partnerships
with surrounding agencies throughout the greater Seattle area. Erica is
extremely passionate about the work she does and is proud to be a part of
the PV team. Erica is also well known for being a local singer and song writer. In
her spare time she also enjoys teaching voice and culinary arts to inner city youth.
Ann Muno
Associate Director
Ann helped found Powerful Voices in 1995. Her social work experience spans the past fifteen
years, including work with schools and community organizations, and is
rooted in a deep commitment to the next generation of girls. Through her
much-cherished involvement in Powerful Voices, Ann has the opportunity to
see girls take hold of their potential and flourish, staff and volunteers
create educationally exciting spaces for girls, and the community invest in
girls' lives. One day, she'd also enjoy the opportunity to study how female
adolescence differs for Italian-American and Italian girls. Ann is an
Illinois native and has lived in Seattle since 1990. She is the proud mother
of five children.
Molly Pencke
Instructional Coordinator, STAGES
Molly Pencke was lucky enough to grow up in the south end of Seattle with her
amazingly supportive parents and big sister, who is one of her best friends.
She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2002 and earned
her B.A. in Community Studies with a minor in Education. During her time there
she was the queen of internships and interned at elementary schools, in a juvenile
detention center, with youth mentoring organizations, and internationally with a
human rights organization in Nicaragua. After college, she could not wait to get
back to Seattle to start her career in youth empowerment. While looking for work
she took a detour and ended up getting her cosmetology license and has been a part
time hair stylist ever since. Molly’s recent experience in organizing and working
for social justice came from her work as a youth counselor at a residential shelter
for homeless and displaced youth and as a program manager working with residents
in affordable housing. She is thrilled to be part of the Powerful Voices team
and is actually excited to go to “work” most days. She enjoys reading, creative
writing, painting, dancing, singing if no one is listening, building relationships,
keeping the peace, eating, and traveling. In the future she will found a youth
empowerment non-profit and plans on writing at least one novel, becoming fluent
in Spanish, traveling the world, and becoming a mother.
RaGina Sampson
Youth Advocate/Case Manager
RaGina Sampson was born on a refugee plane over East of Hawaii while her mother was flying
to the US from Guam. RaGina’s background and ethnicity is Chinese, Vietnamese and French
with her roots in Saigon now known as Ho Chi Min City. She grew up in SeaTac and now has
made the Central District her home for over 10 years. She attended Tacoma Community College
with her major in human services. She has worked for several non profit organizations and
her passion for organizing has become her other job as a personal organizer. She enjoys
volunteering in the community facilitating art projects with children, doing community
outreach and as a mentor. She is dedicated to incorporating her knowledge of undoing
institutionalized racism, sexism and oppression in all her work. She has a strong sense
of community and is a strong community activist. She enjoys spending most of her free
time with her daughter and puppy. Her other favorite activities include writing, doing
an artistic or creative project and watching independent films.
Sarah Walczyk
Director of Development and Marketing
Sarah Walczyk joined Powerful Voices in November 2006. Sarah brings
several years of substantial fund-raising experience to Powerful Voices,
having worked and volunteered with other non-profit organizations in the
Seattle area since 1998. Before coming to PV, Sarah worked at YouthCare,
where she developed a passion for fundraising for at-risk youth. Sarah is
very excited to be part of the PV family and is eager to work with the
community to promote PV’s programs for adolescent girls. She received her
B.A. in Arts History and Museum Studies from The Evergreen State College. In
her free time, Sarah enjoys listening to music, cooking, volunteering, and
watching movies.
Gloria Womack
STAGES Instructional Coordinator
Gloria was born in Florida but raised in Ohio. While living in Ohio she obtained
her B.A. in Criminal Justice from Our Lady of Lourdes College. Gloria has always
worked in the social service industry, including working with youth in residential
care, juvenile corrections and Girl Scouts. Prior to joining PV Gloria worked as
the Program Manager for the Girl Scouts Beyond Bars Program which focuses on girls
whose mothers are incarcerated in the state of Washington. Gloria has always had
a passion for working with at-risk and underserved youth. She believes in
advocating for them and providing them with tools and resources to help them
have a successful future. Outside of working with youth Gloria enjoys dancing,
playing pool and reading and watching Sci-Fi.
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