Bridge Conference Steering Committee 2011

Overview
The Steering Committee is made up of individuals and organizations that support School’s Out Washington’s (SOWA) mission of building community systems to support quality afterschool and youth development programs for all 5-18 year olds that provide safe places to learn and grow when not in school. Committee members provide input and guidance on issues related to the delivery of workshops, networking opportunities and general sessions with the goal of creating a relevant and meaningful two-day professional development experience for all those involved.

Objectives

Identify and support effective outreach strategies to potential conference participants that would benefit from attending this two-day professional development experience;
Identify prospective sponsors and support outreach efforts to generate underwriting for scholarships;
Support youth engagement and participation;
Support conference preparations and onsite logistics; and
Support the development of onsite networking opportunities.

Committee Members are:

Tenlee Bell

She has almost 30 years experience in customer service and 15 years office experience. She worked at Boeing for two years, which gave her experience in managing upper level management schedules and event planning. Her 10 years experience at Washington Association for the Education of Young Children brought her into this field, working with and supporting child care providers. She worked on the planning of their state-wide annual conference, co-created and planned their first conference completely in Spanish. For the past four years, she has been on the board of the Trainer and Educator Conference and been integral in the planning of all four adult trainer conferences.

Marisa Bier
Program Coordinator
University of Washington Secondary Teacher Education Program

She is a former Special Education teacher and received her PhD in Education - Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Washington. She then took the position of Secondary Teacher Education Program Coordinator and for the last two years, she has worked to help implement the newly revised program. Part of that work includes establishing a deeper, more collaborative relationship with partner schools and teacher leaders. It also includes integrating experiences that broaden the scope of the teacher candidates perspective on what it means to be a teacher within a school and community.

Courtney Cameron
Manager of Community and School Partnerships
Seattle Public Schools - Office of Chief Academic Officer

Lara Davis
Program Director
Arts Corps

In addition to overseeing program development and community partnerships for Arts Corps, Lara co-leads the organization's outreach and advancement work, which is dedicated to stewarding Arts Corps's anti-oppression/racial justice agenda. Over the past 15 years of her professional career, Lara has been active in youth development, arts & arts education and social justice work with groups such as Seattle Young People's Project, Queer Youth Rights, Communities Against Rape and Abuse, Seattle AFSC, the Seattle Arts Commission and more. As a musician, sound artist, collaborator, and activist, she knows firsthand the power of creativity as a key component for community building and engaging in justice work. Lara's passion for the belief that art inspires possibility, reinforces Arts Corps' mission and goals.

Janet Edwards
4-H STEM Specialist
Washington State University

4-H STEM Specialist on the Washington State 4-H staff. More than 20 years of professional experience in youth development. Regularly provide professional development experiences for local, regional and national audiences. Many years experience working with Afterschool Programs.

Darlene Flynn
Policy and Development Lead
City of Seattle - Seattle Office for Civil Rights

Tina LaPadula
Education Director / Teaching Artist
Arts Corps

Tina LaPadula is a performance teaching artist, the Education Director of Arts Corps, as well as one of its founders. Her commitment to emergent curriculum, art for social change and student-centered assessment, helped shape the Arts Corps philosophy. Tina has taught theatre, performance and storytelling at Centrum Arts, A Contemporary Theatre, Hilltop Children's Center and Seattle Children's Theatre. She has facilitated experiential learning courses called "Making Student Learning Visible" through the University of Washington's Pipeline Project, and leads workshops on assessment strategies, classroom management, and creative habits for The Mayor's Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, Seattle Public Schools, Gear Up, School's Out Washington, and various national conferences. Tina is a proud board member of the Association of Teaching Artists and credits her early work at the YWCA for teaching her the fundamentals of youth care and illuminating the huge need for quality arts experiences for all young people.

Lynda Llavore
Program Director, Expanded Learning
Community Schools Collaboration

Lynda Llavore has experience designing curricula, teaching and programming for at-risk youth and years of experience in training and youth program management. She holds a secondary teaching certificate and received her certificate in Human Services Management from the University of Washington, School of Social Work in 1996. She also took post graduate courses on Instructional Systems Development from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Regina Lum-Witkoske
Program Assistant
School's Out Washington

As the Program Assistant, Regina provides operational, administrative and fiscal support for the annual Bridge Conference as well as other statewide training and events. She graduated from Northwood University in Michigan with a Bachelors in Business Administration, majoring in Marketing & Management. Born and raised in Malaysia, Regina grew up being actively involved in afterschool and youth development programs herself and believes that a well-rounded education is important for young people. Therefore, she believes that working with SOWA will help her pursue her passion in providing safe places for young people to learn and grow.

"bob" Maureen
Youth Development Coach
Be True Coaching

"bob" is a Youth Development Coach, currently living in Spokane. She works with youth serving organizations to improve program quality, professional development, and helps align actions with desirable outcomes. She also coaches individuals committed to improving communication with youth (parents, guardians, youth workers). "bob" has 16 years of experience working with youth in different capacities. She directed an LGBT Youth Center in Salt Lake City, organized high adventure trips for camping organizations, provided street outreach to Homeless Youth, designed volunteer programs, managed 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and recently started her own coaching business. "bob" is passionate about making the world a better place and encourages others to recognize their potential and take action.

Eve McDermott
Sr. Director
Education Northwest

Dr. Eve McDermott is Senior Program Director for the Center for School, Family and Community; including the National Mentoring Center, Volunteer Leadership Center, Child and Family Program, and Education Career and Community. Her work experience includes a decade of community college administration and two decades of work with volunteer community based organizations. In her 10 years at Education Northwest, she has participated in numerous evaluation projects and provided training and technical assistance for Youth Mentoring projects, GEAR UP, School to Work, Afterschool programs, and Corporation for National and Community Service. Her areas of expertise are in qualitative research, Organization and Program Development, Strategic Planning, Volunteer Management.

Ron Mirabueno
Youth Employment and Service Learning Program Coordinator
Seattle Parks and Recreation

He is the father of two amazing girls ages two and four and has been married to his best friend for nearly seven years and they are the inspiration for everything he does. He's worked in the youth development field for nearly two decades and more recently, the past nine years focusing on youth employment, leadership development and academic support programming for middle school and high school aged youth. He feels that out of school time programs can provide enriching and meaningful opportunities for youth to explore the world and their roles within.

Travis Smith
Program Supervisor, 21st Century Community Learning Centers
Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction

Chris Tugwell
Director, Technology Programs
YMCA of Greater Seattle

Chris Tugwell is the director of technology programs at the Metrocenter YMCA, a branch of the YMCA of Greater Seattle. He provides leadership for digital inclusion and employment and training programs for youth and adults. In addition, he manages Puget SoundOff.org, an innovative, local civic engagement website that offers young people meaningful opportunities to publish content, learn from and collaborate with peers. He received his Bachelor of Science at the University of Phoenix and serves on the Communities Connect Network Board.

Harla Tumbleson
Director
SOAR

Harla Tumbleson is social worker/community organizer who is currently the Director of SOAR, a King County WA coalition dedicated to building partnerships that promote the health and well-being of children, youth and families.

Amanda Thomas
Education Policy Director
School's Out Washington

As Director of Education Policy for SOWA, Amanda leads our organization’s policy initiatives to broaden and deepen the reach of Afterschool Youth Development (AYD) within both the education sector, and in the afterschool and youth development field. She’s tasked with helping establish AYD programs as a critical strategy to address the achievement gap in Washington State. Amanda’s professional background spans nonprofit, county and state government. Before joining SOWA, she was Governor appointed staff for the Arizona Governor’s Office of Children, Youth & Families under Governors Janet Napolitano & Janice Brewer administrations. Amanda holds a BA with an emphasis in Public Policy & Law from the Evergreen State College-Tacoma campus.

Zach Wilson
Educational Services Director
School's Out Washington

Zach began his work with School's Out Washington in 2002 as an apprentice in the Trainer Apprentice Project and went on to be a contracted onsite trainer. With over four years experience as SOWA’s Educational Services Director, Zach leads the successful and respected annual Bridge Conferences. He supports the overall organizational growth, budget development and marketing for all of SOWA’s fee-based services. He has a strong focus on supporting effective community partnerships, including those between schools and onsite afterschool providers. Zach has a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from the University of Washington.