Board

IslandWood Co-Founder

Paul and his wife Debbi co-founded IslandWood in 1999.  Previously, Paul worked in the software industry for many years. He founded Aldus Corporation and coined the term “desktop publishing” for Aldus PageMaker software that allowed layout and design to be performed on microcomputers.  In 1994, he founded The Brainerd Foundation to protect environmental quality in the Pacific Northwest. Paul is a founding partner of Social Venture Partners. Paul and Debbi’s newest philanthropic venture is a net-zero energy, sustainable tourism and community development project in New Zealand known as The Headwaters. Paul and Debbi were recognized by Cascade Land Conservancy with a Lifetime Achievement Award and received the University of Washington College of Education’s Distinguished Service Award.

Chairman of the Board at Seattle Foundation

Fraser is the Managing Partner at Pioneer Square Investments, an investment company focused on early-stage startups and real estate projects in the Pacific Northwest. His more than 25 years of financial and general management experience in leadership positions at high-growth businesses includes serving as the Chief Financial Officer at ONYX Software, Group Manager at Ashton-Tate and Financial Analyst at Salomon Brothers. He has also served on the boards of numerous businesses including Lumera Corp. (LMRA), Washington Securities, Ballard Mill Properties, and Plexera.  Fraser is an active philanthropist in the education and environmental fields.  He is a board member or adviser with nonprofit organizations including Social Venture Partners, Seattle Foundation, IslandWood, Equal Opportunity Schools, Powerful Schools, and the Business Partnership for Early Learning.  He has an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, and a Bachelor degree from Harvard.

President and Executive Director, The Ginger and Barry Ackerley Foundation

Kim is a Partner and Co-Founder of Ackerley Partners, LLC and is currently the President and Executive Director of The Ginger and Barry Ackerley Foundation. Prior to her work at Ackerley Partners and The Ginger and Barry Ackerley Foundation, she served as the Vice President of Marketing at The Ackerley Group. She is a Trustee of the University of Washington Foundation and Co-Chair of the Ambassador Board for The College of Education. Kim is also the Vice-Chair of the Communications Advisory Committee for The University of Washington. She is an Emeritus Board Member of Thrive by Five, IslandWood and Seattle Works, which she co-founded and served as the first Board President. Kim is a past Board Member of PONCHO, Arts Fund and the Alumnae Board of Forest Ridge School, where she received the Tres Bien Award for being the most outstanding alumnae of the 1980s. She graduated from the University of Southern California with a BA in Communications.

Community Volunteer

Ty is a community volunteer. A mother of six, she has devoted much of her time volunteering for various school efforts including the Chair of the Board for Lakeside School. Previously a certified Childbirth Educator and doula she continues to support maternal and family health through the Human Right to Family Planning Initiative, the Bastyr University Department of Midwifery, and as a member of the University of Washington Department of Global Health Leadership Council. For recreation she enjoys triathlons and has completed two IronMan Races. Ty, and her husband, are founders of Heyday Farm, on Bainbridge Island, a sustainable, agricultural effort to provide locally sourced foods to the community. She holds an MA from the Maxwell School of Public Administration, Syracuse University and a Graduate Certificate in Global Health from the University of Washington.

Martha Kongsgaard was born and raised in Napa, Calif., to a family of jurists, grape growers, and cattle ranchers. Kongsgaard, a lawyer, married Peter Goldman in 1988 and collaborated with him to found the Kongsgaard-Goldman Foundation, which has invested in not for profit environmental, social justice and arts organizations in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. She is a founding board member of IslandWood.  Her community activities have included participation on the boards of Earthjustice, the Bullitt Foundation, The Ruckelshaus Center, Friends of the Waterfront, The Future of the Law Institute, Friends of the Methow, UW’s College of the Environment and Center for Human Rights, and The Puget Sound Institute.  Kongsgaard has served as the president of Philanthropy Northwest, and is the immediate past chair of the Washington Women’s Foundation. Martha is the immediate past chair and founding member of the Leadership Council of the Puget Sound Partnership, and serves as Chair of the Marine Resource Advisory Council for Governor Inslee. Martha has been honored with the Nancy Nordhoff Civic Leadership Award by City Club, Woman of the Year Award by Seattle University School of Law, the Environmental Hero Award by the Washington Environmental Council, the Seattle Aquarium Medal for leadership and lifetime achievement, and in 2015, was the inaugural recipient of the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance Inspiration Award.

Business Consultant

Dennis is the past CEO of REI, where he worked for nearly 40 years. Since retiring in 2005, Dennis has redirected his decades of business leadership and experience to assisting strong retail, business, and nonprofit brands as a board member. Past and present board memberships include IslandWood, Alaska Airlines, Performance Bicycle, Evo.com, Western Washington University, Pivotlink Software and West Marine Inc. He earned a B.S. in Engineering from Seattle Pacific University and enrolled in the M.B.A. program at Pacific Lutheran University.

Business Strategist, Non-Profit Leader

Beth has 20+ years of experience in strategic planning, non-profit leadership, brand management, and finance with a commitment to igniting growth and creating positive change within organizations. Her organizational experience ranges from small start-ups to growing non-profits like IslandWood and Bainbridge Art Museum, and larger corporations like Nestle USA and The Clorox Company. Beth’s industry expertise includes investment real estate, consumer products, education, the arts, advertising, architectural products, fashion and food. She received her MBA in marketing from UCLA and a BS in finance and accounting from UC Berkeley.

Catalytic Strategist

Katherine is passionate about ensuring that world-changing ideas and people achieve and sustain success. Her deep experience in for-profit and non-profit board roles as well as a corporate executive and hands-on strategist & implementation consultant ranges from scrappy, fast-growth entrepreneurial start-up ventures to corporate social impact work to building global business franchises for Fortune 1000 companies. These have included Microsoft, HP, Adobe, TOMS Shoes, Getty Images, Theo Chocolate, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Threshold Group, and GreaterGood.com, among others. She is currently working with IslandWood founders Debbi and Paul Brainerd on a unique hospitality and retail project in New Zealand that seeks to create a new model for environmental, community and financial sustainability. Run as a for-profit entity with all profits going into a community trust, The Headwaters will feature NZ’s first Net Zero energy campground. Katherine is a 15-year board member and former board chair of IslandWood and spent 14 years as a board member and two as chair of the Washington Technology Industry Association. She currently serves on two for-profit company boards: Threshold Group and Conenza. Katherine’s ability to see the future and make it happen resulted in being highlighted as one of “The Visionaries” in Seattle Magazine’s annual selection of 25 people who are making a difference in the city.

Perkins Coie, Partner

Al is a partner in the Perkins Coie’s business practice, with more than 30 years of experience in the areas of commercial and finance transactions, bankruptcy, insolvency, and reorganization. He works with numerous companies, including The Boeing Company, Weinstein Beverage Company, and various private equity funds, on financing and transactional matters.  He has represented, among others, London Fog Group and Troutman’s Emporium as Chapter 11 debtors. He also represents secured creditors, unsecured creditors, debtors, committees, PACA claimants, asset purchasers, and other constituencies in bankruptcies, receiverships, and other in-court and out-of-court insolvency proceedings.

Senior Vice President, Wells Fargo Private Bank

Jon Snare is a Senior Vice President and Regional Investment Manager for Wells Fargo Private Bank in Seattle. In his role at the Private Bank, he oversees 10 portfolio managers who manage over $3 billion in assets for high-net worth individuals. He has over 20 years of investment experience. Prior to Wells Fargo, Mr. Snare was a Senior Manager in the Investment Consulting Services practice for Deloitte &Touche Investment Advisors. While at Deloitte, he was a member of the Investment Policy Committee that established policy for the national practice. Mr. Snare is a Certified Financial Analyst (CFA), charterholder, and a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) licensee. Mr. Snare lives on Bainbridge Island with his wife Jane and two children.

Retired Mayor

Dwight is a retired Mayor of Bainbridge Island, Washington; retired professor, University of Washington School of Medicine (Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery); and retired director and senior scientist, Virginia Mason Research Center.  Dr. Sutton served as Mayor of Bainbridge Island from 1998 through December 2001, and previously served a term as a council member, starting in 1994. He also has served on the Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority and chaired the Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council. Dwight is a research scientist by profession, including a long association with the Virginia Mason Research Center and the University of Washington – School of Medicine. He is a member of the City of Bainbridge Island Open Space Commission and is a board emeritus member of IslandWood.

Office Managing Partner – Deloitte Seattle

Ed is Managing Partner for the Deloitte Seattle office and serves as Lead Client Service Partner for a number of large corporations and enterprises. He also leads Deloitte’s Strategic Client Program in Seattle. In addition, Ed is Dean of Deloitte’s senior leadership program, “the Art of the Story.” As part of his 30 years of professional leadership and experience, he has served as a corporate lawyer, a partner in Deloitte’s Merger & Acquisitions Service group, Chief of Staff to Deloitte’s Managing Partner and subsequent Global CEO and a regional Tax Managing Partner. In the community, Ed has been Board Chair at IslandWood, served as Treasurer for Pacific Science Center, and worked with Western Washington University Foundation. He is presently on the boards of the Seattle Foundation, Plymouth Housing Group and Habitat for Humanity. He earned a B.S. in Accounting from Miami University, received his J.D. from Wayne State University and his LL.M. –Taxation from New York University Law School.  He is a licensed CPA in Washington State.  Inspired by her IslandWood experiences, Ed’s oldest daughter is an outdoor educator in Bellingham.

Retired Senior Vice President and CAO The Boeing Company

Mr. Warner is a Board member at the Pacific Science Center, KCTS-9, Western Washington University Foundation, World Trade Center-Seattle, and on the Education Grants Committee for The Seattle Foundation (a past Board Member) and on the Salish Sea Expeditions Advisory Board. Mr. Warner was also a founding Board member of the Alliance for Education and was on The Board of Trustees for Western Washington University. Mr. Warner is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Washington State Academy of Sciences. He and his wife Marilyn have six grandchildren, three of whom attended IslandWood’s School Overnight Program.

CEO, Teaching Channel

Pat is responsible for establishing educational priorities for new video production and product development, ensuring all of Teaching Channel’s work is pedagogically sound and managing outreach to the education and academic communities. Prior to joining Teaching Channel, Dr. Wasley was dean of the College of Education at the University of Washington from 2000 to 2012. She has conducted a variety of research on student voice, teacher education, and whole-school reform and authored several books on school reform, including Teachers Who Lead and Stirring the Chalkdust, and is the co-author of Kids and School Reform. Pat sits on advisory boards and board of directors for several regional and national education-focused nonprofit organizations. These include the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards; the Washington State Professional Educator Standards Board; the Scarsdale Teachers Institute; the University of Kansas Institute for Academic Access; the Educational Video Center; the Teaching and Change Editorial Review Board; the Journal for a Just and Caring Education Editorial Review Board; the SoundOut advisory board; board emeritus for IslandWood; and as an ex officio member of the Foxfire Corporation Board of Directors.

Chairman NPR Foundation

Howard is a retired Senior Vice President of Starbucks Coffee Company. From 1992-2005, he served in various capacities at Starbucks: Senior Vice President of Administration; he served as the executive responsible for Strategic Alliance Management for Starbucks’ joint venture partnerships with Pepsi Cola (bottled Frappuccino) and Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream (Starbucks ice cream); and for two years, he served as Senior Vice President Strategic Business Systems for Starbucks Coffee International. His final assignment at Starbucks was as Senior Vice President Store Concepts. Prior to joining Starbucks, Howard worked for 13 years in the employee benefits consulting field. He has served on various boards: IslandWood (2002-2009), and is an Emeritus Board member; the Seattle Foundation (2007-2010); and the Healdsburg Jazz Festival (2009-2010). He currently serves on the boards of the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, NPR Inc. in Washington D.C. and he is the Chairman of the NPR Foundation also in Washington D.C. Howard was a collaborator on the book Going to Scale with New School Designs: Reinventing High School. Additionally, he provides strategic planning consulting services to corporations and non-profit organizations in Seattle, San Francisco, and Sonoma County. Howard received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Seattle University.