Tachini Pete, President
Tachini Pete (he/him) was raised in both the Flathead Reservation and Navajo Reservation with strong cultural values in the Salish and Navajo traditions. His mother is Salish and his father Navajo. He is the father of four children with four grandchildren. He is an avid learner, researcher, and teacher of the Salish language. In 2001 he graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Elementary Education from the University of Montana Western and in 2010 he graduated from Gonzaga University with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. He has been known to dabble in selling Native American drums online (Tachini Drums), teaching, curriculum development, and most notable, in 2002 Tachini was a lead co-founder and served as the first executive director of the non-profit organization, Nkwusm, Salish Language Revitalization Institute until December 2011. His major accomplishments include publication of the first modern Salish language translation dictionary in 1998 followed up with a more comprehensive 816 page second edition (Medicine for the Salish Language, SKC Press) with thousands of entries published in 2010. Tachini devotes his time to helping communities build capacity to transfer language, developing second language acquisition activities, researching and documenting the Salish language, and growing his small business.
Diana Singleton, Vice President
Diana Singleton (she/her) is the Equity and Justice Manager at the Washington State Bar Association where she provides strategic leadership for delivering on the WSBA’s mission to champion justice, specifically in the areas of promoting pro bono and public service, diversity, equity and inclusion. As the Equity and Justice Manager, she also manages the Access to Justice Board which is a Supreme Court-created entity that serves as a convener and catalyst for the Alliance for Equal Justice. She previously served as the Director of Seattle University School of Law’s Access to Justice Institute, which serves as a bridge between the law school and larger equity and justice community. Prior to joining ATJI, Diana was an attorney with the Northwest Justice Project for over ten years, practicing in the areas of consumer, family, low-wage worker, and public benefits law. Diana served on the Board of Wayfind, which offered transactional pro bono assistance to nonprofit organizations and low-income microentrepreneurs. Diana is continuing her board service with the organization and is now Vice President of Communities Rise. She also serves on the Board of JustLead Washington which develops and supports a network of community leaders who work toward equity and justice. She is a proud alumna of Seattle University School of Law and Westmont College.
Caroline Shelton, Treasurer
Caroline Shelton (she/her) has over 20 years of experience supporting children and youth in school, community, and nonprofit settings. Her career has centered around organizational capacity building on topics such as violence prevention and supports for vulnerable children and youth. When not busy in her day job as the Director of the University of Washington Office for Youth Programs Development and Support, Caroline enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter.
David Lawson, Secretary
David Lawson (he/him) is an associate at Davis Wright Tremaine and advises clients on matters related to tax exemption and charitable giving. He represents tax-exempt organizations, their donors, and businesses seeking to contribute to their communities. His areas of focus include acquisition and maintenance of tax-exempt status; corporate governance, including executive compensation issues; compliance with rules governing private foundations and donor-advised funds; cause marketing, including commercial co-venture regulation; corporate giving programs; unrelated business income tax issues; and IRS examinations. His clients include major health care and educational organizations; corporations engaged in charitable giving and cause marketing; corporate, family, and community foundations; trade associations; and major social service providers
Catherine West
Catherine West (she/her) has spent twenty years working with low-income, vulnerable and marginalized populations. Catherine has represented clients at the Northwest Justice Project since 2004. She defended homeowners in mortgage, property tax and homeowner association foreclosure. She represented seniors in consumer, housing and public benefits issues. In 2015, she received Northwest Justice Project’s Advocacy Award. She currently represents families and vulnerable adults on a Medical-Legal Partnership with Harborview Hospital and Seattle Children’s Hospital, and focuses on guardianship, Medicaid, and the rights of trans and gender diverse youth.
Claire White
Claire White (she/her) is a senior associate at K&L Gates LLP and a member of the corporate practice group. Her practice focuses on the representation of public and private companies and investors in a range of corporate, securities and business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, financings and joint ventures. Her experience also includes formation and funding of emerging and growth companies, private equity investments, tender offers, and secured financing transactions, as well as advising public companies on a range of issues, including SEC compliance and corporate governance matters.
Marnina Cherkin
Marnina Cherkin (she/her) is a Senior Corporate Counsel at Amazon supporting Amazon Web Services’ infrastructure team and global expansion efforts. She is a member of Amazon Legal’s Pro Bono Taskforce and is active in pro bono legal activities in Seattle. Prior to attending law school, Marnina worked in the non-profit sector, advancing anti-bias initiatives, community-based inclusiveness projects, and community development work.
Renato Foz
Renato Foz (He/Him) was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. While attending Seattle’s Garfield High School, Renato started to volunteer with “The Austin Foundation”, a local non-profit that serves youth through no-cost fitness and wellness programming. His experience volunteering with youth motivated him to study Exercise Physiology. Renato spent the next several years facilitating youth fitness programs for the Austin Foundation at sites such as the King County Juvenile Detention Center and after-school programs at many local public schools as a lead trainer. During this time, Renato also worked as a Physical Education Therapist at Seattle’s Ryther Child Center where he studied to become a Chemical Dependency Professional and Dialectical Behavior Therapy instructor, working with teenagers who were chemically addicted to drugs and alcohol and using exercise as a means to help their rehabilitation. After four years working with youth in rehab, Renato moved to New York City, and spent the next seven years working with a branch of the Department of Juvenile Justice, working with incarcerated teens transitioning out of the detention system. Renato trained hundreds of adults within the juvenile justice system, as a Safe Crisis Management instructor. Renato returned to Seattle in 2017, and is currently the Executive Director of the same Austin Foundation he volunteered for in high school. Renato currently uses his experience as an American Counsel of Exercise certified Personal Trainer, and a certified fitness instructor through the National Academy of Sports Medicine to serve youth and families looking to better their quality of life, and empower themselves through health and fitness.
Sara Franklin Phillips
Sara Franklin (she/her) was born in Germany and raised in Tacoma and learned at a very early age commitment and service to your community are how you are called to move in the world. Sara’s roots run deep in public service with a career at King County of 30 years starting as a Transit Operator and later in the Department of Assessments where she currently administers the Senior Exemptions program. Sara currently serves on a number of non-profit and government boards in King County including the Washington State Commission on African American Affairs and the Governor’s Interagency on Health Disparities. She previously served on the NAC board from 2014 – 2019. Sara and her husband reside in Kent and are the parents to four grown sons and have one grandchild.
Stan Brown
Stan Brown (he/him) is the Chief Operating Officer of Water for Humans, a nonprofit that has used the services of Wayfind in the past. Water for Humans provides low-cost, clean water and sanitation solutions to underserved populations while ensuring that water remains a local, public resource. In 2010 Water for Humans became a Wayfind client seeking legal assistance in becoming a 501(c)3 organization. Since then, Wayfind has also helped Water for Humans obtain legal aid with nondisclosure and cooperation agreement contracts. Before Water for Humans, Stan spent twenty-nine years working in the computer industry as a systems engineer for IBM and as a technical manager (systems engineering and network operations) for AccessLine Technologies.