Polly Friedlander | Shawn Wong | William Traver

Keri Healey | Laurie Smiley

Frank Dennis | Rose Dennis | Alexander Evans | Geri Froomer

Frank Glenn | Moira Holley | Douglas O. Howe | Charles Johnston

Joseph McDonnell | Cathy West Mullins
Georgia Gellert Penfield | Kathleen Sayce | Pat Soden
Leroy Soper | Larry Symonds | Susan Thurston |

Scott Wasner |

POLLY FRIEDLANDER, President, attended the University of Puget Sound, the University of Washington, and did post-graduate studies at the University of London in Art History.  She opened an art gallery in Seattle’s Pioneer Square in 1970 and became actively involved in the renaissance of the area.  She was a founding trustee of Historic Seattle and the Northwest Chamber Orchestra.  More recently, Polly was chair of the Oysterville Design Review Board and champion of the award-winning Design Review Guidelines.  Later, she served as president of the Oysterville Restoration Foundation, acquiring a ten-acre bay front meadow to be held in open space for posterity.  Polly serves as an advisory trustee for the University of Washington Press.  Her personal interests include art, literature, gardening, and some golf.  Click here to read about Polly's October 2007 cultural exchange to China led by Vice President Shawn Wong.

SHAWN WONG, Vice President, is a professor of English at the University of Washington, where he served as the Chair of the Department of English, the Director of the Creative Writing Program, and the Director of the University Honors Program.  He is the author of two novels, American Knees and Homebase, which won the Governor’s Writers award and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award.  American Knees was made into a movie in 2006.  Shawn has also been featured in two PBS documentaries, “Shattering the Silences” (1997) and Bill Moyers’ “Becoming American: The Chinese Experience” (2003).  His wife Erin is a poet and the mother of the young Peter Wong.

WILLIAM TRAVER, 2nd Vice President, began his career as an interior designer, operating Traver/Raat Design, where he first began to represent artists.  Later he moved completely into the gallery business, opening his own gallery in 1977 in Belltown.  The gallery was moved to its current location in 1992 and renamed the William Traver Gallery.  He has attained a world-wide reputation by helping to forge the International Studio Glass Movement.  His was the leading gallery in the Seattle area’s ascension to its position as capital of this movement; many of the most important glass artists—Lino Tagliapietra, Sonja Blomdahl, Dante Marioni and many others—had their first exhibitions with the William Traver Gallery.  Now the largest art dealer in Seattle, his gallery represents over 100 artists from around the globe.  Mr. Traver also serves on the board of trustees of the Cornish College of the Arts.

KERI HEALEY, Secretary, is a playwright and director. Her recent works for the stage include THE IKEA Cycle: Tiny Domestic Dramas, Parrot Fever (Or, Lies I've Told in Chat Rooms), Cherry, Cherry Lemon, and Penetralia. Her work has been produced by Annex Theatre, Ethereal Mutt, Ltd, the Seattle International Fringe Festival, Re-Bar, the Adelaide (Australia) Fringe Festival, Frontera Fest (Austin), and the Flipside Arts Festival (Singapore). She served as the Managing Director of Seattle's flagship fringe theater, Annex Theatre, from 1999 through 2002 and is currently a company member of Printer's Devil Theater in Seattle. In 2004, she was chosen to become one of Seattle Dramatists' Principal Playwrights and in 2005, she was cited by Seattle's weekly newspaper, The Stranger, as "One to Watch" in its annual Genius Awards issue. Keri was first selected for the Espy Foundation's Writers Residency Program in October 2002, when she worked on the rough draft of a new play, titled The Super Happy Couple Book. This play will go into production in 2007. She returned as an Espy resident in October 2006 when she worked on translating her play Cherry Cherry Lemon into a screenplay and drafting scenes for a new stage play. Keri resides in Seattle and works as a freelance writer.

LAURIE SMILEY, Treasurer, is a native of the Pacific Northwest and a poet and artist at heart.  Lacking true literary or artistic talent, Laurie became a corporate lawyer and is currently general counsel of Cascade Investment, L.L.C.  Laurie graduated from Whitman College and lived in New Orleans, Delaware, Manhattan and Hong Kong before moving to Seattle in 1996.  Laurie and her husband, George Bennett, are the parents of Annie and Rossi.

FRANK DENNIS was born in Portland, Oregon, and has lived his entire life in the Seattle area except for the periods in which he or he and his family lived in Asia.  He served in the Navy during the Vietnam War and earned a degree in Political Science at Central State University and then his JD at UPS (Seattle University).  Frank has practiced Business Law for over thirty years and is a partner at Barokas Martin and Tomlinson with offices in Seattle and Anchorage.  He has lived and worked in Japan and is acknowledged as an expert in Chinese trade and business matters, chairing seminars on the topic in 2005, 2006, and 2007.  He serves on boards of directors and as outside counsel for many corporations and has a widely varied practice that includes artists, performers, and some of the largest and best known companies in the world.  Frank has worked on projects or financings on every continent, including Antarctica.  His charitable activities include involvement with the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation, Camp Stand By Me (Easter Seals), Mothers March Against Diabetes, Western Watershed protection, Clean Sound, People for Puget Sound, PONCHO, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Symphony, and many other organizations.  Frank is an avid but average golfer who reads and has a finely honed wicked sense of humor.

ROSE DENNIS was born and raised in Livingston, Montana.  She earned her B.A. in Business Management at Seattle Pacific University and worked in management for fifteen years with the JC Penney Company.  After this, she spent fourteen years as a tenured college professor at Edmonds Community College teaching classes in Fashion, Retail, Marketing, and Business Management; five years as the Director of Marketing and Special Events for City Centre; and two years as the Director of Procurement, Marketing, and Operations for PONCHO.  Rose currently serves on the PONCHO Board of Trustees and Executive Committee.  She was the VP of Procurement for five Gala Auctions and will be the Gala Chair for the 2008 PONCHO Gala Auction.  Rose has been a Pacific NW Ballet (PNB) Governing Board and Advisory Board member, a PNB STARS past President and current Executive Board Member, a recent chair of the Patricia Barker Farewell dinner at the Fairmount Hotel, a current International Academy of Design and Technology Advisory Board Member; a past Seattle Chapter President and a current member of Fashion Group International.  She was also named a Seattle Tastemaker by Seattle Magazine in 2006.  Rose has lived in Bellevue, WA for the past 25 years with her husband Frank.  They have two children, Matthew and Alexandra.

ALEXANDER EVANS is a major gift officer at UC Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources.  Previously, he worked at Stanford University and The Goldman Sachs foundation in New York.  Alex’s work in development began with a student job at Yale and a fundraising internship at the New York Public Library.  A native of Portland, OR, Alex has a family connection to Oysterville and visits whenever he can.

GERI FROOMER is a Seattle native currently living on Sequim Bay on the Olympic Peninsula. She attended the University of Washington and then UCLA and has traveled the world as a photographers’ model for Vogue and Harpers Bazaar. She is a painter working in oils and pastels now showing in Los Angeles, New York, and Newport Beach. She is a founder/owner and a Director of Quiktrak, Inc, an international asset management and inspection business. She has served on the board of Protect the Peninsula’s Future, an environmental “watch dog” group. Her latest project involves a series of children’s stories for her eight grandchildren. 

FRANK GLENN IV is a native of the Long Beach Peninsula. He is of the fourth generation of cranberry farmers who have established a deep and lasting connection to the area. He himself is a cranberry farmer turned psychotherapist, whose love of the wilderness has lead to pioneering conservation efforts. For over a decade, Glenn worked towards the preservation of native old-growth trees within Island Lake Forest on the Peninsula. In 2007, Glenn, along with his family, celebrated the transfer of this unique property to Columbia Land Trust.  Glenn is also a photographer and writer, whose words have inspired local and regional environmental activists. Frank received a BS in Forest Resource Management and Conservation of Wildland Resources from the University of Washington and in 2005, completed his Masters in Applied Behavioral Science from Leadership Institute of Seattle at Bastyr University.  Frank and his wife Karla make their home in Ilwaco, WA.

MOIRA HOLLEY is a leading Residential Specialist with Windermere Real Estate’s Premier Director Division and one of the most successful real estate professionals in the Northwest.  Born in San Francisco, Moira tells everyone that she’s been fortunate to grow up in the world’s three most beautiful places: Seattle, Washington; Northern California’s Portola Valley; and Maui, Hawaii. As one of the first residents of a revitalized Pike Place Market, Moira was one of a handful of urban pioneers who launched the re-emergence of Downtown Seattle and its historic neighborhoods as a coveted global address for families, urban professionals and world-class companies. Prior to entering the field of real estate, Moira’s work in fashion and gourmet products introduced her to a broad cross section of Seattle’s society.  Presently, Moira serves as a member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center’s Broadmoor/Washington Park Guild, and she regularly opens her home for fundraisers benefiting The Service Board. Moira is also a decades-long supporter of Seattle’s Bailey Boushay House and Maui, Hawaii’s Fleming Arboretum, as well as a habitué of Seattle’s burgeoning cultural and arts scene.

DOUGLAS O. HOWE is President of Touchstone Corporation, a Seattle commercial real estate development firm specializing in commercial office, technology, and biotechnology R&D buildings and retail centers. Original artwork is predominately featured in a number of Touchstone’s projects. In the recently completed 9th & Stewart Life Sciences Building, sculptor Joseph McDonnell was commissioned to create a water sculpture piece, Mermaid’s Fort, which is located in the building’s lobby entrance. Douglas serves in a leadership capacity and as an active member of several professional and community organizations such as Seattle Downtown Association, Urban Land Institute, NAIOP – Commercial Development, WBBA – Biotechnology, Seattle Art Museum, and others. He is a graduate of the University of Washington and has an MBA in Finance and Marketing. Douglas is married to Robin DuBrin and has two grown children, Brian and Julianne. He resides in Seattle and Whistler, BC. Favorite activities include downhill skiing, boating and travel.

CHARLES M. JOHNSTON, M.D., is a psychiatrist, artist, and futurist.  He is founder and director of the Institute for Creative Development, a Seattle-based think tank and center for leadership training.  He is best known as the originator of Creative Systems Theory, a comprehensive perspective for understanding growth and change in living systems.  His books include The Creative Imperative: Human Growth and Planetary Evolution and Necessary Wisdom: Meeting the Challenge of a New Cultural Maturity.  An overview of his work can be found at www.creativesystems.org.

JOSEPH McDONNELL has been a practicing sculptor for his entire adult life with more than 150 commissions for corporations, government projects and private individuals.  Among many locations, his work may be viewed at the corporate headquarters of General Electric, IBM, and Reader’s Digest; at the New Jersey State Office Building in Trenton; and on the University of Washington campus, where his 14-foot bronze sculpture “Breaking Away” is prominent.  He is a member of the Century Association in New York, where he served on the Exhibition Committee, organizing the Association’s sculpture shows.  Joseph has had more than 30 one-person exhibitions throughout the country and is represented in many museum collections.  He has designed and created many awards, including the Jazz at Lincoln Center Award and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for World Health Award.  For nine years he was the sculpture reviewer, critic, and associate editor for Art World in New York City.  He is a resident of Seattle.

CATHY WEST MULLINS has served as a trustee on the boards of several major non-profit organizations and also pursues a career as a professional photographer. For more than a decade as a trustee of Seattle’s Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, she served on key committees, including Finance, Ethics, Accreditation, Quality Control and Government Affairs. Additionally, she was a trustee of the Children’s Hospital Foundation and was instrumental in educating Foundation Board members on medical issues facing the Hospital and on critical financial needs. During over two decades of service on the board of the national Achievement Rewards for College Scientists, Cathy served a two-year term as president of the Seattle chapter, greatly expanding its program providing fellowships in graduate science at the University of Washington. She has also served on the boards of the Pacific Science Center, the Empty Space Theater and the Skinner Foundation. Her photographic work has appeared in several exhibitions including Open Spaces, a one-woman exhibition at the National Arts Club in New York City in 2002, and several at Seattle’s Benham Gallery. From a field of 10,000 entries, Cathy received the Golden Light Award as one of the top 100 photographers in the Maine Photographic Workshops 1998 competition. The mother of two daughters, she is married to The Reverend Canon Andrew J. W. Mullins, rector of The Church of the Epiphany, New York City. An avid runner, she completed the 2001 New York City Marathon and the Paris 2002 Marathon. She received a combined Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University and the University of Washington.

GEORGIA GELLERT PENFIELD presently serves as an occasional consultant to Mason J. Blacher Associates, which provides development counsel for non-profit organizations. She has been a long-time public relations freelancer specializing in nonprofit organizations and is a former newspaper editor and publicity director.  She was assistant exhibits director for the Seattle World’s Fair from 1960-62.  Georgia is a trustee emeritus for the Governor’s Mansion Foundation and was a trustee of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra for more than 20 years.

KATHLEEN SAYCE is a long-time resident of Nahcotta. She is an ecologist and wetlands consultant who has worked locally and throughout the Pacific Northwest for more than 25 years. Kathleen is an educator, speaker and eco-tour guide, whose extensive knowledge of coastal ecosystems makes her a great local and regional resource. Kathleen is also a writer. She has published extensively in scientific journals and is a regular contributor to the Chinook Observer.  Sayce is currently working on a book on the Natural History of the Columbia Coast, a compilation of articles published in the Chinook Observer.  Kathleen is a supporter of local cultural and environmental organizations including Columbia Land Trust, Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, and was a founding board member for Water Music Festival. She is the local board member for the Confluence Project, a multiple art site in Washington and Oregon, for which Maya Lin is the designer. The local Confluence site is at Cape Disappointment State Park.

PAT SODEN is director of the University of Washington Press, where he has worked since 1971, holding positions in sales, marketing, and administration before becoming director in 1997.  Pat has served on the board of directors of the Association of American University Presses and is a recipient of the Nancy Blankenship Pryor Award for his contributions to the literary culture of Washington State.

LEROY SOPER was the manager of the University Book Store from 1977 to 1993.  He served on the board of directors of the American Booksellers Association for seven years.  He was chair of the Governor’s Writers Awards, and he received Washington State’s Nancy Blankenship Pryor Award for service to the literary arts in 1991.  Leroy serves on the advisory board of the University of Washington Press. He graduated from the University of Washington.

LARRY SYMONDS is a northwest native, graduating from the University of Washington with both a BA in 1974 and his Juris Doctorate in 1977. After interning with the Seattle law firm of Thom, Navoni, Hoff, Pierson & Ryder, Larry began his financial services career. Larry has earned professional designations as a Certified Financial Planner, Chartered Life Underwriter and Chartered Financial Consultant. Before joining BNY Mellon Wealth Management in 2000, Larry spent 14 years with the Seattle office of New England Financial where he served as both Investment Specialist and Managing Associate. At New England Financial, Larry earned leadership awards for both management and sales.

Larry is active in professional associations, including the Estate Planning Council of Seattle and the Seattle chapter of The Society of Financial Service Professionals (past President). Also active in the community, Larry is a past president of Elliot Bay Rotary and is on the Board of Trustees for PONCHO and the University of Washington Alumni Association.

SUSAN THURSTON, graduate of the University of Washington, is a native of the East Side and has continued the family tradition of supporting the Bellevue Arts and Craft Fair, PNW Ballet, and Bellevue Art Museum.  Her interests also include the PACE Guild.  Mother of three, Susan is experienced in real estate sales and investment as well as stock brokerage and money management.  She enjoys skiing, tennis, boating, farming, and squiring her grandchildren around the city and country.

SCOTT WASNER is the Director of Business Development and Corporate Marketing for Seattle-based Mary North Travel, Inc. and has traveled extensively throughout the world. He has held various management positions within the hospitality industry, including the cruise, tour, and corporate travel management areas.  He currently supports and serves on various social and business committees for the Washington Athletic Club, Rainier Club, Intiman Theatre, Evergreen Golden Retriever Rescue, Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association, and the Puget Sound Business Travel Association.  Scott was born and raised in Southern Oregon and attended school in Northern California and New York, where he majored in Communications and Public Relations. Wasner now divides his time between Seattle and Camano Island with his wife and their two Golden Retrievers.