Our Team

A seasoned leadership consultant and executive educator, Susan specializes in coaching senior executives and their teams to enhance their leadership capability and interpersonal skills. Her specialist area is providing leaders with deep insight about their career potential and leadership qualities and conducting board effectiveness reviews.

A Chartered Psychologist, Susan has co-authored “The Global You”, “How to Manage in a Flat World,” (published in 8 languages)

“Employability” and “Complete Leadership”, and has produced a number of research publications.

Susan Bloch

- Executive Development Consultant

http://www.krwinternational.com
http://www.globalyou.co.uk

Kathy E. Gill is a digital media educator at the University of Washington whose interests center on the intersection of communication technology and institutions of power such as government and the media. She is a former lobbyist and has worked for both Ds and Rs. For almost five years, she wrote about politics for About.com and currently does so for TheModerateVoice. When not at a keyboard, she can be found on her motorcycle or in a greater-Seattle-area parking lot teaching newbies to ride motorcycles. http://wiredpen.com

Donald Summers, Director of Altruist Partners LLC (www.altruistpartners.com), is a business strategy and finance expert with a diverse portfolio of work in the social sector. On the local and regional level, he helps a variety of non-profit organizations in the arts, education, environment, and human service fields achieve maximum impact and revenue growth. On the national and international stage, Summers helps drive macro-level social and environmental reforms that shape multi-billion dollar industries and engage the largest corporations, government agencies, and institutions. His clients influence state, federal and international laws and regulations and are regularly featured in major media outlets worldwide. Summers is a graduate of Middlebury College and Harvard University and is a frequent speaker on non-profit best practices and social sector innovation. His essays, articles and commentary have been published by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and Harvard Magazine.

Kristina Ash is an associate in the estate planning group of Stoel Rives, LLP. In addition to drafting estate planning documents and creating estate plans, Kristina provides tax planning for clients with estate or gift tax exposure. In particular, Kristina is experienced in dealing with Canada-US tax issues involving estate tax, treaty positions, pension conversions, corporate and partnership income tax planning, and real estate.? Kristina received both her Juris Doctor degree and her Masters of Laws in Taxation from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. After experiencing sub-zero winters in Chicago then Calgary, Alberta, Kristina may be the only person in Seattle who is thrilled with the weather.

Gabriel McCormick is a high school social studies teacher in the Bellevue School District. His primary focus is to ensure that his students have purpose and value in their education both in school and beyond the school setting. To achieve this Gabriel strives to create curriculum that is focused on authentic intellectual work, and working with students to define clear processes to achieve their academic and life goals Gabriel has worked with KAP on the Act and Impact civics curriculum.

Dean M. Nielsen is a political and government affairs consultant. Over the last 20 years, he has worked on over 800 political campaigns in 25 states, from school board to President, as well as working internationally in Asia and Eastern Europe. In addition, he has worked on numerous communication, marketing and government relations projects for corporate and non-profit clients including Greenwood Clean Energy, ivi.TV, Spreaker, Palms Casino in Las Vegas, a major sports team ownership group, a Fortune 500 agricultural interest, Seattles Harborview Hospital and the Seattle McCaw Performance Hall. He currently owns his own firm, Cerillion N4 Partners. http://cerillionN4.com

Nancy Long is executive director of 501 Commons. 501 Commons provides consulting, coaching, financial services and other programs to help nonprofits accomplish their missions. Prior to joining 501 Commons, Nancy worked in health care as the Vice-president of Strategy and Organizational Development at Group Health Cooperative and Director of Quality for the Washington State Hospital Association. Working for the state of Washington, she developed policy recommendations for the Health Services Commission and dramatically expanded enrollment in the Basic Health Plan as Director of Marketing. Her experience with nonprofit organizations includes being the Director of Planning, Marketing, and Community Services for Pac-Med, a founder of the Cross-Cultural Health Care Program, and various roles with community health clinics.
Nancy has led nonprofit boards, chaired the Seattle Planning Commission, and organized coalitions of community organizations. She has a Masters degree from the Evans School at the University of Washington where she was an affiliate faculty member teaching courses on management and leadership of nonprofit organizations. She is currently a member of the Visiting Committee for the Executive Masters of Nonprofit Leadership Program at Seattle University.

Alan Rosenblatt is the Associate Director for Online Advocacy at American Progress and CAP Action Fund, directing the organizations’ social media program. He is a pioneer, frequent speaker, and author on the intersection of digital media, advocacy, and politics, specializing in social media strategy. He is the founder of the Internet Advocacy Roundtable; an adjunct professor at Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, and American Universities, where he teaches graduate courses on Internet politics, digital political strategies, and Internet advocacy communications; has been a contributing blogger at TechPresident.com and currently blogs at DrDigiPol.Tumblr.com and at the Huffington Post; and he is a former fellow at George Washington University’s Institute for Politics, Democracy, & the Internet.

http://twitter.com/#!/drdigipol
https://www.facebook.com/drdigipol
http://www.linkedin.com/in/alanrosenblatt

Jay Schroeder is a writer, editor, and recovering political operative from Chicago. His interest in KAP comes about from his belief that creative use of information technology can be used to empower people to have greater control over their political systems, understanding of the problems we face, and ability to come together with others to find solutions. Jay is currently continuing his education in northern Virginia and working on his second book.

Quintus Jett is a faculty member at Rutgers University. He is a professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA), and a fellow of the Rutgers Center for Urban ntrepreneurship & Economic Development (CUEED).He is an expert in the field Organization and Management Science, and his research focuses on Performance, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in the public and non-profit sectors.

Spending the past 6 years in marketing firm that devotes itself to fundraising for non-profits and political advocacy groups, Rebekah is uniquely positioned as an expert in designing for 501(c) organizations. She has also lent her skills to developing marketing materials, designing distinctive logos, and developing material for websites and other interactive media.In her spare time, Rebekah lends her talents to organizations that she feels passionately about. This varies from local DC musicians and artists to fundraising for Breast Cancer Awareness to serving on the Board of Directors for Knowledge as Power (KAP). Spending more than 10 years on the Board, she has seen KAP grow from a local grassroots organization to an International powerhouse that continues to promote the need for greater transparency and accountability in our government and bring this issue to the forefront of a national dialogue.Rebekah not only considers herself to be just a graphic designer but a master problem solver of communications problems. www.b-m-d.com

Dustin is a graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle where he earned two bachelors degrees in Informatics and Applied Math. Afterward he worked in the software industry, ternately testing software and researching better user experiences at internationally renowned product companies like Microsoft and at small(ish) agencies like Zaaz. He was also heavily involved in making the City of Seattle’s first ever usability test of their website a success. He currently lives in Ann Arbor, working towards Masters degrees in Information Science and Urban Planning at the University of Michiga.

Daniel Schmitt is a motivated, experienced student at Fordham University in New York City, passionate about social media and making a measurable difference in the world. Although he hails from the New York Metropolitan Area, Dan is no stranger to the West Coast, having spent two years volunteering with City Year in San Jose and Los Angeles, tutoring and mentoring inner-city elementary school students. In the summer of 2010, Dan joined the new media department of Organizing for America, managing social media communications while helping the team’s efforts during the 2010 midterm election season. Dan hopes his previous experiences bring new ideas to the organization.

Gary Pollack joined Knowledge As Power in January 2010 and has successively assumed larger roles within the organization since. He helped secure KAP’s first Technology Matching Fund Grant from the City of Seattle and has assisted in hosting each of the Open Gov West conferences. Gary is a seasoned veteran of many initiatives focused on community development and nonprofit management, and has a strong background in IT management. His professional career began in New York where he worked with several NGOs and nonprofit organizations in both staff and consulting roles. Having been passionate about politics and governance at a young age, he moved to Seattle in 2009 to pursue a Master of Public Administration degree at the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Affairs, where he focused on ways to help build the tools that can help citizens take an active role in their world. Gary was a 2011 Oregon Fellow and will soon beatbox around the world on a Bonderman Travel Fellowship.

Karissa Magelsen is in her second year of the Public Administration Masters Program at the University of Washington, where she expects to receive the nonprofit management certificate in June 2012. Her bachelor’s degree is in social work from Brigham Young University, where she graduated with honors. Due to her interest in social justice, she has volunteered and worked in various capacities such as at a women’s shelter, a state hospital, and an NGO in Peru focused on community development through women’s cooperatives. More information about her experience can be found on her profile @ LinkedIn : http://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit?trk=hb_tab_pro_top

Vivian (Wei) Chu is currently studying Interdisciplinary Visual Art and Communication in University of Washington. She is a graphic designer and a design intern for Knowledge As Power. She is also an event coordinator who coordinates different events and throws creative parties while designing posters, flyers and brochures that help to promote the event. This is how she interprets graphic design. The world around us is too messy with all the complication that try to grab our attention. We often forget a good design could just be starting with a dot and a line. The goal of my graphic design is to find a balance harmony that pleased our eyes and mind with the aesthetic shapes, colors and different space arrangements. Because of its peacefulness, audiences eyes will stop for it and enjoying flowing with the beauty of the aesthetic hierarchy. This is the type of design I am aiming for that stands out from the aggressive world who forgets the simplistic beauty.

Let’s just say, in 2007, Karen Quinn Fung sat down in a room with bloggers, designers, community activists and policy makers, and ever since then, she’s been driven to make it a regular, and meaningful, occurrence for both residents and civil servants. As a master’s student in the School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Karen is interested in the role technologies for participation and engagement can play in improving the experience and sustainability of everyday life in urban environments. She works with Open Gov West because she believes open, inclusive collaboration between citizens and governments makes for happier and healthier communities. In addition to Open Government West, she also works as a coordinator with the Vancouver Public Space Network, which advocates in support of Vancouver’s public spaces. In her spare time, she can be found riding her bike, writing on her blog, or playing her guitar. http://countablyinfinite.ca

My name is Madeline Hall and I am currently a sophomore at Claremont McKenna College dual majoring in Economics and Government. I interned with Knowledge As power in the summer of 2010, developing and editing KAP’s civics curriculum that seeks to help empower teenagers in the political process. I later volunteered with Knowledge As Power in the summer of 2011 to put the final touches on the civics curriculum. I am currently employed at the Claremont McKenna Center for Civic Engagement as a Student Assistant. There, I plan service and polical awareness events for my peers. I am excited for the great work KAP is to to make politics more accessible to everyone!

Yenny Gamez is a passionate Graphic Designer who graduated from the International Academy of Design and Technology in 2009 with an Associate Degree in Visual Communications. She also has a Bachelor Degree in Psychology and a second Associate Degree in Web Design. Her intership was completed at a local non-profit organization (Knowledge As Power) where she designed logos, stationary and promotional materials. She worked at EdigitalPrinting.com as a Prepress Designer for more than four years. She is currently utilizing her skills as a freelance graphic designer and photographer.Portfolio site: www.yennygamezdesign.com

Seattle Free School began in December of 2007 with the vision that each community is full of knowledge and just needs help sharing it with each other. We offer free, non-credit classes to anyone who is interested taught by those who want to share. At Seattle Free School No money ever exchanges hands. All we exchange are skills, knowledge and experiences.

 

 

 

Interested in joining our team?  Click here for available positions.