Luis Ricardo Fraga, President, is associate vice provost for Faculty Advancement, director of the Diversity Research Institute, Russell F. Stark University Professor, and professor of Political Science at the University of Washington. He has been on the faculty at Stanford University, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Oklahoma. He is a native of Corpus Christi, Texas, where he attended public schools. He received his AB, cum laude, from Harvard University and his MA and PhD from Rice University. His primary interests are urban politics, education politics, voting rights policy, and the politics of race and ethnicity. He is on the board of the Public Education Network (PEN). He is also a member of a special research committee of the National Association of Public Charter Schools (NAPCS). He has been an active member of the Transitions to College and the Immigration, Education, and Citizenship working groups of the Social Science Research Council. Luis is married to Charlene L. Aguilar, director of Undergraduate Education Initiatives at the University of Washington, with whom he has three children.

Sarah Dunne, Vice President is the legal director for the ACLU of Washington Foundation, where she supervises an active legal docket of cases covering many issues such as free speech, racial justice, religious freedom, criminal justice, privacy, reproductive and women’s rights, immigrant rights, and gay rights. Prior to the ACLU, Sarah was in private practice in Seattle and before that served as a trial attorney for the Educational Opportunities Section of the Civil Rights Division within the U.S. Department of Justice. During her four years at DOJ, she litigated many education cases involving the enforcement of federal civil rights laws. Sarah’s previous community work includes volunteer teaching and tutoring at public high schools on the South Side of Chicago and a charter school in Anacostia in Washington D.C., and she formerly served on the board of directors for Passages Northwest. Sarah grew up in South King County and received her undergraduate degree from Stanford University and her law degree from the University of Chicago.

Vicky Murray, Secretary, recently retired as the assistant superintendent for Student Services/Alternative Programs in the Bellevue School District. Prior to her post as assistant superintendent, she held a range of district-level and school-level administrative positions, including executive director of both K-12 and 6-12 schools, director of personnel, and secondary-level principal and assistant principal. Throughout her career, she has worked with curriculum, teaching and learning, and various programs that serve students—ESL, LAP/Title, gifted, honors, and Advanced Placement. Vicky’s position in the Bellevue School District focused on assuring that all students achieve and succeed at a rate that eradicates that achievement gap. In addition, she has served as a mentor principal for the Center’s New Principals Mentoring and Coaching Program and has been a facilitator for the past three years at this Institute.

Bob Mellon, Treasurer, began his career at U.S. Bank in their investment services division as a financial advisor. He then joined Salomon Smith Barney as an analyst in their Consulting Group Division, advising clients and financial consultants on investment advisor evaluation and selection. Prior to joining Freestone, he provided investment management consulting services to individuals, corporations, foundations, and retirement plans with assets totaling approximately $1 billion. A graduate of Portland State University and Northwest native, Bob resides in Seattle where he enjoys mentoring youth in neighborhood schools and pursuing a variety of outdoor activities.

Marianne Bichsel – biography coming soon!

Ahndrea L. Blue is the president and CEO of Pinnacle Equities Investments. Ahndrea is also the founder, president, and chairperson of The Making A Difference Foundation. Prior to establishing her own business, Ahndrea was the Washington State Governor’s Executive Policy Advisor and Legal Counsel. Additionally, she worked for the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle as their Chief Operating Officer and was an attorney at law for Lee, Smart, Cook, Martin & Patterson, in Seattle. Ahndrea has Bachelor of Arts degrees in African American Studies and Society and Justice from the University of Washington, and earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Washington, School of Law. Ahndrea was the 2008 recipient of National Black Philanthropy of the Year Award, and is actively involved in a variety of community groups and associations throughout Washington. Ahndrea loves traveling around the world performing missionary work in places such as Peru, Chile and Thailand.

Julie Burr currently develops mentoring and internship opportunities for students at Aviation High School. Prior to that she was Executive Director for an environmental education non-profit in South King County and operated her own business developing and managing projects for human service and educational institutions including Domestic Abuse Women’s Network, the Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence, Childcare Resources and several schools within the Highline School District. She Directed the Women’s Program at Highline Community College and later served as the Director of Outreach Services for the College. Ms. Burr has been active helping pass bonds and levies for Highline School District and served on the Board of Directors for 4 years. She has a Master’s of Public Administration from Seattle University and a B.A. in Society and Justice from University of Washington. Travels include Africa, Asia, Europe and South America and Ms. Burr recently raised money to build a school in Honduras. She and her husband live in South King County where they have raised 3 children.

Michael Cockrill is a managing partner at Atlas Accelerator, a boutique consulting and investment firm focused on very early stage IT startups. Previous to Atlas, Michael has spent the last 20 years working in the high tech and start-up communities in and around Seattle, including Microsoft. Michael was one of the first group of partners in Seattle’s Social Venture Partners, and was involved in the selection of Project Look (now New Futures) to be one of SVP’s first social investments. He also serves as a Governor’s appointee to the Washington Technology Council. A father of two small children (Savannah and Dashiel), Michael is particularly interested in early childhood education and focuses his philanthropic efforts in that area. Michael was a non-matriculating student at the University of Otago in Dunedin New Zealand and a graduate of the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma.

Bob Hargadon is currently the Vice President, Human Resources for drugstore.com, a leading online retailer of health and beauty products based in Bellevue. In this capacity, Bob oversees all aspects of talent management, training and development, and workforce management. Previously, Bob was a General Manager at Microsoft, and held HR leadership positions at Boston Scientific, Fidelity Investments and two consulting organizations, Novations Group and Harbridge House. In addition, Bob is Program Leader and Lead Instructor for University of Washington’s Certificate Program, Strategic HR Leadership. Bob has also provided pro-bono guidance around HR matters to several non-profits, including Friends of Youth.

Johnathan Letcher is currently a principal at Hazel Valley Elementary school in Burien. He has been in the Seattle area for only three years in which he has embraced the culture and climate of the region. He came from the other Washington; Washington, DC where he was born and raised. His career has always been rooted in education. He taught in Maryland for eight years and Virginia for three. He also worked as a School Improvement Officer in the nation’s capitol before coming to the Emerald City. Johnathan received his bachelor’s degree from the University of DC and master’s degree from Johns Hopkins. He is married and lives in Seattle. Johnathan is also on the board of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Shont Miller is a senior attorney at Microsoft, where he focuses on antitrust and compliance matters. Prior to that, he practiced complex civil litigation at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP in Los Angeles. Over the course of his career, Shont has worked on various pro bono issues concerning civil rights, housing, and children’s issues. He received his law degree from Stanford University, where he led a legal education program for incarcerated youth. He earned his undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

Martha Moreno is a registered nurse for Neighborcare Health at the Pike Market Medical Clinic, which serves a largely homeless population. Prior to nursing, she coordinated a local public health program, Kids Get Care, which involved community education and support to local schools and community service agencies to stress the importance of medical, dental, and behavioral health integration for children ages 0-5. Martha was previously on the board of the Providence Regina House, which serves low-income individuals and families by operating a local food and clothing bank as well as a referral source for various community services. She was also an advisory council member for the Seattle Parks and Recreation at the South Park Community Center. Martha holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from University of California, Davis and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Seattle University.

Renee Russak is a civic volunteer. In addition to a long-time commitment to community service, Renee worked for nearly 20 years in publishing and as an internet services development executive; most recently at Microsoft and Expedia. Renee’s involvement with New Futures comes from the belief that children succeed in school and life when their families and communities are engaged in that success through respectful partnership. Renee received her BA from the University of California, Berkeley.

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