Junior League of Olympia

Speakers

Friday

Liz Davis - President of the Junior League of Olympia, Liz is a Learning and Development Specialist for State Farm Insurance Companies. She received a BA in English, Magna Cum Laude, from Washington State University in 1998 and a Master in Teaching from The Evergreen State College in 2001. Prior to her career at State Farm, Liz worked as a writer and editor in the Office of Washington State Governor Gary Locke and taught English at River Ridge High School in Lacey. She is a National Board Certified teacher and a past recipient of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Teacher Leadership Project Grant. Currently, Liz serves on State Farm’s Pacific Northwest Zone Education Leadership Committee. Liz is the daughter of Junior League of Olympia founding member and past President Margaret Barney. Since joining the League in 2002, her placements have included the Gift & Garden, Advocacy, and Training committees. Liz is passionate about education, lifelong learning, and children’s issues. She loves traveling, cooking, reading and writing, boating, attending rodeos, and active pursuits.

Saturday

Ann Dalton - Anne Dalton joined the AJLI staff in 1983 where her responsibilities have ranged from delivering consultative services to Leagues in all areas of League program and operations to providing strategic support for the Association's governance processes. Currently as AJLI's Chief Officer for Strategic Initiatives, she develops and oversees long-term projects, programs, pilots and collaborations that have the potential to make a major impact on AJLI and our member Leagues. Prior to assuming this role in June, 2007, she was AJLI's Chief Operating Officer, managing service delivery to Junior Leagues, overseeing AJLI's meeting/training operations, and providing strategic support for AJLI governance. Her over 30 years' experience in nonprofits includes having been Executive Director of the Girls Club of New York, Program Director for Youth Employment Services at the Henry Street Settlement, and Senior Planner with the Vera Institute of Justice. Ms. Dalton holds a B.A. in English from Cornell University and an M.S.W. in Social Work Administration from Hunter College. Among her volunteer activities have included serving on the boards of the Maurer Foundation for Breast Health Education, the Center for Family Resources, and the National Association of Mothers' Centers.

Christine Garst – Christine has been the Director of Financial Services at the Non Profit Center in Tacoma since January, 2005. Prior to this she spent 3 years working as an Accounting Consultant for Management Assistance Program for Nonprofits in St. Paul, Minnesota, and 3 years as Accounting Manager at the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from The University of Pennsylvania, and a Master’s Degree in Education from George Washington University. Christine lives near Olympia in a Built Green, environmentally-friendly house and is involved in many community projects in the South Sound region.

Suzanne Stahl

Suzann Stahl - Suzann Stahl is NonProfit Solutions NW’s founder & President. NonProfit Solutions, located in Olympia, was born out of her desire to help the nonprofit business sector continue to grow and thrive. Her experiences as a nonprofit executive, Board member and President, volunteer, and now consultant give her a unique perspective into the management challenges of nonprofit organizations and how to creatively find solutions. Suzann brings a broad-based depth of knowledge to NonProfit Solutions that she attained through her 20 years of professional experience working with large and small corporations and 15 years in the nonprofit business sector. Nonprofit projects included those in secondary and higher education, the arts, social service and faith-based organizations. Suzann is best known and respected in the community for her work on special projects such as the $10.5 million “New Library Campaign” at Saint Martin’s University and the $2.5 million “Shelter from the Storm” Campaign for Community Youth Services.

Gail Gosney Wrede – Ms. Gosney is employed by the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office as a Resource Development Specialist. She has been a grant writer, program developer and fund raiser for over 25 years. Ms. Gosney has in the past been an Executive Director of three non-profit organizations in the Pacific Northwest. She was a member of the Junior League of Olympia for ten years. She resides in Olympia with her husband, Fritz and has a son in college.

Laurie Sorensen – Laurie is currently a sustainer in the Junior League of Olympia. Because of her passion for child abuse prevention, Laurie joined the leage about 10 years ago, when she moved to Olympia from Seattle. Over a 20 year period, she served as an executive director of three different non-profit organizations involved in preventing family violence in Houston and Seattle. She founded a child abuse prevention organization in Houston, which trained community volunteers to help abusive parents. Because prevention also involves public education, she set up extensive media relations, made frequent television appearances and created printed educational materials. In Seattle she organized a two-year multi-media campaign to educate the public and conducted research with a local university to measure the effectiveness of the educational campaign. In addition, she founded a state-wide family planning organization in Iowa, which served over 55,000 women. Laurie also worked in higher education as a community college vice president, a director of public relations and community resources, a foundation executive director, and a major gifts director at a university. Her B.S. degree in Child Development is from University of Rhode Island and her M.Ed. degree is in business administration for non-profits from Harvard University.

Cory Plantenberg –Cory Plantenberg joined the Junior League of Olympia in 1992, the year the league affiliation with AJLI was completed. She was a member or chaired a variety of committees including Nominating and Placement, Education and Training, Public Relations, and Kids Count and was League President in 2001-2002. She believes every member owes it to herself to take a leadership position in the League at least once because it is such a great opportunity to work with and get to know busy, fun women. Cory works for the state of Washington in Energy Policy disbursing some of our stimulus funds. She lives in Olympia with her husband, Tom, and has two grown children who live in Seattle. Her motto (a mouse pad and a bumper sticker) is "If it's not fun, why do it."

Susy Rohrbach - Susy and the members of the Junior League of Olympia Technology Committee will be hosting a technology roundtable. Please plan to bring technology to share and demonstrate that helps your league meet its mission. Bring questions to ask, ideas you are considering and useful websites to share. A laptop and overhead projector to plug in your laptop will be available. Click here to e-mail Susy to discuss what you would like to demonstrate or see.

Sunday

Sarah Schacht - Sarah is a political entrepreneur living in Seattle, who searches for simple technology solutions to complex social problems. Eagerly involved in politics from an early age, she's been a conservative and a liberal, working for a range of causes and campaigns. In 2003, she left college to work on Howard Dean's presidential campaign, working in New Hampshire, Dean's national headquarters, Iowa, and Washington State. She specialized in youth outreach, crafting technical plans, online organizing, and field work. In 2004 she was one of the youngest delegates to the Democratic National Convention, and in 2005 she interned for Congressman Jay Inslee's office, where she researched the communications technology systems within Congress. Returning home to Washington State, she founded Knowledge As Power, a 501c3 nonpartisan organization which provides Washingtonians online tools to track legislation on any issue and communicate effectively with their legislators. Sarah is a 2008 Echoing Green Semi-Finalist, a Ford Foundation Partnership Grantee, Sunlight Foundation grantee, and a contributor to an upcoming book on American government and communications technology.

Mary Segawa

Mary Segawa – Mary worked for sixteen years in university student services, prior to changing her focus to community-based work. Mary worked at TOGETHER!, a nonprofit organization in Lacey, WA, dedicated to mobilizing our community to prevent youth substance abuse and violence. From 2003 to January, 2010, she served as Executive Director. Building and maintaining community partnerships is a critical component of her work. Mary is now the Prevention Manager for the WA State Liquor Control Board with an emphasis on policy work and educational efforts to reduce underage drinking.