ReBecca Alstrom, President
ReBecca Alstrom works for Green River Community College with the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs. Education is her passion. Since 2003 she has worked with programs which help non-traditional students plan and prepare for college. She is active with Kent Rotary and the Seattle Jaycees. Additionally she is a mom, wife and community volunteer living in Kent, Washington. She was raised in the Yakima Valley, where she lived until 2008. She holds a degree from Central Washington University in Community Health Education. ReBecca's hobbies include reading, cooking, music, community service and crochet. She considers herself a lifelong learner, and encourages others to continue their learning.
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Jim McGinnis, Immediate Past President
Jim was raised in Montana (with a fly rod in his hand) and graduated with an engineering degree from Montana State in 1960. He worked for Boeing for 35 years most of the time in the test business, retiring in1995. He originally joined the Foundation in the early 90's as the Boeing representative. He re-joined the Foundation in the early 2000's and has served as vice president, scholarship chair, and currently as president. He has been involved in several community and church leadership volunteer roles. His wife retired in 1996 as an elementary teacher in the Kent School District. Their sons both attended school in the District, graduating from Kent Meridian High.
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Lew Sellers, Vice President - Planning Committee Member
Born and raised in the Grays Harbor area, Lew and his wife Karen, daughter Tammy and son Bob, moved to Kent from Olympia in the mid-seventies. Both children attended Kent Schools and graduated from Kent Meridian High School. Lew retired from a 44 year career in Government Information Technology in 2006. He has served in a volunteer capacity as Director of Communications for Kent Valley Ice Centre and the Kent Valley Hockey Association since 2006, and is a 34-year veteran Western Hockey League Off-Ice Official with the Seattle Thunderbirds Hockey Club. Lew also serves as a board member on the City of Kent’s Public Facilities District (Kent Events Center) and is a member of the Thunderbirds Community Sports Foundation board of directors. He joined the Kent Community Foundation Board in early 2009.
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Cathy Wahlin, Secretary
Born in Eugene, OR and raised in Kirkland and Redmond, Cathy graduated from Redmond High School and Washington State University. She has lived with her family in the Kent/Covington area for the past 17 years. Cathy works as a full-time residential realtor for the past 6 years for Windermere Real Estate. Cathy enjoys being involved in the community, volunteering in various PTA’s, as her children attended Kent schools, Covington Chamber of Commerce, and Habitat for Humanity. Cathy has been involved with Kent Community Foundation for the past year, currently serving as the secretary of the board of directors.
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Gary Lee, Treasurer
Gary is a retired engineering manager of The Boeing Company. He has been a resident of Kent for over 37 years during which time he has served on numerous education committees in South King County school districts, has directed the Boeing Education Affairs in South King County and been on Kent Chamber of Commerce Education Committee. He has been a Foundation Board member since 1998.
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Richard Balash, Board Member - Scholarships, Covington Chamber of Commerce Liaison.
Richard is a retired Flight Control Engineer. He has resided in Washington for 48 years and has been a resident of Lake Morton for 31 years. He has been married to Ina for 47 years and they have raised 2 children. Both graduated from the KSD. He has been a member of the Covington Chamber of Commerce for 14 years where he served on the education and ambassador committees. He served 8 years as a BOD and 2 years as chair of the education committee. He has been active with the King County Dept of Natural Resources and Parks as a Lake Steward for 15years. He served as a water conservation committee chair for the Covington Water District for 1 year and assisted the district in speaking engagements and as a volunteer for many of their events. He has served on many KSD committees and volunteered on a Learning Improvement Team for Kentlake Senior High. He is a member of the Friends of the Covington Library and served as Vice President for 2 years. He has been on the KCF board since June 2004.
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Al Orwiler, Board Member, Grants Chairman
A native Washingtonian, Al has lived and worked in the greater Kent area for over 27 years. Both his children graduated from Kentridge High School. Always active in the community, Al is a past director of the Rainier Symphony and Rainier Chorale. He currently sits on the board of Navos (formerly Highline West Seattle Mental Health & West Seattle Psychiatric Hospital). In his spare time Al is a full time Realtor with RE/MAX. Al always enjoys spending time with his wife Chris, his children and his grandchildren. He has been a Foundation board member since 1994.
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Cynthia Calhoun, Board Member, Planning Committee Chairman
Originally from western NY, "Sam" has lived in western Washington for the last 17 years, and in the Kent School district for the past 7 years, married to a native of Maple Valley. An AFLAC agent, she became a member of the Kent Chamber of Commerce in 2003. She then became their AFLAC Agent and a sometime employee of the Chamber, which is where she became familiar with the Kent Community Foundation. Impressed with their mission and feeling she might have something to contribute, she's been a member of the Board since 2006. She hopes to help the KCF with marketing and fundraising.
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Merv Vincent, Board Member
Merv is a retired Senior Technical Fellow of the Boeing Company. He has lived in the Kent area for over 40 years and has been married for 44 years. His wife, Sharon, is a retired schoolteacher in the Kent School District and has served on the Grass Lake LIT committee. He has two children who are graduates of Kentwood High School. Merv joined the Kent Community Foundation to support education and to act as a representative for Boeing to support education. He has been a Foundation board member since 1994 and served as the secretary for five years.
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Matt Arnold, Board Member
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Brenda Farwell, Board Member
Since moving to Kent in 2008 Brenda Farwell has taken on managing the fundraising efforts (50/50 & Jersey Raffle Fundraising) and sits on the grant committee for the Thunderbirds Community Sports Foundation. Serves as coordinator of the Thunderbirds “Relay for Life “ team and she is a member of the Kent Kiwanis AM Club. Brenda was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and has lived and travelled extensively in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South East Asia. Studied Business in College, owned and operated a landscape products/manufacturing company in Medicine Hat Alberta until moving to Washington in 1989 with her husband Russ. Brenda has two children (Kristine and Steven) and as they have grown up she has volunteered in her children’s classrooms, library and served as grant committee chair of the Wellington Elementary PTA for 2 years.
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Lisa Voso, Board Member
Lisa has been a personal injury trial attorney for close to 10 years and in the public speaking arena for 20. Lisa just recently merged her law practice with the long-standing law firm of Hardwick & Pendergast in Renton, Washington. Her practice focuses on wrongful death and personal injury law.
While practicing law is her calling, teaching presentation skills is her passion. She is the owner of The Voso Impact – a speech and presentation company. Lisa coaches numerous individuals (youth and adults) to master the skills needed for successful interviews, speech preparation and presentation enhancements.
Other community involvement includes Kent Chamber speaker series, facilitator for the Kent School District H.S. Mock Trial Program, speech/interview training at the Jubilee House, W.W.E.E, University of Washington School of Law and Seattle University School of Law, and high school students, and, V.P. of Civic Events for the KCWWL, Vice-Chair of WOW. She was the 2010 recipient of the Kent Chamber’s Education Service award for her commitment to education in the business and local community and has been recognized by the Business Examiner as a 40 under Forty Honoree for 2010.
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Dee Klem, Board Member
Dee was born in Indiana and spent time living in Mexico City as a child. She moved to Washington in 1990 and has lived in Kent over 13 years. She and her husband, Steve, are parents of 2 children who attend Kent schools and they serve as a billet family for a Seattle Thunderbird hockey player. Dee was a successful print sales rep prior to having kids and is currently the Elementary Mentor Program Coordinator for Communities In Schools of Kent. Her community/school involvement includes 6 years on the Board of Kent-Meridian Co-op Preschool and 5 years on her PTO Board both in various positions including 2+ years as President. Dee also served on the Kent School District Citizen Budget Review Committee. She joined the KCF Board in 2009.
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Michele Campbell, Board Member
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Ex-Officio Board of Directors
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Andrea Keikkala, Kent Chamber of Commerce, Executive Director
Andrea was born in Seattle, Washington and raised in Juneau, Alaska. She has a Bachelor Degree in Political Science and a Master Degree in Religious Studies from Gonzaga University. Andrea moved to Kent in the summer of 2008 to take the position as Executive Director of the Kent Chamber of Commerce. She previously worked as the Executive Director of the Sitka Chamber of Commerce. Her prior experience includes Paralegal work and Aide to Senator Bert Stedman in Alaska. Andrea is active with the Rotary Club of Kent, on the Board of Directors of the Kent Downtown Partnership and is on the Executive Board of Directors for the Center for Advanced Manufacturing Puget Sound. In her free time Andrea enjoys golfing, kayaking and skiing.
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David Bilyeu, Kent School District Liaison
Dave has been with the Kent School District for 26 years. He has been a teacher, work-based learning specialist, and currently serves as the Career & Technical Education Director. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Workforce Education, and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. His spare time is used to entertain his grandchildren.
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Mark Burns, Kent Chamber Education Liaison
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Ronda Billerbeck, Kent Parks/City Liaison
Ronda Billerbeck is the Cultural Programs Manager for the City of Kent. In this capacity she oversees the City’s Arts Commission and their activities including an active performing arts program, several special community events, a variety of publications and the City’s Public Art Program and collection.
Ronda earned a Masters of Not-for-Profit Leadership from Seattle University in 2000. She received her Bachelors degree in Communication from Oregon State University in 1994. Ronda’s previous experience includes the coordination of special events and fundraising programs at the American Heart Association and Oregon State University
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Friends of the Foundation
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Linda Cattey
Linda, a native Washingtonian, has lived and volunteered in the Kent area for over 30 years. Her husband, George, is a retired Boeing engineer. Their grown children, Edward and Cindy, are graduates of Kentridge High School, Gonzaga University and Washington State University. Always active in the community, Linda served in various PTA positions including President of the Kent Area PTA Council and Kent School District committees. Her current involvement includes: Kent Guild of Children’s Hospital, Kent Youth and Family Services Board, Kiwanis Club of Kent. She has served three terms as president, initially in 1993-95.
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