Our Staff & Leadership

Teri Hein
Executive Director
826 Seattle’s executive director taught for 25 years before starting 826 Seattle. She is a published author of numerous essays and stories including her memoir, Atomic Farmgirl. Teri has won awards for both her writing and teaching, including a Fulbright Scholarship for research into different educational styles in Latin America. She converses comfortably in Spanish.
teri@826seattle.org

Alex Allred
Associate Director
Alex has managed the people and finances of companies large and small for 16 years. She speaks French and graduated from UC Santa Cruz with BA in creative writing and English literature.
alex@826seattle.org

Peggy Jackson
Director of Development
Peggy has worked in development for Seattle-area educational nonprofits for over 5 years after 11 years at Microsoft, with a focus on internal marketing, communication and training. She holds a BA in French from the University of Washington.
peggy@826seattle.org

Justin Allan
Store and Design Manager
Justin has worked as a designer for over a decade and has 15 years experience in the niche retail industry. He has taken performance production and art classes at Cornish College of the Arts and Everett Community College.
justin@826seattle.org

Humaira Barlas
Bookkeeper
Humaira received her MBA in marketing from theUniversity of Hartford, CT and a Bachelors of Commerce from Hailey College of Commerce in Pakistan. Before coming to 826 Seattle, she worked for the Lupus Foundation for nine years. She can communicate in English, Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi.
humaira@826seattle.org

Alex Bleecker
Programs Coordinator
Alex Bleecker is a published poet, co-curator of the Breadline performance series and workshops facilitator for SPLAB, a poetry nonprofit. He taught both English and mathematics in New York City public middle and high schools for ten years prior to moving to Seattle. His degrees are from Wesleyan University (BA) and Bank Street College of Education (Masters).
alexb@826seattle.org

Alicia Craven
Programs Coordinator
Alicia taught English and elementary science abroad in Thailand and Ecuador for two years before returning to the northwest. Her BA in Spanish literature, political science and psychology is from the University of Oregon Honors College as well as her ELL certification. She converses comfortably in Spanish.
alicia@826seattle.org

Michelle DeBruyn
Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator
Michelle has managed groups of people in businesses and nonprofits for over 6 years. She studied abroad in Spain and earned her BA in Spanish from the University of Washington.
michelle@826seattle.org

Willie James
Development Associate
He currently works both at 826 Seattle and as an Editorial Assistant for Poetry Northwest Magazine. Willie holds a BA in English from Boston University.
willie@826seattle.org

Meron Kasahun
Student Mentor
Meron is currently a high school senior at Ballard High School where she is president of the Black Student Union and plays first chair viola in the orchestra. She spent six weeks this past summer in Chile as a representative of Summer Search. Meron is fluent in Amharic and can converse in Spanish.

Leslie McCallum
Operations Assistant
Leslie is gifted at creating signs, birthday cards, banners and theme apparel. She has no fear of tall ladders, small repairs, and organizing databases. Her career started at 826 Seattle as a volunteer and she is currently indispensable as our OA.
leslie@826seattle.org

Teri Hein
Executive Director of 826 Seattle and board member emeritus

Deborah Clothier
Retired attorney at Yarmuth Wilsdon Calfo, volunteer in development work at the Northwest African American Museum, and member of the Friends of Jimi Hendrix Park Committee

Susanna Duke
Wilson College trustee, board president of The Healing Center, grandmother and former corporate attorney

Ted Dworkin
Software and content development manager in Microsoft’s Windows Experiences group

Mia Ellis
Northwest native, mom, and Founding Executive Director of Summer Search Seattle, currently Summer Program Coordinator for Summer Search National

Ramon Esquivel
Playwright, teacher and chair of the English Department at Lakeside Middle School

Jared Leising
Poet, fiction writer, and a member of the English Faculty at Cascadia Community College

Pam MacEwan
Executive Vice President for Public Affairs at Group Health Cooperative

Caroline Maillard
Senior Officer, Community Leadership at The Seattle Foundation

Tom Moore
Retired from careers in advertising and importing custom-made rugs from Nepal; currently editor of the Rainier Scholars newsletter

Frank Nam
Recruitment Director at City Year Seattle/King County, ultimate (frisbee) coach at Franklin High School and Youth Strategic Committee member at the Northwest Ultimate Association (DiscNW)

Tom Robbins
Novelist, short story writer, and essayist

Ann Senechal
Marketing communications specialist and business writer

Timothy Egan
Journalist and Author

Dave Eggers
Author, Founder of 826 National and McSweeney’s Publishing

David Guterson
Author

Cyndee Kraiger
Director, Strategic Programs, Microsoft

John Morefield
U.W. Center for Educational Leadership

Anne Mulherkar
Founder, Powerful Writers

Nancy Pearl
Public Radio Librarian and Author

Sherry Prowda
Founder, Seattle Arts & Lectures