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 17 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 6 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 the University 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

Isbah Barlas
Student Mentor
A Senior at Meadowdale High School, Isbah is on our Youth Advisory Board and works during After School Tutoring to mentor younger students and completes administrative tasks. She is the President of the National Honors Society at her school and an editor at her school paper.

Alicia Craven
Programs Manager
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

Leena Joshi
Development Associate
Leena has been working with Seattle-area non-profits for 3 years, with stints at KEXP and the Seattle International Film Festival's development and publicity teams. She holds a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Washington, and can converse comfortably in Marathi, an Indian dialect.
leena@826seattle.org

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

May Nguyen
Store Assistant
A true Jane of all trades, May earned her BS in marine biology at University of California, Santa Cruz. She is a producer, writer, and performer with various theater groups and she has worked as a trace metals chemist.

Sue Spang
Programs Coordinator
Sue has a BA in Classical Language and Literature from Lawrence University in addition to graduate work in Book History and Print Culture at the University of Toronto. More recently, she has worked as a college admissions counselor and an independent school instructor.
sue@826seattle.org

Steve Yasukawa
Programs Coordinator
Steve has a BA in elementary education from Knox College and has taught in grades K through 5 in both independent and public schools in Seattle. He is endorsed in elementary education and teaching English Language Learners (ELL) and has led science activities around Washington State with local nonprofits.
steve@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

Howard Cutler
Former Director and Executive Producer of Interactive Media at WGBH Boston, member and former chair of Plan USA’s Board of Directors, and elected rep to Plan International’s governing body

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

Steve Feth
Currently a Manager of Planning at REI in Seattle with twenty years of retail experience in product management and financial planning for different retailers around the country

Pam MacEwan
Special Assistant to the CEO, Washington State Health Benefits Exchange

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)

Lynn Resnick
Part of the creative team for Sasquatch! Music Festival, army brat, mom, lover of good books and great music

Tom Robbins
Novelist, short story writer, and essayist

John Zagula
Managing Director and Founder of Ignition Capital and Qiming Ventures China; board member Oriental Cambridge Schools, China; former General Manager of Global Campaigns, Microsoft.

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

Shawn Rediger
Partner at Williams Kastner Law Firm