Advisors & Ambassadors
- Advocacy
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
- Finance
- Healthcare
- Law
- Leadership
- Marketing & Communications
- Nonprofit
- Strategy
- Technology
2023 ADVISORS & AMBASSADORS NETWORK
To complement the Governance Board and provide multiple ways for members of our community to connect and engage with PEPS, we’re building an Advisors & Ambassadors Network. This group is a broad, diverse and fluid group of community members advising staff on specific strategic areas related to fulfilling our mission and strategic direction. Advisors provide subject matter expertise and thought partnership to staff and can participate in Finance Committee or other workgroups including the Benefit Event Strategy Team, Advocacy Workgroup and more. Ambassadors spread the word about PEPS, make connections, build relationships, capture stories, serve as Table Captains for our annual Benefit and more.
Serving as a PEPS Advisor or Ambassador is a great way to share your lived experience, perspective, subject matter expertise or passion for PEPS mission of connecting parents to strengthen families to build community. As part of our ongoing equity work, we have shifted away from a traditional one-size-fits-all approach. We have a smaller Governance Board, where people can best use their gifts, to be paired with a larger Advisors & Ambassadors Network. Learn more about our experiment with Board structure in a letter from Board leadership.
PEPS values and celebrates the strengths that diversity brings to our organization and is committed to advancing equity through our work. Cultivating a diverse and inclusive Advisors & Ambassadors Network is one of our priorities. Black, Indigenous and People of Color and others with underrepresented identities (including, but not limited to: gender identity, class, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, age, ability and background) are strongly and sincerely encouraged to apply.
To learn more about the Advisors & Ambassadors Network please email PEPS Executive Director Dana Guy at danag@peps.org.
2023 Advisors & Ambassadors Network
Mary Ellen Cunningham
- Mary Ellen Cunningham
Mary Ellen has over 25 years of diverse professional and personal experience in experiential education, community development, fundraising and resource mobilization and non-profit consulting. Her primary focus is to unleash the potential of individuals and organizations to create sustainable social change. Through her work, she has developed a keen understanding of how teams work, what it entails to achieve truly mission-driven work, and the importance of partnership as the foundation for almost anything worth doing. She has had the privilege of working with numerous nonprofits, both domestically and internationally, as a founder, executive director, program developer, board member, volunteer, donor and consultant. Her breadth and depth of perspective has honed her skills and sensibilities to support organizations to be strategic, inclusive, fueled by mission and highly effective. Mary Ellen holds a Masters of Public Health from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and a B.S. in Experiential Education from the University of New Hampshire. She lives in West Seattle with her husband and son.
Tracy Cutchlow
Tracy Cutchlow (she/her) is the author of the international bestseller Zero to Five: 70 Essential Parenting Tips Based on Science. She believes no new parent should feel alone, which is why she supports PEPS as a Sustainer Circle donor, a board member from 2017 through 2022, and an advisor. Tracy is a freelance writer and editor and award-winning former journalist. As an advisor to PEPS, she consults on communications strategy and participates on the Advocacy Workgroup. Tracy also serves on the advisory board of the Children's Screen Time Action Network. A Seattle-area native, Tracy lives in West Seattle with her husband and their tween daughter. 
Chrissy Egan
- Chrissy Egan
Chrissy Egan supports PEPS as an Advisor and member of the Finance Committee. Chrissy was on the PEPS board from 2017-2020 and served as the secretary, treasurer, and vice president over the duration of her tenure.
Chrissy is a mother of three children and she participated in PEPS and led a newborn group in West Seattle. Chrissy currently works in corporate finance at IBM. She holds an MBA with a specialization in leadership from Seattle University. For 5 years she was a coach and facilitator for emotional intelligence MBA courses at Seattle University both locally and abroad. She has a passion and interest in people — especially the little ones!
Chrissy is inspired to volunteer at PEPS because she knows firsthand the weight of being a parent, especially in these COVID times. She is inspired by the work PEPS is doing around equity and inclusion to ensure equal access to the program so that all parents may feel a sense of belonging and support. She appreciates being part of an organization that values deep learning and reflection.
- Annie Garrett
Annie Garrett
Annie Garrett is a PEPS Ambassador who has served as a Group Leader, a Guest Speaker and a Highs and Lows blog contributor since 2018.
Annie holds a Masters in Educational Leadership. Policy Studies and Organizations from the University of Washington and two Washington State Certificates in Early Childhood Education. She is the manager of the Early Childhood Education Bachelor of Applied Science Degree program at North Seattle College, which seeks to maintain the diversity of the field as it professionalizes. Annie also serves as an instructor, teaching in both early childhood education and the parent education program. She is a freelance writer in parent education, with special interest in the intersection of parenting and feminism.
Annie’s PEPS journey began in 2017, when she and her husband joined the Infant PEPS program with their first child. The program had a lasting impact, cementing the Pacific Northwest as home for her family, which added its newest member in 2021. Annie believes that the very unique PEPS model has an unparalleled ability to positively impact a family’s wellbeing, and is encouraged by the equity work that PEPS is engaged in.
Outside of PEPS and professional life, Annie is a fan of both local and international travel, with most travel now happening alongside a stroller within one mile walking distance of her home. She is also a fan of exercising and eating, but is better at eating.
Carla Greenan
- Carla Greenan
Carla Greenan serves as an Advisor to the Program Team providing expertise on supporting working parents. Carla contributed to curriculum and is leading one of the Working Moms Pilot Group.
Carla started her career as a CPA and eventually found her way to coaching, which she has been doing for 13+ years. Her base of clients is primarily working parents, with a specialty in coaching through personal and professional transitions.
Carla earned her credential as a Professional Certified Coach through the International Coach Federation (IFC). In 2016, to pursue her dream of opening her own coaching business, she left her job of 23 years at a Fortune 500 company where she started her career as a CPA. Prior to leaving, she was a founding member of the Internal Executive Coaching Team, serving as an executive coach to leaders in transition throughout the company.
Carla has coached extensively in the professional services environment at all levels. She has expertise in the transitions that working parents face, the complexities of advancing women and the journey through leadership transitions. She has worked with working parents, new partners, direct admit partners, titled leaders, and emerging leaders.
Carla was part of a newborn PEPS group 17 years ago and recalls the post-meeting feeling that she was not alone in this journey. With PEPS expanding beyond newborn groups, she saw a place she could share what she learned from years of coaching working parents as well as navigating working parenthood in a dual-career household.
Carla lives in Seattle with her husband, Dan, their three kids and their four-legged family member, Luna.
Jeff Hignite
- Jeff Hignite
Jeff Hignite supports PEPS as an Advisor on the Finance Committee and is a former PEPS Board member. Jeff currently serves as Executive Director at Providence. Previously he spent multiple years in management consulting and in other healthcare finance roles. Jeff graduated with Bachelor of Science degrees in Marketing and Finance from the University of Kentucky and a Masters of Science in Finance from Indiana University Kelley School of Business. As a Finance Committee member, Jeff brings his expertise to review monthly financial statements and advise on financial decision making as well as annual budgeting.
Jeff and his wife, Shelby, have two boys and first participated in a newborn group in 2019 where Jeff was inspired by the education and community provided by PEPS groups and then began volunteering with PEPS in 2021.
- Dima Kfouri
Dima Kfouri
Dima Kfouri serves as a Strategic Marketing Advisor. She is a multiple Cannes Lions awarded strategist, manager, brand builder, product developer and startup founder with 15 years of experience leading marketing initiatives across industries, countries, and channels.
Having started her career at the Leo Burnett advertising agency, Dima later transitioned into digital marketing and ran a fashion tech startup before consulting business clients independently now. She helps organizations in product development and innovation, uncovering customer insights, integrated and digital marketing strategy, brand audits and positioning, workshop facilitation, as well as content strategy.
Dima and her family moved from Ireland to Greater Seattle in 2021 and later joined the Newborn PEPS group where she has built strong connections with like-minded diverse families. She credits these friendships for being a big part of why Seattle feels like home, and why she was inspired to give back by leading a Newborn group one year later. Having also attended the Working Moms group, she hopes to continually find new ways of participating and volunteering with PEPS, helping other families build the long-lasting connections and support system she is grateful to have found in this community.
Cyrus Phansalkar
- Cyrus Phansalkar
Cyrus serves as a Technology Advisor to PEPS, providing thought partnership and advice to PEPS staff on technology strategy and planning.
Cyrus is a Senior Product Manager at Microsoft with experience ranging from software startups and non profits to Multinational Corporations. He is experienced in analyzing data, market trends and current processes to create customer centric products with proven market success.
As a solutions architect at Logic2020, Cyrus was introduced to PEPS in 2015 and served as the Project Manager when the organization embarked on a digital transformation. He supported PEPS in moving from an antiquated, clunky, manual system to an integrated registration and CRM system that improved processes for parents signing up for PEPS Groups, PEPS Staff and so much more.
Through this journey Cyrus made both professional and personal connections at PEPS. He was touched and inspired by the passion and growth mindset of the PEPS staff as well as the amazing impact this organization has on our community of parents. He's stayed connected with PEPS long after the project completion and is now excited to volunteer his time as a Technology Adviser as PEPS continues to leverage technology to expand its positive impact across the community.
Julianna Rigg-Hillard
- Julianna Rigg-Hillard
Julianna Rigg-Hillard serves as an Advisor on the Advocacy Workgroup and is a PEPS Ambassador and Table Captain for our Annual Benefit Event.
She is motivated by seeking to understand what are the causal factors which lead to equitable outcomes in education and health. She received her PhD in Political Science from the University of Washington in 2011; during that time, she completed her fieldwork in rural Zambia, researching what explains different outcomes in malaria prevention protocols. From her work in graduate school to consulting with global health research groups to teaching at Bellevue College, she has seen the power of community. The more connected we are, the better off our children become -- from successful malaria eradication campaigns to understanding issues of educational equity. Community drives and changes outcomes.
Julianna’s family has felt the sustaining impact of community through PEPS. The connections she has made through PEPS have helped to normalize her parenting experiences and create a lasting bond with other parents and families. Julianna believes that PEPS inoculates families; it helps create safe spaces that maintain physical, social, and emotional health.
When Julianna is not volunteering with PEPS, she is connecting with her community. She and her husband, Dustin, have three children. She is active in each of her children’s school communities, serving on the Phinney Neighborhood Preschool Cooperative board and the West Woodland Race and Equity Committee. Her family loves to be outside, exploring and learning together.
Beth Trakimas
- Beth Trakimas
Beths Trakimas serves as an Advisor to PEPS staff around HR, People & Culture and Change Management.
Beth is a people-centric leader most recently focused on Human Resources Mergers & Acquisitions (HRM&A) in technology. For over a decade, she was responsible for the end-to-end aspects of M&A transactions as it relates to the people impacted by the change. She has a Master’s in Business Administration from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a BA in International Affairs from George Washington University.
Beth became aware of PEPS through friends that lived in Seattle who had become new parents. When she moved here from Portland, she signed up to facilitate a PEPS group as part of her interest and pursuit to become certified as a postpartum doula. Through the training and facilitation process with PEPS, Beth was impressed with the quality of support from the organization and pursued joining the Board to further contribute her skills and passion to this important work - something that dovetailed nicely with her early career interest and work in family planning and reproductive rights. She served on the board from 2019-2021.
Hailing from Arizona, Beth deeply appreciates the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest (it’s much greener here!) and can be found most often outside hiking, camping, and taking in the elements with her family and friends. When not adventuring locally, she is known to be looking forward to traveling somewhere new and is always up for pro-tip recommendations on people, places and food often overlooked.
Chezik Tsunoda
- Chezik Tsunoda
Chezik Tsunoda serves as an Advisor to PEPS and enthusiastic supporter of the PEPS Annual Benefit event. She participates in the Benefit Event Strategy Team and supports Staff with her incredible storytelling and filmmaking skills.
Chezik is a mother of four boys, a documentary filmmaker and the founder of No More Under. Since her 3-year-old son Yori drowned in a friend’s backyard pool, Tsunoda has been driven to promote the conversation about and raise awareness around drowning prevention and water safety.
Chezik is an accomplished director and producer whose work spans across movies, television and advertising.
Chezik has been a part of the PEPS family since 2011 when she joined a Newborn Group with her first of four sons. She has since participated in a Second Time Around group, volunteered as a Leader for both Newborn and Second Time Around groups, has been a Table Captain at the annual PEPS Benefit event more than 5 times and served on the PEPS Board in 2019 and 2020.
She is grateful that her life has been so enriched by being part of the PEPS support system. She is relentlessly passionate about racial equity, education, and advocacy with the goal of empowering all parents.
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