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In the USA:
Power
of Hope
Youngstown Cultural Arts Center
4408
Delridge Way SW, Suite 103
Seattle, WA 98106
Pffice phone:
206-938-6090
USA Director cell: 206-755-4130
fax:
206-938-6151
michael[at]powerofhope[dot]org
TRUSTEES:
Becky Guzak, President; Bill Carroll, Jeanne Carroll, Jonathan
Keith, Kelly
Smith, Mark Smith, James Sutter, Billie Taylor
In Canada:
Power of Hope
#7 - 1921 Fernwood Road
Victoria, BC V8T 2Y6
Office
phone: 250-381-4673
Canada Director
cell: 250-508-6897
pohvic[at]powerofhope[dot]org
TRUSTEES:
Gloria Hansen, Chair; Diana Cawood, Kathryn Molloy, Diana Smith, Soasis Sukeweh, Mark Vonesch,
Ian Watson, Bill Weaver
Power of Hope Staff
The Power of Hope is coordinated by a talented and
diverse staff of artists, musicians, writers, actors,
naturalists, community activists, and more. We have offices
in Seattle, WA and Victoria, BC. Meet the staff!
Staff in the Seattle, WA office:
Michael Harris, Executive Director,
joined the Power of Hope team in November, 2005. Over the
past thirty years he has led non-profit organizations
to success in the Pacific Northwest, working in the performing arts, youth work and advocacy, health and human services, low income housing development
and the natural foods industry. In his youth he worked
professionally as an actor / director / writer for theater.
At the age of 16 he made his Broadway debut in the original cast of
HAIR.
Over the years Michael has worked for Microsoft, served on
many non-profit boards and taught graduate studies at the University of Washington.
In his spare time he leads sing-alongs for groups of all
kinds in Seattle, where he lives with his wife, Patricia.
Alan
Wong,
Program Director,is
responsible for the design, delivery and quality of POH
youth and adult programs wherever they are offered.
During
his many years with POH, Alan has organized and
facilitated experiential art workshops and leadership
programs with
thousands
of teens
and adult youth
workers
in
classrooms, community centers and other locations around
the
nation and abroad.
Alan is a poet and musician who trusts deeply in the
creative process as a means of personal and community
transformation.
Alan’s given Chinese name, “Peng”, means,
“peace, balance, and equilibrium” – qualities he strives to
bring to his work and to the world around him.
Kat Vellos,
Program Manager / GEAR UP coordinator, is
a native of Belize, and a recently naturalized U.S. citizen.
She wakes up each morning to manifest creativity in service
of the greater good. She has a rich background in visual art
and spoken
word/poetry, and received her B.A. in Graphic Design at
Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. Kat has served
youth from K-12 as an AmeriCorps member and
committed youth
work volunteer. In fact, she started off with Power of Hope
as an energetic volunteer for Hip Hop Hope! In all her
endeavors, Kat strives to create environments that value
positive and authentic community as well as individual
evolution through courageous self-expression. In her spare
time she's creating vegetarian masterpieces in the kitchen,
sending snail mail, and thinking in ink, rockin' them spoken
words.
Devon Little,
Volunteer Coordinator/Americorps Team Leader, grew up exploring dance, theatre, nature and
different cultures. In college, she studied Sociology and
Peace & Conflict Studies. In general, she has focused her
time working with transformative communication models in
dynamic, cross-community settings, including a race
relations group, process work in Northern Ireland, a
nonviolence youth organization, a half-way home, and a
dialogue-project across religious and political divides in
Colorado Springs. She continues her education by studying
Nonviolent Communication, Spanish, educative movement and
dance, and permaculture, as well
as offering experiences in the performing arts and dialogue.

Maureen Nelson, Program
Manager / GEAR UP Coordinator, joined the POH
staff after spending two years as
an AmeriCorps with the Youth Voices program. She trains and
guides the new Americorps team in the Bellingham office as
well as, handling administrative duties and staffing youth events.
Originally from Seattle, she graduated from Western
Washington University in 2003 with a B.A. in Theatre
Education. She has worked with youth in local schools
and in-patient facilities, supporting her passion for the
arts, conscious youth work, community change and more
well-rounded school curriculums and environments.
Jamie-Rose Rothenberg,
Executive Assistant,
first encountered Power of Hope as a youth, when she
attended a summer program in 2000. She has since returned to
the organization as a mentor and a summer camp manager. She
is thrilled to enrich her Power of Hope education and
experience through this year of service as a youth voices
coordinator. Throughout her youth education career, she has
coordinated programs in a variety of subjects, such as:
mural-arts, creative writing, literary magazine production,
and reading literacy. As a graduate in Peace and Global
Studies and a recipient of a “Grant for Peace” from Davis
Foundation, Jamie-Rose believes that the arts are a powerful
medium through which constructive social change may be
inspired.
Eli Steffen, Youth Voices Coordinator/ AmeriCorps
Volunteer, has been involved in theater since the age of
7. In 2007, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a
concentration in Drama and Community Studies. While at
school, he developed an interest in community theater. Most
recently, he co-produced and performed in the Public
Circus, which brought clowning and acrobatics to
children affected by Hurricane Katrina. Eli also has a
background in youth organizing and non-profit
administration, which he gained as the Assistant Coordinator
of the Vashon Youth Council, a youth-run social justice
organization. Eli is excited about the opportunity to learn
and serve with all the great adults and youth at The Power
of Hope.
Rebecca White,
Youth Voices Coordinator/Americorps,
arrived on Power of Hope’s scene after spending a year
working in Esteli, Nicaragua with the Mural Arts
Organization, FUNARTE (Foundation to Support Children’s
Creative Art). She serves as an Americorps Youth Voices
Coordinator with Power of Hope. She received a bachelor’s
degree in Peace and Global Studies from Earlham College in
Richmond, Indiana. She speaks Spanish and has experience
working with refugees and mentoring international students.
She hails from the Empire State (NY) and loves many things,
including art as a means of community development and social
empowerment; and her 50-year-old cat, Clarissa.
Staff at the Victoria, BC office:
Gita John-Iyam, Canada
Director,
comes to Power of Hope with twelve years experience with
Community Development agencies in India and Canada. She is passionate about working with and for
children and youth. She was raised in a Gandhian Christian
center begun by her parents during India's freedom movement,
and her life has been deeply influenced by this experience.
Her work background and interests include food security,
environmental protection, natural healing and simple living.
Adele Woodyard

Growing up in the theatre, amongst a community of
artist, the passion for a more expressive and positive world
has been deeply rooted from an early age. This passion has
brought Adele to various community organizing projects and
to working with youth in a variety of facilitator/ educator
roles. Her work has taken her across Canada on her bicycle,
and back to Victoria where she continues to work on bicycle
advocacy projects at home. Adele helps run The Bike Lab
Society, teaching young people about bicycle mechanics and
of bicycles as vehicles for environmental and social
change. Adele is also a member of The Velo Vixen’s, a
bicycle performance troupe, planning events and performances
around town, celebrating the community of cyclists in
Victoria. In the summer you will find Adele paddling around
the west coast of Vancouver Island, leading kayak trips and
sharing her passion of the intricacies and wonders of life
in the ocean.
Jenny
George has a background in community organizing and
alternative education. She is currently enrolled in a
post-degree professional program at the University of
Victoria with the hopes of becoming a middle school teacher.
Jenny is thrilled to be working creatively with so many
great young people.
Greg Smythe
- Administrative Associate
Inspired by the possibilities of possibility and the magic
of creative expression, Greg joined the Power of Hope team
in January 2009. As a volunteer counselor, facilitator and
laughter yoga leader, he believes that supporting authentic
creative
expression is an integral part of painting a balanced and
sustainable world. Prior to Power of Hope, Greg's worked in
several administrative and facilitative capacities at home,
in The Gambia, and in South Korea, to support social
animation and sustainable participatory approaches to
education. While possessing a BA in sociology, he believes
that credentials are only as good as the credit we give
our-selves. His hobbies include, watching the world turn,
playing in the mud, and embracing what's alive in the
moment. Greg loves the way trees grow without hesitation and
hopes to encourage this expressive growth in others. He is
so grateful to be a part of an amazing community of creative
collaborators.
Co-Founders of The Power of Hope:
Charlie Murphy
is an
accomplished recording artist and former director of
training for the YMCA Earth Service Corps, a national youth
environmental organization. For his work with Power of
Hope, Charlie was awarded an Ashoka Fellowship in 2005. This
prestigious award honors “leading social entrepreneurs
recognized to have innovative solutions and the potential to
change patterns across society.”
Peggy Taylor, MA,
brings a rich experience in holistic education, the arts,
nonprofit management, and publishing to her creative work
with youth. She is co-author of Chop Wood, Carry Water:
A Guide to Finding Spiritual Fulfillment in Everyday Life
and was co-founder of New Age Journal, where she
served as editor-in-chief for fourteen years. Peggy is
a creative development specialist with a Masters of
Education in Creative Arts in Learning.
Our
Mission
The Power of Hope unleashes the positive potential of youth
through arts-centered intergenerational and multicultural
learning programs that value self-awareness,
leadership, community and social change.
The Power of Hope has offices in Victoria, BC and Seattle, WA.
We are 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the USA and a
registered charity in Canada.
Contributions to Power of Hope are tax-deductible in the US
and in Canada.
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