Board of Trustees
Our Board of Directors is comprised primarily of former and current Pacific Crest parents all of whom share a passion for Montessori Education and a true affection for Pacific Crest. The Board of Directors launched a five-year Strategic Plan in the 2007–2008 school year. The strategic initiatives identified in the plan guide the work of the Board and the Pacific Crest community.
Tiffany Volosin has been a parent at Pacific Crest since 2011, and has enjoyed becoming a part of the community through working on the auction, plant sale and several other volunteer opportunities. Her and husband Aaron are both full-time working parents, and can fully appreciate the support and grounding that Pacific Crest provides for their son Thomas.
Tiffany is a resourceful financial manager with 20 years experience in accounting and financial management systems, and in overall company operations. Tiffany is a key member of the executive management team at Floyd|Snider, a Seattle-based environmental firm. As CFO, she works to guide the firm’s growth and business strategies, risk management, hiring, benefits and operations.
Before joining Floyd|Snider in 2004, Tiffany spent several years specializing in start-up companies and assisting them with the complex challenges of building financial systems, improving operational efficiency, and managing cash. By beginning her career in such volatile companies, Tiffany gained very valuable experience in all aspects of running a successful business. Tiffany is a Seattle-area native and has a BS in Business/Accounting from the University of Puget Sound.
Kate Belmont Hastings is a community systems change expert who consults to federal, regional and state governments, and international and national nonprofits to help them achieve greater social impact. She has extensive experience in children’s health, healthy homes and communities, school health and wellness, social justice, and healthcare system change, among other areas. Kate’s clients hire her for her technical expertise and abilities in leadership development and communications, and organizational development when they face challenges that require multiple often divergent groups to collaborate on joint strategy for system change. For 17 years, Kate has supported system change work within and between organizations, levels of government, industry sectors and communities in order to build and run collaborations that achieve system-level impact (i.e., population level outcomes). For example, Kate led the design and launch of a national campaign in 2005 to cut asthma emergency room visits in half in 1,000 U.S. communities by 2015. There are currently 1,700 communities enrolled and achieving the campaign’s goals and the healthcare system has changed to support improved asthma control nationwide. Currently, Kate is the lead strategist and facilitation consultant to the U.S. EPA’s Asthma, Healthy Homes, Health in Buildings, and Radon programs; the Northwest Tribal Asthma Project; the National Center for Healthy Housing’s Substandard Housing Campaign; and the Association of Montessori Internationale’s (AMI) Bold Goal effort to triple the number of AMI-trained adults working in education in the U.S. by 2020. Kate and her husband, Andy, have two sons, Finley and Nate, whom they were thrilled to enroll at Pacific Crest because of the proof they have seen throughout their lives of the benefits of Montessori education for children, families, communities and society.
Jutta von Stieglitz joined the Pacific Crest School community in 2012, when she and her husband Burkhard Mackensen moved with their 3 children Aya, Aaron and Juliana to Seattle. The family immediately embraced the community and Jutta got involved in a variety of volunteer opportunities including chairing the library committee.
Before moving to Seattle Jutta served on the Parent Teacher Association of a public Montessori School in North Carolina and her older children attended a public and subsequently an independent Montessori School in NC.
As a pediatrician she has been treating and following many children and families with their needs and struggles and has observed the wondrous individuality and enormous capacity that each child brings. To her Montessori education respects this individuality and gives each child the opportunity to learn and work at its fullest potential. This commitment to Montessori education and investing in the future of Pacific Crest School where staff and faculty have a very thoughtful approach to the intellectual and social growth of each child is what motivates her to join the Board.
Jutta has obtained her Medical and Doctorate Degree from the University of Hamburg, Germany. Following residency training in Pediatrics (University of North Carolina, NC) she continued her subspecialty training in Pediatric Cardiology in Munich (German Heart Center) and at Duke University in North Carolina. She currently is on faculty at the Seattle Institute of Oriental Medicine.
Born and raised in the Netherlands she loves children, foreign languages, cheese, music, biking, sailing and skiing.
Ginelle Cousins joined the PCS Board in February 2014. Ginelle and her husband, Will, came to Pacific Crest in the fall of 2006 with their son, Jack. His brothers, Thomas and Henry, soon followed. A strong proponent of building confidence and character through a sense of belonging to a larger community, she appreciates the values and approach the Montessori method uses to contribute to the holistic development of a child. As a past parent coordinator and frequent chaperone at Camp Sealth, she’s enjoyed seeing the results of this approach first hand.
Professionally, she has an MBA from Thunderbird, School of Global Management and consults at Microsoft across a number of segments, with a focus on Education, managing partner programs and marketing initiatives.
Thomas B. Nedderman initially practiced law for three years in Chicago, Illinois prior to moving to Seattle, Washington. He joined Floyd, Pflueger & Ringer in 1999 and was promoted to Partner in 2002. He is currently a shareholder at Floyd, Pflueger & Ringer and is licensed to practice law in Washington, Alaska, Oregon and Illinois. He is also a Tribal Bar member for the Tulalip, Muckleshoot, Swinomish, Sauk-Suiattle, Puyallup, and Snoqualmie Indian Tribes in Washington State.
Tom’s practice focuses on liability defense in a variety of complex civil litigation cases. Tom has extensive experience in Superior and District Courts of Washington, Oregon and Alaska. He also has experience in the Court of Appeals and Federal District Courts in Washington and Alaska. He also co-authored an insurance adjuster’s law manual for claims filed in Alaska. Tom is a 1996 graduate of Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, where he received the Distinguished Student Award. He received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1990.
Tom and his wife, Erika, have two children at Pacific Crest in elementary and middle school. Tom is a member of a local hockey team and enjoys skiing, live music, and spending time with his family.
For the past 20 years, Laura has helped organizations of all shapes and sizes, from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, tell their stories through a wide array of communications, branding and marketing efforts: from strategic planning and expert positioning to content development and traditional, digital and social media.
Laura specializes in helping organizations cultivate community through the right mix of communication channels, approaches and methods. She believes that PR is not a one-size-fits-all model and that the key to building a successful brand is by being authentic, transparent, relevant, and whenever possible, socially responsible.
Laura’s background has touched a swath of industries including health + wellness, food + beverage, outdoor + sports, travel and commercial real estate + built environment.
Mike has lived in Seattle since 1997 where he met his wife Laura who was a Montessori teacher. They both knew they wanted an immersive Montessori education for their children, and found their ideal choice at Pacific Crest School. Both of their daughters have been at the school since Primary, and their oldest is excited to join the Middle School next year. Mike and his wife are active volunteers at PCS and especially love spending time at the school farm.
Mike has worked at Amazon.com since 1997 and is currently a Software Director leading a global team of technical professionals and product managers. During his time with Amazon Mike has had various roles spanning from Operations Management to Technical Project Management. At Amazon Mike is part of the Diversity Steering Committee for Operations Technology and is a Technical Leadership Development facilitator.
Mary Anne is currently the Executive Director of Sail Sand Point, a non-profit community boating center located in Magnuson Park. Sail Sand Point’s mission is to bring the joy and life-enhancing benefits of sailing and small boats to people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. This is accomplished by nurturing self-confidence, cultivating leadership skills, and inspiring an appreciation of our aquatic environment. Mary Anne led Sail Sand Point through a significant growth period, developed a strong strategic plan, financial sustainability and strengthened the community through partnerships with other non-profits, government officials and business leaders.
Prior to taking the position at Sail Sand Point Mary Anne raced sailboats for 12 years, winning major championships and being the only woman skipper to win a Bacardi Race Week.
She founded Schools At Work which establish traditional schools at the worksite for the children of employees with the goal of increased parental involvement.
Mary Anne is a happy Pacific Crest grandparent. She has enjoyed time at the farm, attending the auction and watching her granddaughters grow into wonderful, independent, confident young women.
Brad and his wife Becky joined Pacific Crest in 2013 when their daughter, Sibyl, started attending. Their son Wade joined Pacific Crest in 2015.
Brad grew up on Vashon Island and graduated from Pacific Lutheran University. He then headed to the East coast to start a career in finance, focusing on the inner workings of the public equity markets eventually running an options and equity trading desk. He has worked for several investment firms including Vanguard, Merrill Lynch, and Bank of America. Brad returned to Seattle where he graduated from the University of Washington's MBA program.
For the last 16 years, he has worked with families of multigenerational wealth. His practice guides grantors and heirs through the pitfalls of wealth transfer. This process includes implementing educational tools and creation of trusts in order for family members to become healthy, productive, and contributing citizens.