Our Core Team
Erin joined Seattle Good Business Network as co-director in 2012. Passionate about sustainability and community development, previous roles run the gamut from producing green events and fundraisers to Peace Corp service in the Philippines; and from academia to US Senate legislative staff. She holds a BA in Political Science from UC San Diego, an MSW from UC Berkeley, is ABD, PhD in Cultural Anthropology. Erin heads up our Sewn-Goods Revitalization project, our emergent Community Capital program area, Green Business Outreach, and Champion Membership. Contact Erin
Photo by Nataworry Photography
Andrea (she/her) along with her husband, owned and operated Bluebottle Art Gallery and Store in Seattle from 2002–2010. Bluebottle built a reputation for being at the forefront of the DIY indie art, craft and design movement. From 2008 – 2015 Andrea hosted a small business conference for creative entrepreneurs called School House Craft. Each fall, leaders of the makers community came together for two days to learn new skills and find camaraderie for their small business ventures. Andrea is a firm believer that the vitality of our community is bound to those who find the passion to pursue independent business ownership. Andrea coordinates our Seattle Restaurant Week and Seattle Made programs. Contact Andrea
Photo by Nataworry Photography
Mariah (she/her) joins Seattle Good Business Network with over 20 years experience in food and sustainability, with leadership roles at Marlene’s Market & Deli, the Puget Sound’s first natural foods store, and as the Washington State Market Director at Chinook Book, building a network of businesses committed to shared values of environmental and social responsibility. There she co-founded the Heart of Seattle Awards to celebrate sustainable achievement for local retail and service businesses. As the Local Food Economy Program Manager, she seeks to help strengthen the community network of regional food system stakeholders to create a sustainable, resilient, and just local food economy.
Contact Mariah
Lisa (she/her) has spent most of her professional career dedicating herself to supporting local artisan producers, including many years working for the Washington Brewers Guild and Washington Beer Commission. In 2012, she founded the Washington Artisan Cheesemakers Festival to help raise awareness for the growing cheese industry in our state, and publishes the Washington Artisan Cheese Map every year to further highlight the amazing cheesemakers of Washington State. Lisa also has extensive experience in producing events and festivals, specializing in tasting events that showcase local artisan products.
Contact Lisa
Susanna (she/they) joined Seattle Good Business Network in March 2022. Passionate about connecting with other youth and sustaining thriving futures for underrepresented communities, Susanna’s previous experience primarily stems from working in carceral spaces (i.e. current and formerly incarcerated), the nonprofit sector, and higher education.
A born-and-raised Washingtonian, Susanna graduated magna cum laude from Whitman College in 2020, where they received their Bachelor’s in Sociology. In their free time, Susanna can be found reading, writing, spending time near the water, and exploring other hobbies (ex. Lego, embroidery/mending, etc.).
Rebecca (RJ) (she/her) comes from an arts background in theatre, costume design, science fiction, and art–and is passionate about supporting and connecting with creatives of all kinds. She most recently worked with 21 Acres Center for Local Food and Sustainability. Her work there allowed her to learn about and grow a passion for food and environment alongside farmers, naturalists, foodies, and land stewards. Now, as SGBN’s Communications Manager, Rebecca gets to dive into her penchant for storytelling by connecting with neighbors seeking to build a better, more just economy together. In her down time, RJ can be found growing tomatoes, sketching, and taking close-ups of bugs. Contact Rebecca
Heidi Drockelman is a seasoned marketing professional with a varied background in print and digital design/layout, website development, advertising/media planning, email marketing and much more. She has worked with a variety of employers and clients in the nonprofit, arts and small business space, as well as corporations of all sizes, government agencies and universities. She is passionate about buying local and supporting local artists, as well as the local music scene.. Contact Logan
Camille comes to Seattle Good Business Network from both a nonprofit and special events operations background. At the start of her career Camille held both Front and Back of house positions in the food industry before going on to helm the operations programs at two Seattle non profits, working in the housing and food access sectors. In addition to working with nonprofits on their day to day needs Camille uses a decade worth of special event and fundraising experience to direct detailed, mission driven events to fruition. Contact Camille
Sydney (she/they) began her work in sustainability during her time as an Environmental Studies student at the University of Washington. In their time as a student, Sydney led grassroots campaigns to pass legislation in Washington to promote sustainable, thriving communities. Bringing in a background of broad-systems sustainability thinking, Sydney joined the Seattle Good Business Network in 2022 eager to expand the benefits of a circular economy in her own community. Contact Sydney
Vanessa has a history of working with Seattle publications to highlight budding artists and businesses. She is passionate about supporting local creators and building community through storytelling. Contact Vanessa
Mia is passionate about fostering growth for artists, small businesses, and creative entrepreneurs and hopes her work with Seattle Restored will create a more diverse and sustainable local economy for us all. Contact Mia
Matt McDonald is a new media entrepreneur based in Seattle, Washington. Matt spent 10 years working for The Bellingham Herald as a photojournalist, Online Project Manager and IT Director. in 2014, he moved to Seattle and into the commercial photography and web development world working full-time for Origin Distribution and Do206.com. He also has his own business, EqualMotion, specializing in web development, photography, video, content creation and web design.
Board of Directors
Inderjeet Ramgotra is founder of the local small business Inner Renewal and the Healthy Path and is an acupuncturist and herbalist with a talent for supporting internal health conditions especially women’s health. Natural medicine has been Inderjeet’s sole professional pursuit. She has been traveling this path for over 30 rewarding years restoring health, vitality and balance from the inside out. In caring deeply for health and well-being, her passion for vibrant local communities and economies is engaged on the board of the Seattle Good Business Network where she works to support the impactful programs and leaders of the organization. In addition to serving her patient community, she has served as president at the Women’s Business Exchange of Seattle and currently chairs the East Asian Medicine advisory committee by appointment of the WA State Secretary of Health.
Debbie has been a professional in the Credit Union movement for 35 years and has extensive experience regarding the unique role and purpose of the cooperative credit union structure. Debbie served as Executive Director of the BECU Foundation, running and growing their Scholarship program for over 13 years. Debbie is currently the Cooperative Community Advocate for BECU, a strong community-based Credit Union in Washington State. She is also a certified Credit Union Development Educator through the National Credit Union Foundation since 1993, as well as earning her Caribbean CUDE and International CUDE designation, and currently, serves on the CUDE Advisory Committee of the National CU Foundation Board. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the board of Express Advantage, the non-profit organization established to assist and partner low-income credit unions.
A CIO/COO for hire specializing in enterprise skills and strategy for companies of all sizes. Grounded in enterprise data center, transport and infrastructure (cloud), with expertise in program management. Celia is SCRUM certified and specializes in creative innovative and open cultures for operational excellence in adaptive planning. Celia is known in the industry for her ability to deliver quick wins and meet present business demands while anticipating the technology and processes of the future. 23 years at Microsoft in various operational leadership roles prepared her to understand the challenges and solutions for small and large businesses. This deeper understanding enables a faster pace of value for clients needing immediate value in operational excellence, technology best practices, and net revenue improvement. Mapping processes, delivering programs and change management provide quick wins for small and mid-size companies that are experiencing the challenges with growth. Celia lives on Mercer Island, has a husband and three children and can be found rowing on sunny days.
Lacey is the Native Works Manager at the Chief Seattle Club. Native Works, a Seattle Made member, is a vocational rehabilitation and social enterprise. By crafting authentic Indigenous art and jewelry, Native Works provides a healing centered space to plan and cultivate successful career paths for Seattle’s Native American and Alaskan Native homeless population. Lacey is deeply passionate about connecting Seattle’s community through art and entrepreneurship, highlighting Indigenous voices and stories. She is honored to serve on the Board of Seattle Good Business Network for the GOOD of our local economy.
Jazzlyn Stone is a freelance Comics Marketer, part time Lanyard designer, and writer. She joined the Seattle Good Business Board of Directors to give back to the city of Seattle, and help to preserve the small businesses and creators that made her fall in love with it. Her greatest love is a tie between coffee and Donkey Kong Country.
Todd comes to the Seattle Good Business Network through Seattle Made. He is passionate about helping bring brands to life. He started his career in advertising, learning what makes consumers tick and how to build brands that connect and stand out. He spent almost a decade at Starbucks where he led a reinvention of the Frappuccino brand—making it healthier and more aligned with how customers enjoy their Starbucks experience. He then joined a soccer-focused company called Golazo where he helped create a line of healthy, organic sports drinks. He recently founded Olympic Range Creation to help brands imagine (or reimagine) their products, find their tribe and be successful in the marketplace. He loves exploring all the Pacific Northwest has to offer—making and enjoying great food, beer, coffee and hiking and fly-fishing with his family. Todd is very excited to help the Seattle Good Business Network achieve its mission and especially to help small Seattle producers thrive in any way he can.
Art Stone, owner of local business Honest Biscuits, bounced around between the law, art and food throughout his career.
Cat’s art practice draws inspiration from the natural environment, the sea, and coastal culture. In her work, she mixes traditional metal smith fabrication techniques, the lost wax casting process and a edgy eye for design with other traditional gemstone and jewelry references. The result is a hybrid contemporary style with textural motifs and lively depictions of oceanic forms.
She has exhibited on the West and East coasts and currently sells her collection in over a dozen different cities. Cat maintains a retail e-commerce website, develops commissioned sculptural pieces, develops private-label product design solutions and re-imagines family heirlooms into new modern pieces for private clients.
Born and raised in New Jersey, Cat earned her BA from Binghamton University in upstate New York, graduating with honors in Art History. She later studied art direction at The Creative Circus in Atlanta, GA and honed her technical jewelry-making skills at Pratt Fine Art and North Seattle Community College in Seattle.
Fil Asgedom is the CEO & Co-Founder of Sax Capital Partners–a boutique M&A advisory firm. Also, he co-founded Medic-ally.org to provide Integrative Healthcare to lower-income members of our community. Fil holds a Doctor of Law (JD) focused on Banking and Legal Philosophy from the UC Hastings, and developed a curious mind with an interest in systems, strategic, & analytical thinking developed at UC Berkeley.
Alexander is a problem solver. Working with a variety of companies large and small, he’s driven to find unique solutions that meet business needs, improve efficiency, and boost morale.
In his free time, Alexander writes and directs online videos (he’s worked on full-length web series and short one-off “viral” videos), creates puzzles, and enjoys fine board games.
He finds contracts and legal matters to just be another puzzle for him to solve and loves the daily challenge.
Legacy Board Members
Special thanks to these previous board members who help us create the foundational building blocks of the organization.
Christine is an entrepreneur, non-profit manager, and experienced marketer. After receiving her MBA from the University of Washington, she spent six years working with online marketing companies, including goNextdoor, a company she co-founded. In 2002 she joined sustainability think tank Sightline Institute as managing director, where she was responsible for fundraising, strategic planning, and operations. Inspired by the “living economies” vision of BALLE, she co-founded Seattle Good Business Network in 2010. Christine is a BALLE Local Economies Fellow, and served on the City of Seattle’s Economic Development Commission. In 2017 Christine has taken the reigns as Executive Director at Yes! Magazine.
Leslie Christian has been a leader in social and environmental investing for more than 25 years. She leads Outside Investments, a division of NorthStar Asset Management. After spending the first part of her career in banking and on Wall Street, Leslie became passionate about using finance for the benefit of all stakeholders, and went on to serve as President and CEO of Portfolio 21 Investments. During her 17 years at Portfolio 21, Leslie co-founded the firm’s pioneering environmental mutual fund as well as Upstream 21, a uniquely-chartered regional holding company for socially and environmentally responsible businesses. In 1993 Leslie co-founded with her colleague and friend Linda Pei the Women’s Equity Mutual Fund (now part of Pax World). Leslie offers portfolio consulting and advisory services to individuals and institutions seeking to align their values and their money through an integrated capital approach to investing and philanthropy.
Jon Kroman established his own law and consulting practice after 28 years with the Seattle-based law firm of Garvey Schubert Barer, including over 20 years as partner. For many years, Jon has been heavily involved with sustainability in the regional business community. A central element of the transition to his own practice is the opportunity to provide cost-effective professional support to small and medium sized companies and other organizations defined by products, services and practices reflecting a fundamental commitment to social and environmental responsibility.
Special Project & Program Advisors
We are fortunate to be supported by a number of talented, expert advisors who assist us with various programs and special projects to support our local economy. Special thanks to these team members who help us build capacity and amplify our voice.
Clarissa San Diego is Founder and CEO of Makerologist, a maker technology agency that bridges the gap between companies and communities through creative technology experiences. She leads a collective of makers, educators, designers, engineers, artists, and writers who have come together under a shared vision of creating a maker ecosystem. They specialize in project based learning experiences through hardware kits, workshops, events, and public installations. At Makerologist, San Diego demonstrates her abilities in business development, industrial design, STEM education, and community building at a local and global scale. In her previous career, she served as a developer relations consultant for various tech companies. Her award winning work is published in academic journal, Technical Communication, and MAKE Magazine. Clarissa was also co-producer for numerous tech events including the Women Who Code CONNECT 2016 and the DevRel Summit conferences. Majority of her work focuses on matchmaking the needs between local communities and businesses through hardware education.
Gabriel-Bello Diaz is a Puerto Rican designer and teacher. As founder of Efficio he combines 3D printing and laser cut technology with leather to create high end leather products. With his background in architecture and robotic engineering he has developed educational programs and curriculums that encourage students to pursue a variety of STEM careers. Gabriel has been published in several books for his research in robotics and is currently working on his first solo publication on deconstructing public school education. He is also very passionate about empowering people of color and started an online fashion editorial, Hyena Culture, that highlights artists using their talent to strengthen and give back to their own community.
Kamal Patel, is a digital UX designer, entrepreneur, and systems thinker focused on circular economy, local food, and environmental justice. He has spent 6 years designing and building digital tools and physical infrastructure in support of resilient, local food systems in the Greater Seattle Area.
His past digital UX clients have included Seattle’s Office of Economic Development, GE Global Research, Amazon AWS and F5.com. Kamal uses design thinking tools and systems mapping to help build emergent solutions with a diverse set of stakeholders with similar visions of a more regenerative, just economy.
Behnosh Najafi, PhD, is a UX design researcher and strategist in the Seattle area with a decade of experience helping businesses, foundations and non-profits connect to their end-users. Her past clients have included Microsoft, Windermere Realty, The Allen Institute and Schools Out Washington.
Having had a range of clients and complex problems to solve, Behnosh enjoys working through ambiguous territory, and believes that design methodologies offer a robust toolkit for anyone seeking to make impact in their organizations and in the wider world. Behnosh received her doctorate in Developmental Psychology at the University of WA, Santa Cruz.