Our Team

Debbi is well versed in governance matters having completed Northwestern University’s Women Director Development Program and through non-profit board officer roles in the Seattle area. She has been as a Trustee for the University of Pittsburgh (including serving as Chair of the Institutional Advancement Committee and Chair of the Nursing School Board of Visitors) since 2013, a mentor for the University of Washington MBA program since 1998, a mentor for the Pitt Forward program, and is actively engaged with the University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute. In addition to her current role as Chief Operating Officer at nVoq, a provider of SaaS-based speech recognition services, she also serves as an advisor to Lumis Corporation (Pittsburgh), a medical simulation software startup, and has sponsored several fellowship programs for aspiring leaders at Pitt. Debbi served as an advisor and mentor to the Women in the Cloud Accelerator program in 2019. She is also an active community volunteer including current Board service in a number of Seattle-area non-profits.

Frank, and his wife Anne, both grew up on Mercer Island attending MI schools from Sunnybeam up to MIHS. Together they have five adult children living in Los Angeles, London, Seattle and New Zealand.

Frank graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Accounting. For a time, Frank was a Certified Public Accountant before entering the tech sector in various Finance, Operations and product group leadership positions. From 2004 to 2020, Frank led field program work in Africa, Latin America and Asia for NetHope, a nonprofit consortium of the world’s largest humanitarian organizations.

Frank has been a youth soccer and basketball coach and is the former President of Bellevue Youth Soccer Club.

Coming soon

Jocelyn has been a resident of Mercer Island for ten years. She moved here from London, and prior to that lived in Philadelphia. Jocelyn grew up in South Africa in the beautiful seaside town of Port Elizabeth (now known as Gqeberha). She is married to James and they have 2 girls, Josie and Caitlyn, both of whom went through the Mercer Island schools.

Jocelyn has a LLB from the University of Cape Town and a Masters in Law from the University of Washington. Her earlier years were spent working in the legal profession in South Africa and in the hedge fund industry in Philadelphia. She then took on a teaching position in London where she taught law to A-level students. She currently works at Starbucks in Law and Corporate Affairs. Jocelyn has been an enthusiastic volunteer, both here on Mercer Island and in London. She was the co-chair of the Friends of Rowan (PTA) in Surrey, as well as the Chair and Editor-in-Chief at the National Childbirth Trust (Esher branch) in the U.K. She was also the VP of Enrichment at Islander Middle School, and the President of the National Charity League (Evergreen Chapter) where she was awarded the Presidential Volunteer Service Award. She also co-chaired the National PTA Reflections Art competition on Mercer Island for a couple of years and was awarded Outstanding Program Award by Mercer Island PTA Council.

Jocelyn’s greatest joy in her philanthropy efforts is collaborating with others to bring about a sense of purpose, community and fulfilment, and to help others reach their potential.

Katie, her husband, David, and their two sons, moved to Mercer Island in 2015. Originally from the UK, Katie spent time living and working in the UK, France, Belgium, and China before moving to the US about 18 years ago. Katie has English and French law degrees from the University of Liverpool and University of Paris: Pantheon-Sorbonne. After practicing law for several years, for the last 15+ years Katie has held People & Culture roles focused on building great places to work, and enabling organizations, teams, and individuals to be the best they can be.

Impressed by the mission of MIYFS and its visibly positive impact on the island, Katie is honored to serve the community in support of this important work. She is also a member of MI Mountain Bike Advocates, empowering youth through cycling and supporting access to biking facilities on the island. 

After finishing their medical training at Baylor College of Medicine, Elizabeth moved from Texas to Mercer Island with her husband Jeff in 2006.  After working as a pediatrician at Seattle Childrens Hospital Emergency Room/Urgent Care and at the Swedish West Seattle Clinic, she joined Mercer Island Pediatrics in 2016.  She has been an active volunteer in the community serving as a Girl Scout leader for 12 years, PTA president at Lakeridge, Mercer Island High School and the PTA Council, as well as President of the Evergreen Chapter of National Charity League. She can often be found volunteering at high school sporting events and around town with her 3 daughters.  After seeing first hand the impact of MIYFS in the schools, with her patients, and as a member of the Healthy Youth Initiative, she was excited to join the Foundation Board.  

Steffenie grew up in the Pacific Northwest and moved to Mercer Island in 2014. She has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Rice University and an MBA from the University of Washington. She and her husband, Fletcher Evans (a Mercer Island native) have three small kids and one very large dog. Steffenie has worked in the commercial real estate and development industry for over 15 years. She is currently Vice President of Development at Washington Holdings, a locally based real estate development and investment firm, where she oversees large mixed-use development projects from land acquisition through completion of construction. Steffenie has served in a number of leadership committees within the Urban Land Institute, an international thought leader for creating and sustaining thriving communities and has mentored students at the University of Washington’s Runstad Center for Commercial Real Estate.She served for three years on the Lakeside Alumni Board. When she has free time, Steffenie enjoys reading, trying new restaurants and travelling.

Cindy grew up and lived around the world, leading a nomadic life until moving to the Seattle area in 2000. She practiced law in California and Washington before “retiring” from the law and moving to Mercer Island in 2007 with her husband, Gordon, and 3 children.  Since then, Cindy has served on various boards, including that of the Mercer Island Schools Foundation, West Mercer PTA, Northwood PTA, and Eastside Prep PA. She has also volunteered at various organization across Puget Sound, including the Boys and Girls Club, Northwest Harvest, and PEPs. She is excited to be part of the MIYFS Foundation and to devote her time to its mission of supporting all Islanders.

Tiffany has 20 years of experience in both agency and client side Digital Marketing Leadership roles with a track-record of defining innovative, multi-channel campaign strategies with proven results for companies including T-Mobile, Nordstrom, Volkswagen and Microsoft. In 2019, she recently co-founded a new digital media agency, Brinny Media, to help start-ups like Two Blind Brothers, TUSOL Smoothies and Sound Excursions build meaningful experiences and accelerate growth.

Tiffany and her husband, Jim, met at the U. of Washington, married in 2007, and have been Mercer Island residents since 2009. They have two daughters who attend Islander Middle School and Northwood Elementary and a beagle who “serenades” the neighbors every morning.

Tiffany has been an active volunteer and donor for the United Way, Boys & Girls Club and New Beginnings organizations over the past 15 years. She is currently a basketball coach and Treasurer/Cookie Manager for her daughter’s local Girl Scout Troops.

After living in Washington, DC for 26 years, Jody moved with her husband Adams and two sons to Mercer Island in 2016. Her sons are currently in 8th grade at IMS and a senior at MIHS. Jody received her B.A. from Rutgers University in Political Science and French, and a M.A. from American University in Cross Cultural Communication and Conflict Resolution. She started at the U.S. Department of State as a Presidential Managment Fellow, and after a stint as a Congressional staffer, she continued at the State Department as the Conflict Resolution Specialist, responsible for the internal and inter-agency mediation program. She taught mediation and conflict resolution at the Foreign Service Institute for over 20 years. In addition to being on the board of the MIYFS Foundation, Jody has volunteered extensively in many capacitites, including the PTSA of her sons’ schools, the Mercer Island Football Club, and other community and educational positions.

After living in West Berlin, Germany for ten years, Terry, her late husband Buddy, and two young sons moved to Mercer Island in 1978.

With a degree in History and Political Science from UC Berkley, her first job was as a stewardess with Pan American World Airways. After about ten years of serial volunteering, she returned to work as the development director for a domestic violence organization. She was the Executive Director of the Mercer Island Chamber of Commerce for 27 years, working closely with MIYFS and other community organizations. She was instrumental in inaugurating and producing Summer Celebration, the Farmers Market, Town Center trick-or-treating and Art UnCorked. She was part of the MIYFS Breakfast organizing committee for many years and has perfect attendance at the event. She retired from the Chamber in 2017.

Terry’s volunteer work began with the Pre-School Assn., the PTA and Boy Scouts. She has served on the boards of the Boys and Girls Club, the Schools Foundation, the Community Fund, the Mercer Island Rotary Club, and the Mercer Island Sister City Association. She also volunteered as a Guardian ad Litem in the Seattle court system. She currently serves as co-president of the Mercer Island Historical Society.

Born and raised in the suburbs of New York City, Michelle left her home state to attend Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. She began her career in Southern California as a consultant with CGE&Y in strategy and business process definition. In 2001, Michelle moved up to Seattle where she and worked for Accenture doing both business and IT Program and Project Management. Michelle and her husband Scott moved to Mercer Island in 2007 and have been Island residents for 13 years now. Shortly after moving to the Island, Michelle left the business world to start a family and now has two girls ages ten and twelve.

Among various other philanthropic efforts, Michelle has been a longtime volunteer in many capacities for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and is currently serving in her 5th year as a Trustee on the Make-A-Wish Board of Directors. A passionate supporter of the Arts, Michelle has also been a board member of the Mercer Island Center for the Arts for the past 2.5 years. Michelle enjoys spending time volunteering at her girls’ schools and has chaired school events focused on both fundraising and community engagement.

Having seen the many positive impacts MIYFS has on the Island community through the various programs, Michelle joins the MIYFS board with excitement and enthusiasm for getting involved with the organization in a hands-on way. She truly values the community where she and Scott have chosen to live, and believes it is important to support things close to home that have a real, tangible, positive impact on the place where they are raising their family. Michelle looks forward to engaging with our community and getting them involved in new and exciting ways!!

Ivy moved to Mercer Island in 2004 from Seattle with her husband Eric and their two kids, who went through the MISD system and graduated from MIHS in 2017 and 2021. She was previously part of the MIYFS Healthy Youth Initiative Committee and inspired by their dedication and positivity, she decided to join the MIYFS Foundation.

Among the many volunteer positions she held on the island, she is most proud of being the founder of Lakeridge Science Fair (originally All Island Science Fair) in 2008, serving on the original Diversity Advisory Committee for MISD, serving on the MI Schools Band Boosters for 4 years, and for serving two years as the PTSA President of MIHS.

Ivy is a retired academic Immunologist with a B.S. and M.S. in Microbiology and a Ph.D. in Immunology. After her son was born, she switched her focus to helping others and formed Tampopo Preschool Co-op in Phinney Ridge (Seattle) to create a Japanese-immersion preschool that also provided a cultural experience for young children. She also ran a holistic life-coaching practice on the island for 10 years mainly working with Japanese-speaking clients in their native language.

Mercer Island is a wonderful place to raise a family and MIYFS is a big factor in that. She is looking forward to serve the community going forward as a member of the MIYFS Foundation Board.

Rouslana moved to Mercer Island in 2018 with her husband, Leo, and two kids, both Mercer island High School students. Rouslana brings to the board over 15 years of non-profit leadership experience.
She graduated from Moscow State University as a history teacher and received a PhD from the Institute for Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Science. She received project management certificate from UC Berkeley and Executive Education from Stanford, CA. She enjoys strategic planning process as a tool in managing change in a systemic fashion.

When she has free time, Rouslana enjoys playing with her 2 dogs, reading, and traveling.