Board of Directors

Lynn began her sailing career late in life with an ocean passage from Hawaii to Seattle. She repeated the magical experience again four years later as First Mate. For the past 25 years, she has been in information security and risk management, working for large corporations—Microsoft, Barclays, and Oracle. Her background includes being a founding member of the Cloud Security Alliance, working on national critical infrastructure protection projects with IT-ISAC, Telecom, and the Electrical Power Interdependency Task Force. Her volunteer work includes being a former board member of the National Women’s Sailing Association and currently serving on the First Fed board and advisory board for the Executive Women’s Forum. She enjoys sailing locally with her spouse, Nancy, aboard Tethys. 

Steve grew up cruising and sailing the Salish Sea with his parents and grandparents. Today, he and his wife, Kelley, sail with their children and grandchildren on their Bill Garden ketch Blackbeard II. Steve has been a Board Member of Northwest Maritime since 2001 and served as Board President from 2008 to 2021. Steve was a founding board member and past president of the Olympic Medical Center Foundation and the First Fed Foundation. He has also served on the boards of several other charitable organizations during his career. 

Steve practiced law on the Olympic Peninsula for 35 years, retiring from active practice in 2010. His practice emphasized civil litigation, maritime, banking, and municipal work. He served as general counsel to the Port of Port Angeles for over 30 years. He is the former Chairman of the Board of First Fed Bank. He retired from that position in 2023 after serving on its Board of Directors and as its General Counsel for over 20 years.

Scott retired as a transactional lawyer from Cascade Asset Management Company. He remains active as a member of the board of directors of Lake Union Drydock Company, a commercial shipyard, and as an advisor to Leading Harvest, a multinational sustainable agriculture standards, education and certification company. Scott is a founder of Farmland Capital Alliance, the nationwide trade association for large-scale farmland owners and operators.

Scott is an active sailor and motor boater, including transiting the Atlantic on a 44’ sailboat in 2023, sailing the west coast of Sweden and transiting the Panama Canal on a sailboat in 2024 and as a participant in the WA360 on team Old Salts.

Kirstin grew up boating and windsurfing with her family in and around the Pacific Northwest, which fostered a love of the water and the beauty of the region. For 16 years, Kirstin served in various finance and accounting roles at Saltchuk Resources and its operating subsidiaries. She spent 13 of those years as CFO for Foss Maritime, a global marine services business founded in Tacoma in 1889. Prior to joining Saltchuk, Kirstin worked at Optiva Corporation, makers of the Sonicare toothbrush, and previously with public accounting firms. Kirstin holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in accounting from the University of Washington. Kirstin retired from the Seattle Foundation in May 2021, where she served as Chief Financial Operating Officer. In addition to spending time on the water, Kirstin loves to travel, is an avid cyclist, and enjoys hiking and golfing. Kirstin also serves on the board of the Perigee Fund and Seattle-King-Kittitas County Habitat for Humanity.

LeeAnne has committed her entire career to public service with extensive experience working for and with the judicial, municipal, and special government elected officials. She has a passion for equitable policy development, challenging societal norms, and creating opportunities and access to underserved communities. She received her B.A. in Political Science from Arizona State University 4 years after earning her G.E.D.

She is the Commission Office lead for the Port of Seattle Commission, where she provides support for policy research and analysis on issues with an emphasis on equity, diversity, and inclusion. She also provides direct support to commissioners in achieving individual and commission-wide policy objectives. She is most proud of her work to develop the Port’s workforce development policy and her role in supporting the launch of the Maritime High School.

LeeAnne was born and raised in the Southwest but has always been drawn to the sea. She and her family moved to the Seattle area in 2013 and are happy to live so close to the sounds and smells of Puget Sound.

Alex is a Senior Environmental Program Manager at Port of Seattle, where he leads maritime sustainability programs. Prior to working at the Port, Alex led climate change and energy programs at King County’s Department of Transportation. Alex is also a licensed captain, with over a decade of experience leading students of all ages on semester-long ocean education trips aboard tall ships in the Great Lakes and ocean waters between Canada and Trinidad. He also served as captain of King County’s Water Taxi and spent time as a fly-fishing guide in Alaska. Alex earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from Wheaton College in Massachusetts, where he grew up, and a Master’s in Marine Affairs from the University of Washington. Alex loves living in the Pacific Northwest and is committed to experiential education, addressing the complex issue of climate change, and creating opportunities that inspire others to learn about science, the natural world, and themselves.

Aletia Alvarez’s connection to the Northwest Maritime runs deep. Joining the Board is a homecoming of sorts, after serving as its founding Executive Director. Her return brings a lifetime of maritime experience and leadership, currently demonstrated through her role leading the Port of Seattle’s Maritime Planning Department and spearheading transformative waterfront and infrastructure projects. Aletia’s professional journey spans economic development leadership, consulting via A3Resources, co-owning of Madrona MindBody Institute, and providing capital planning at the Port of Olympia. Beyond her strategic expertise, Aletia is a true “Jill-of-all-trades.” From repairing and sailing Neil Young’s schooner, the W.N. Raglund, with her 100-ton USCG license, she has sailed the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Pacific, Atlantic, and North seas—and to raise a topsail, she has also served as a commissioned US Army Aviation officer (Rotary-winged). Her diverse experience and proven leadership make her an invaluable addition as a new member to the Northwest Maritime Board.

Mark is the publisher at Fine Edge Nautical & Recreational Publishing. He is also the Editor and Publisher of the annual Waggoner Cruising Guide, the most popular cruising guide in the Northwest and British Columbia. The Waggoner is often referred to as “the bible” for Northwest cruising.  Mark has always enjoyed boating, and while working in the corporate world, he annually would charter in the San Juan Islands and British Columbia as well as other places around the world, including the Caribbean, the Bahamas, the Greek islands, Honduras, Mexico, and the Chesapeake Bay area.  Mark holds a U.S. Coast Guard Master’s license with endorsements for towing and sail, and is a NAUI-certified scuba diver. In addition to boating, Mark is an instrument-rated, twin-engine private pilot with over 2000 hours of flight time. He is a long-distance cyclist and has completed several Seattle to Portland (STP) cycling events.

Jeanne was the skipper of the 2018 winning Race to Alaska team, Sail Like A Girl. The team is a group of eight women, three with little to no sailing experience, who set out on a journey of adventure and achieved more when they reached Ketchikan as the first monohull to win the race, ever. Despite a multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2021, she repeated a win in 2023 with team We Brake For Whales, alongside her husband aboard their custom Lyman Morse-built, cold-molded cedar race boat, Gray Wolf. Jeanne began sailing and racing in 1999 in Boston, where she met her husband, Evgeniy, who has circumnavigated the globe on sailboats. They have two children and live on Bainbridge Island. 

Jeanne spent 25 years in wealth management and trust and estate administration.  Jeanne has also spent volunteer time working to increase planned giving in the Puget Sound area, and is engaged with a number of non-profits to aid them in this goal.

Mark is a seasoned leader with 30 years in marketing, communications, and event management. Most recently, he led Marketing and Communications at Saltchuk Marine and Foss Maritime, where he played a key role in community engagement, corporate giving, and stewarding the relationship with Maritime High School. Prior to Saltchuk Marine, Mark worked in philanthropy at Fred Hutch Cancer Center and ran his own marketing agency, consulting for major brands like U.S. Bank, Hyundai USA, Nintendo, Toyota, Westfield, and UPS. His background as a collegiate athlete has shaped his ability to build strong, collaborative partnerships rooted in shared values and long-term success.

Born and raised in Seattle, Mark grew up inspired by the towering gantry cranes at the Port of Seattle, where his father worked as an ILWU Local 19 crane operator. He attended the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. Now residing in West Seattle, Mark enjoys an active lifestyle with his wife and two daughters. In the winter, his family can be found skiing and snowboarding across the West, while the warmer months are filled with mountain biking, road cycling, paddleboarding, and his ongoing challenge—standing on a physio ball for a full hour.

Harium Martin-Morris is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in both the private sector and public education. He spent over 17 years at The Boeing Company, focusing on software development and management.
When he arrived in Seattle, he worked in the maritime industry in various positions, including as a general manager of a shipping line from Seattle to far-east Russia.

In the realm of education, Harium has made significant contributions. He served on the Seattle School Board from 2007 to 2015, during which he was involved with the Council of Great City Schools and the Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE), holding the position of vice-chair on the CUBE steering committee.

In 2018, Governor Jay Inslee appointed Harium to the Washington State Board of Education, where he continues to advocate for equitable and quality education for all students.

Harium holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from the State University of New York at Cortland and a Master of Business Administration from Babson College. He also possesses a Washington State Residency Teaching Certificate.

Beyond his professional endeavors, Harium is actively involved in community organizations. He serves on the board of the Equity in Education Center of Washington, a group comprising over 100 community-based organizations dedicated to promoting educational equity. He is also a private pilot in his spare time.

Dave’s respect for the water began along the banks of the Mississippi River, where he explored its backwaters in a 1940s-era Alumacraft fishing boat loaned to him by his grandfather. For the past 25 years, he has called the Pacific Northwest home and is a regular on the Salish Sea, whether under sail or on power vessels. He is passionate about traditional wooden boatbuilding and maintenance methods and is currently a caretaker of a classic wooden trawler. For 30 years, Dave has worked in and around technology and operations, having held leadership positions at Deere & Company, Microsoft, and Avanade, and consulting with Grand Banks Yachts. After graduating with a degree in Accounting from the University of Illinois, he obtained CPA and CMA certificates and completed a dual degree MBA and Master of Manufacturing from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School & McCormick School of Engineering. Dave currently serves as CEO of ArchLynk, a leading supply chain consulting firm with offices in Europe, North America, Australia, and India. His volunteer work and contributions have included the Boy Scouts of America, Evergreen Goodwill (formerly Seattle Goodwill), and various choral organizations around the US. Dave enjoys spending time on the water and in the mountains with his spouse, Margie, and their three children.

After a childhood of paddling and sailing the lakes of Minnesota, a collegiate rowing career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a year-long stint working for Outward Bound in East Africa, Alyssa moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2001 to teach outdoor education and pursue an environmental law degree at the University of Washington. Currently a partner at K&L Gates, where she practices environmental, energy, and water law, she remains deeply involved in outdoor and experiential education through her non-profit board work with the YMCA, the RAVE Foundation, and now the NWMC. Alyssa taught kids how to sail in Sunfish Sailboats on Prior Lake, has lived aboard a catamaran in the BVI, and has happily been the guest of generous captains on Lake Pepin, Bahia de Banderas, and Puget Sound. She recently re-discovered surfing while living as a digital nomad in San Pancho, Mexico.

Alyssa and her husband are raising their two young sons in West Seattle, where easy access to the Sound allows for hours of paddle boarding and kayaking. She takes every opportunity she can to be out on the water, whether exploring low tide from a SUP, waiting for just the right wave to surf, or learning more about the art and science of sailing.

Third generation on the family homestead near Gig Harbor, Ron grew up exploring Puget Sound in wooden boats built by his dad. College brought him to California, and a 30-year engineering career at Apple kept him there. Retirement in 2017 allowed Ron and his wife, Elizabeth, to become full-time residents of Port Townsend.

Apple vendor and manufacturing interactions brought extensive international travel, with the opportunity to learn from different cultures and work styles. Decades of collaborative engineering experience shaped an ability to bring people of varied backgrounds together in creative problem-solving.

Northwest Maritime and all it represents are major factors in Ron’s choice to live in Port Townsend; serving on the Board provides the opportunity to contribute to that enterprise and its future.

Kris grew up sailing Sabots, Mintas, and Lido 14’s in Southern California, where she was also an avid sportfisher. As a young adult, Kris stopped out of college for several years to own and operate a 32-foot Monterey-style commercial fishing boat out of San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf.

In her professional career, Kris was a founding partner of the retained executive search firm Morris & Berger. This firm had a specialty practice focused on the nonprofit sector. The firm received numerous awards, including being named one of the 50 leading retained executive search firms in North America. Clients included secondary and post-secondary educational institutions, policy organizations, foundations, organizations in the arts, and human and social service agencies.

Kris has always had a deep and abiding commitment to volunteer work and community philanthropy. She has served on numerous Boards and Commissions, including as a Trustee (now Emerita) of Occidental College, with previous service on the Greater Los Angeles Boards of the American Red Cross and United Way. Kris has spoken nationally on topics ranging from change management and institutional leadership to cultural competency.

Caitlin is a communications professional with experience developing and executing marketing strategies for a variety of businesses, including enterprise companies, non-profits, and personal brands. With a B.S. in Chemistry from Harvey Mudd College, she leverages her background in math and science to bring a data-driven perspective to solve marketing challenges. Caitlin grew up spending time swimming, fishing, and boating on coastlines across the country as the daughter of a Coast Guard airman. She currently resides in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle with her husband, Jason.

Peter has over 25 years of hands-on maritime experience in the Pacific Northwest. He began his career in Alaska, fishing for salmon during his high school summers, and ended his fishing days on factory trawlers out of Dutch Harbor. This eventually led to Peter joining Foss Maritime in 2005 as a deckhand where he hawse piped his way up to Captain, sailing in Puget Sound. Peter then decided that he felt he could make a significant impact on the shore where he held various positions from Project Management to Director of Business Development for their Columbia River division. In 2023, Peter took on a new role as VP of Sales for Gunderson Marine, and that path has led him to his current role as President of Markey Machine LLC in 2024.

Peter and his wife, Amanda, and their two boys currently live outside their hometown of Anacortes, WA. In his off time, you can find Peter on the golf course, being active in his kids’ sports, taking in all the San Juan Islands have to offer, and traveling with his family.

Sarah’s career started in 1989 as a Cadet at Texas A&M University at Galveston (TAMUG), which is also the Texas Maritime Academy. Her commercial sailing endeavors have included working on supply boats, tugs, landing crafts, high-speed catamarans, seismic, hydrographic, and fisheries research vessels from the Gulf of Mexico to the South Pacific Ocean to the Bering Sea. Her maritime land adventures include providing scientific support for marine oil spills, working in health and safety for tugs, shipyards, and fishing companies, designing and conducting adult learning experiences, being the Dean/Director of the Seattle Maritime Academy, and advocating for the Maritime and Manufacturing Industry within an economic development department in city government.

Most recently, she was Vice President of Pacific Coast Operations for the Transportation Institute. In this role, she conducted research, education, and advocacy for the U.S. Flagged Merchant Fleet. Now, she is the General Manager, PNW of the Maritime Institute. This includes two USCG-approved training facilities in Edmonds (Compass Course by Maritime Institute) and Everett, WA. She is passionate about ensuring the next generation of maritime workers, including more people of color and women, are competent, confident, and safe. Besides her regular work, she volunteers as a mentor at the Maritime High School and is on the following boards to broaden her understanding of the maritime and state workforce development environment and stay connected to folks in the maritime industry from across the sector: Board Member or President of the Seattle Propeller Club from 2015-2022; Board Member or President of the Tacoma Propeller Club since 2022; Co-President of WISTA PNW since 2022; Board member of the Northwest Maritime, Board member of Seattle Jobs Initiative since 2024 and Executive Board Member of the newly formed Maritime and Manufacturing Industrial Association (MMIA).

Sally is the co-founder and former executive director of the National Science Resources Center (now the Smithsonian Science Education Center), established in 1985 by the National Academies and the Smithsonian Institution. Throughout her career, she has played a pivotal role in working with colleagues, partners, and sponsors to translate research and implement best practices for scaling high-quality K-12 science education programs across local, state, national, and international levels. Working in 13 states and more than a dozen countries, these efforts have brought about transformational and sustained change, especially in communities serving underrepresented youth.

During her three decades at the Smithsonian, her organization earned numerous accolades, including the Center for Excellence in Education Certificate for Contributions to STEM Learning, the International Science Education Award, the Purkwa Prize for International Scientific Literacy, and the Washington State Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform Advocacy Award.

Since retiring in 2012, Sally has remained dedicated to advancing science education by advising and consulting nonprofits on capacity building, organizational development, systems thinking, fundraising, partnership cultivation, and strategic planning. She continues to serve on various committees and boards, driving initiatives that improve science learning for all youth.

John Simpson is a retired university professor and administrator. Dr. Simpson received his Bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Cruz and his advanced degrees from Northwestern University. He is a neuroendocrinologist, studying interactions between the endocrine and nervous systems, particularly related to body fluid and cardiovascular homeostasis. After a postdoc at the University of Pennsylvania, he served as a faculty member at the University of Washington (Psychology) and the UC San Francisco School of Medicine (Physiology). He was also the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington, and subsequently the Provost at UC Santa Cruz, and then President of the University at Buffalo, part of the State University of New York.  

John is an avid boater, cruising the Puget Sound and the Salish Sea and north in Canada.  Simpson is a licensed captain. He is particularly interested in modern art and is an active woodworker.  He has served on numerous public boards, including the University of Washington Foundation, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, and the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences. His two children and four grandchildren are Seattle area residents. In addition, he is part owner of SEAMarine in Port Townsend and the vice chair of the Port Townsend Marine Trades Association Board of Directors.  

Luke is the Planner for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. He helps the Tribe facilitate future development and maintain relations with federal, state, and local organizations to further the Tribe’s interests. Luke’s family has deep roots in and around the Pacific Northwest. He is the son of a commercial fisherman (and commercial fisherman himself), which meant spending lots of time on boats and out at sea from a very young age. Prior to his planning career with the Jamestown Tribe, Luke worked as a contractor building maps for a variety of clients, often supporting aviation and maritime navigation systems, bathymetry projects in and around the Salish Sea were his favorite. Luke is a passionate boater, fisherman, and surfer who is dedicated to coastal conservation, environmental stewardship, and expanding opportunities for outdoor recreation. He volunteers regularly with Save The Waves, an international non-profit that works to protect surf ecosystems around the world. Luke has a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Western Washington University and a Master’s in Natural Resource Management and Planning from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.

Jim Whittaker, internationally renowned mountaineer, adventurer, and environmentalist, is best known as the first American to summit Mt. Everest, on May 1, 1963. A visionary business and community leader, Jim was the first full-time employee of one of the country’s largest outdoor retailers, Recreational Equipment, Inc. – REI – retiring as its President and CEO after 25 years with the company. Jim is a talented and inspirational public speaker, who has given presentations to hundreds of corporations and organizations for more than four decades. He has led numerous, high-profile climbing expeditions, including the first ascent of Mt. Kennedy (with Senator Robert Kennedy) in the Canadian Yukon in 1965, the first American ascent of K2 in 1978, and the spectacularly successful Mt. Everest International Peace Climb in 1990. He is an accomplished blue-water sailor, having twice skippered his own boats on the 2,400-mile Victoria-to-Maui International Yacht Race. He and his wife Dianne Roberts, along with their two sons, made a four-year, 20,000-mile Pacific sailing journey to Australia and back to their home in Port Townsend, Washington, aboard their 54-foot steel ketch, Impossible. Jim is the author of the best-selling, award-winning memoir, A Life on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest and Beyond. (Bio courtesy of jimwhittaker.com.)