Our School

Board of Trustees

The Role of the Board of Trustees: A View from 30,000 Feet

Our board serves as the guardian of our mission and the strategic steward of the school. Trustees work in partnership with the head of school to ensure Evergreen’s long-term development and financial sustainability. These dedicated volunteers care deeply about our school and spend countless hours championing the fulfillment of our mission on behalf of students today as well as the students of tomorrow.

Officers

Harlyn Susarla, Chair

Harlyn is a pediatric dentist at Seattle Children’s Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic and Ballard Pediatric Dentistry. After graduating from Wellesley College, she completed a Master of Public Health at Boston University, doctorate at Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and residency at University of Maryland. As an advocate for children’s oral health, Harlyn has held leadership roles locally, regionally, and nationally. She is currently a trustee for the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Foundation, and President-elect for Seattle-King County Dental Society. At Evergreen, Harlyn has served as PGA DEI co-chair and as an admissions ambassador. Harlyn and her husband, Seenu, have two children at Evergreen.

Elise Kelley, Vice Chair

Elise is the mother of two children, one an Evergreen student and the other currently at University Prep. She has spent her career working in the venture capital and investment sectors in a variety of roles, most recently as the COO of Maveron, a venture capital firm with offices in Seattle and San Francisco. Elise is currently the president of the Burke Museum Association, where she has served as a board member for the last seven years. She holds a bachelor's degree in English and political science from the University of Washington. Elise has lived in Seattle for over 20 years, but was raised in Spokane.

Jason Weinstein, Treasurer

Jason is the director of tax planning and policy at Amazon. Prior to joining Amazon, Jason worked at the law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver and Jacobson in New York, where he specialized in tax planning for M&A as well as private equity fund formation and strategic joint ventures. Jason was an adjunct professor at the University of Washington Law School teaching taxation of mergers and acquisitions and also speaks regularly at conferences on aspects of US mergers and acquisitions and cross-border taxation. He graduated from Cornell University and received his J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. Jason and his wife Elizabeth have two children currently at Evergreen.

Amy Bautista, Secretary

Amy is chief executive officer and chief investment officer of Kosmos Management, an institutional private credit asset manager. Prior to Kosmos, she was a buy-side research analyst covering small cap stocks at Hale and Dorr Wealth Advisors. She graduated from Hamilton College prior to earning her M.B.A. from University of Washington. Amy and her husband Bob have two children at Evergreen.

Trustees

Carey Armstrong

Carey is co-founder and chief operating officer of Tomo, a start-up that aims to change everything about mortgage. Before co-founding Tomo, Carey was vice president of Premier Agent, Zillow Group’s flagship business. Prior to Zillow, Carey was a strategy consultant and industry analyst with Boston Consulting Group and Forrester Research, respectively. Carey has a B.A. from Harvard and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. She is originally from Boston and has lived on Capitol Hill in Seattle for the past 10 years.

Catherine Booms

Catherine is a hospitalist physician at EvergreenHealth. Before her medical career, Catherine worked in health policy focused on health care quality, chronic disease management and health system redesign.  She completed residency at the University of Washington, earned her doctorate from the University of Minnesota, and has a Master's of Public Health in Health System Management from Tulane University. Catherine has held numerous volunteer positions at Evergreen, including serving as co-president of the Parent/Guardian Association and leading tours for potential families. Catherine and her husband Douglas have two children, one currently at Evergreen.

David Bowermaster

Dave is a writer and communicator who has worked in journalism, technology, and philanthropy.  He is currently the founder and CEO of Fireside Strategy, a strategic communications consultancy, and a contributor to Forbes. He previously led communications for the Giving Pledge and the Philanthropic Partnerships team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He has a master’s degree from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree from Colorado College. Dave and his wife, Annie Livingston, are the proud parents of one energetic son who has been at Evergreen since prekindergarten.

Kareem Brantley

Kareem has spent 15 years in senior operations and supply roles, leading teams at Siemens, Amazon, Starbucks, and Microsoft. He is currently director, strategic operations at Weld Seattle, a social enterprise dedicated to growing public safety by reducing relapse, recidivism, and economic emergency of the formerly incarcerated. Kareem holds a master's degree in operations research from the University of Pennsylvania, Schools of Engineering and The Wharton School, and a bachelor's degree from Drew University. A Pennsylvania native, Kareem also enjoys coaching lacrosse. He and his wife, Alyssa, are the parents of two Evergreen students.

Marc Bridge 

Marc is the founder and CEO of At Present, a digital marketplace for distinctive designer jewelry. Prior to founding At Present, Marc was vice president of marketing and corporate secretary for Ben Bridge Jeweler (a Berkshire Hathaway Company). Born and raised in Seattle, he graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, the London School of Economics, and the University of Washington School of Law. He serves on the board of directors of Kline Galland, a senior care organization. He and his wife have two children at Evergreen.

Zana Bugaighis

Zana is a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. She concentrates her practice on complex civil litigation, with particular emphasis on noncompete enforcement and defending companies against contractual and intellectual property claims. Zana graduated from Dartmouth College prior to earning her J.D. from the University of Washington. After graduation, she worked at Jones Day in San Francisco and then clerked for the Honorable David Alan Ezra, United States District Court Judge for the District of Hawaii, prior to returning to Seattle. Zana is the mom of two Evergreen students.

Meredith Bunche

Meredith Bunche is director of brand, growth marketing and sustainability at Amazon Fresh. Since joining Amazon in 2013, she has held various leadership roles across grocery and apparel, including launching private label brands in both businesses and developing Amazon’s in-store and online grocery advertising strategies. Meredith serves as vice chair of the board of StolenYouth, a Seattle nonprofit focused on ending child sex trafficking and exploitation. She holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from NYU’s Stern School of Business. Meredith and her husband Nick have two children currently at Evergreen.

Greg Demopulos

Greg Demopulos is the founder, CEO, and chairman of Omeros Corporation, a biotechnology company headquartered in Seattle. Greg completed a fellowship in hand and microvascular surgery at Duke University and his orthopedic surgery residency, medical school, and undergraduate studies at Stanford University. He serves on the board of trustees of the Smead Funds Trust, an open-end mutual fund company, and previously was a long-time member of the Seattle Community Development Round Table. Raised in Seattle, Greg and his wife Kate have two children, one of whom currently attends Evergreen.

Courtney Fuller

Courtney is corporate counsel at Guidant Financial Group, a financial services company assisting entrepreneurs in starting and financing their small business. Courtney leads the legal team and focuses on regulatory compliance, contracts, and serving as a business partner for the organization. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Colorado State University and her law degree from Seattle University School of Law. She enjoys volunteering in the community and she has previously served on the board of The Horizon School, a preschool here in Shoreline. Courtney and her husband Harry have three girls who attend Evergreen.

Caitlin Jones Ghajar

Caitlin has spent 20 years as president of her eponymous firm, Caitlin Jones Design. With offices in Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area, she focuses her award-winning practice on residential design, both remodels and new builds. Her firm’s work has been published in Architectural Digest, The Wall Street Journal, House Beautiful, and the Robb Report, among many others. Caitlin has also held several volunteer positions at Evergreen, including decor lead for the Spring Benefit and co-chair for October Giving Month. Caitlin and her husband Cyrus are parents of three children, all Evergreen Falcons.

Sunny Jain

Sunny Jain has 30 years of global experience in key executive and operating roles spanning Amazon, The Carlyle Group, Unilever, and The Procter & Gamble Company. Sunny currently leads Amazon’s Worldwide Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) business, which is a large majority of the company’s $156 billion third-party seller business, enabling sellers to leverage Amazon’s global networks. In 2024, Sunny was named to the inaugural list of “25 Most Powerful Rising Executives in the Fortune 500.” He earned an MBA in finance as well as a bachelor's degree from McMaster University in Canada. He and his wife Chandana have two children at Evergreen.

Hyeok Kim

Hyeok is the founder of Insa Consulting and has extensive experience as a volunteer and civic leader. She formerly served as deputy mayor for the City of Seattle, led a nonprofit affordable housing development organization, and worked for the Washington State Legislature. She's served on numerous nonprofit boards and was a former commissioner on President Obama’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, a former Marshall Memorial Fellow, and a former Casey Fellow with the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Born in Seoul, Hyeok immigrated to the Pacific Northwest as a child. She earned a bachelor's degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She and her husband Michael Parham live in Seattle with their son, a student at Evergreen. 

Max Kleinman

Max most recently served as the chair and then vice chair of The Evergreen School Board of Trustees. Previously Max was a partner at Accenture, a global technology and consulting firm, where he spent over 20 years leading multi-year transformations and new business launches for clients in the communications, retail and software industries. Prior to leaving, he was the firm’s software industry lead and ran corporate strategy for their communications and high tech industry in North America. Max is a native of Texas and graduated from Duke University with degrees in physics and political science. Max and his wife are the proud parents of two Evergreen students. 

Meg Lagoni

Meg has 18 years of product management experience leading teams of product managers, engineers, and designers. She spent the last 11 years at Amazon. Meg serves as chair to multiple committees within The Highlands. She was a co-founder of a nonprofit organization, Minds Matter, that helps low-income students achieve academic excellence. She holds a bachelor's degree in finance, marketing, and economics from Baldwin Wallace. Meg and her husband Michael have lived in Seattle for over 12 years but were both raised in a farm town in Ohio. They are the parents of three Evergreen children.

Raed Malhas

Raed is the co-founder and CEO of RD Labs, an AI technology company. He previously co-founded two software ventures and spent eight years at Microsoft. He holds a computer engineering degree from Purdue University. Raed serves on Purdue's computer engineering board, focusing on AI entrepreneurship initiatives, and is also active with the business school at Case Western Reserve University, where he also was a student. Born to an ambassador and pilot, Raed grew up in Jordan, Sweden, Wales, Lebanon, and New York. He and his wife Emily met in New York City and now live in Seattle with their three sons, two at Evergreen and the youngest still at home. 

Mike McGill

Mike McGill, the former head of The Northwest School, brings a wealth of independent school management experience to the board. He began his career teaching French, English and comparative literature before transitioning to independent school administration in 1988. Before joining The Northwest School, he spent 12 years as the upper school principal at The Park School of Baltimore, a kindergarten through 12th grade independent school with 900 students.

Jeff Rakow

Jeff is the founding principal of Snowball Investment, which owns and operates a portfolio of long-term commercial real estate investments in the Puget Sound region in partnership with like-minded investment partners. Prior to that, he was a managing director at Talon Private Capital, a commercial real estate investment firm. Jeff earned his M.B.A. from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and his bachelor's degree from Princeton University. He and his wife have two young children, both at Evergreen.

Ari Steinberg

Ari is an investor and advisor in the tech industry. He spent 17 years in operating roles in the industry, including as a director of engineering at Airbnb and Facebook, and as CEO of Vamo, a travel startup that was sold to Airbnb. He has lived in Seattle since 2010, where he started the first remote engineering centers for both Facebook and Airbnb. In his advisory capacity, in addition to working with numerous for-profit companies, he has also worked closely with nonprofits including USDR (U.S. Digital Response) and the Center for US Voters Abroad. Ari holds bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science from Stanford. He and his wife, Daniela, have three children at Evergreen. 

Vidya Vasu-Devan

Vidya leads the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) and chairs the Investment Committee. SIF manages $2.5 billion to make investments towards achieving the foundation's ambitious goals in global health and poverty alleviation and U.S. education and economic mobility. Outside of work, Vidya is a board member for the UNICEF USA Impact Fund for Children, a jury member for the Cartier Women's Initiative, and a finance committee member for Hilltop Children's Center. Vidya earned a bachelor's degree in astrophysics, mathematics and economics from Columbia University and an M.B.A. and certificate in Public Management & Social Innovation from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She and her husband, Krishna Rao, have two children, one at Evergreen.

Joyce Zhou 

Joyce Zhou has over 15 years of experience in marketing and communications and is currently a senior marketing manager at Transcarent, a healthcare technology company. She also has experience in non-profit leadership and has held executive or board positions at several community organizations, including ACRS, Northwest Mountain MSDC, and Seattle Education Access. Joyce is an advocate for public libraries and currently serves on the board of the Sno-Isle Libraries Foundation. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington. Joyce and her husband Arif live in Edmonds and are parents of two current Evergreen students.