Board Members

Stewarding the Corps movement.

John Boylan

John is a writer, editor, and activist in Seattle. He runs an ongoing series of roundtable conversations about art, politics, science and technology. These monthly conversations take place at the Capitol Hill Arts Center and have been happening at various locations around Seattle since the mid-1990s. He was an editor of Reflex Magazine, the Northwest's major visual arts publication for many years. He has also been active in a number of community arts organizations, including the Fremont Arts Council and Art of Resistance. He works at Microsoft.

Shavondelia Brown

Shavondelia is the Director of Corporate Counsel for Starbucks with a Law Degree from The University of Texas and a BA in Political Science from Spelman College. She brings a performing arts background as a tap dancer and a passion for inspiring and enabling youth to discover their own creativity and talents. In addition to Arts Corps, Shavondelia volunteers with the Seattle Public Library and is involved with Johnson & Peters Tap Dance and Northwest Tap Connection.

Della Kostelnik Juarez

Della was introduced to Arts Corps first as a parent, then as a liaison between her daughter's school and Arts Corps. When she witnessed the deep impact the teaching artists had on the lives of students she wanted to be part of that magic. Art has always been at the center of her own family's self expression, from a nonprofit formed by her family to support music and video projects to her siblings involvement in the indie music scenes in Seattle and Albuquerque. Combining her love of art and history Della lived in the Czech Republic for a year working on a multimedia family history project, collecting oral history about the underground activism of her grandparents during World War II, her grandfather's imprisonment in Auschwitz and Buchenwald and her father's emigration to the USA. Professionally Della has worked in broadcasting for 24 years, the last 13 years as an assignment editor at KOMO TV.

Sara Lawson

Sara is a management consultant and nonprofit professional with 15+ years experience in a range of nonprofit organizations, including the arts, higher education, health care, and community radio. She is passionate about the role that mission-based organizations can play in strengthening communities, and has served in a variety of capacities: as executive director, program staff, front-line volunteer, and board member. Based on these experiences, she brings a collaborative, analytical, and strategic approach to board development, capacity building, fund development, and community relations for small-to-midsized nonprofit organizations. In addition to happily advocating for Arts Corps and the tremendous work of its teaching artists, students, and staff, she is involved with the Springboard program of Executive Service Corps, the Membership Committee of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (WA Chapter), and the Volunteer Chore program of Catholic Community Services. She relocated from Alaska to Seattle in 2007 with her husband, Forrest Gibson. In her free time, she can be found knitting, rowing, reading, and hanging out with her family.

Vivian Phillips, President

Vivian is an independent arts consultant and producer, and co-founder and managing director of The Hansberry Project at ACT Theatre, a professional African American theatre program. Vivian has worked extensively for local TV and radio production outlets, in addition to hosting and moderating events and conferences. She has served on numerous boards and as a Seattle Arts Commissioner.

Shannon Rankin

Shannon is a principal at SkB Architects, Inc. She and her two founding partners created SkB Architects in February of 1999. Shannon is also known as an expert in workplace design and strategy. She has engaged clients such as Microsoft, Eddie Bauer, Omnicom and Philips in innovative pilot projects focused on key learning concepts to promote more teamwork and collaboration. Her work has been published in Interior Design, Residential Architect, Metropolitan Home and Sunset Magazine.

Welling Savo Justin, Vice President

Welling is a seasoned writer and strategist dedicated to helping organizations advance issues and ideas. She currently directs communications for the Bezos Family Foundation, a national foundation committed to strengthening educational opportunities for young people. Before joining the foundation, Welling served as senior project manager for Pyramid Communications, partnering with nonprofit and foundation clients to hone messages, craft stories, produce materials, convene events, and build relationships. She has published more than 25 articles in general interest magazines, and enjoys creative writing, painting, dancing, and backcountry skiing.

Liza Sheehan, Treasurer

Since 2000, Liza has been operating as an independent organizational development and strategic planning consultant, working with a wide range of clients, including MeyerWells and Bodycenter studios, as well as Bold Hat Productions, Silverstein-Thomas and Associates and Arts Corps, among others. Before then, she was on staff at Starbucks Coffee Company and PCC Natural Markets. Avid yoga practitioner, and mother of two young children, Liza describes herself as a "humble student of life."

Bryan Syrdal

Bryan has been a resident of Seattle for over 35 years, the last 20 of which as an advisor and developer of commercial real estate, focusing primarily on urban redevelopment. He has actively served on the board of directors or advisors for various not-for-profit organizations including the Seattle Symphony, the University of Washington Alumni Organization, the Henry Art Gallery and currently serves as board chair for Red Feather Development Group, a Native American housing initiative based in Bozeman, MT. Bryan and his wife Kristen live in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle.

Jeff Young, Secretary

Jeff recently graduated from the Art Institute of Seattle with a degree in animation. A graduate of Garfield High School, Jeff started taking spoken word classes through Arts Corps in its very first quarter, fall 2000. In the nearly seven years of Arts Corps' lifespan, he has been involved every quarter as a student or classroom assistant, making him the first person who has progressed from a student through every tier of the assistants program to a co-teacher. He also went to Brazil with members of Rice Baker Yeboah's hip-hop class, sponsored in 2002 to attend the World Social Forum.