Ballard Food Bank Team

Board of Directors

President: Kathleen Owens

Kathleen Owens currently serves as a board member and advisor for two private technology companies. For over twenty years she worked in technology serving as President and General Manager at both Quest and Attachmate. She is a passionate believer in the power of culture-building: aligning actions to values and driving positive results for all stakeholders. This is one reason why Kathleen is so grateful to be involved with the Ballard Food Bank; values are at the heart of everything that happens. She also firmly believes there can be enough for everyone.  Kathleen is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame. She lives in Ballard with her husband, two daughters and lovable lab, Shasta.

Vice president: Matt Carr

Matt has 20+ years of experience in the technology industry, building products and managing teams in the digital media and advertising space. As a former Vice President at Amazon, Matt was known for his empathetic leadership and building authentic partnerships. He is currently enjoying newfound passions in being a career mentor, advisor to startups, guest lecturer in university programs, and a regular volunteer at Ballard Food Bank. Matt grew up in Seattle and moved to Ballard in 2000. You may know him from coaching Ballard Little League, or Ballard Youth Soccer, as a member of Ballard Rotary, or even from walking his dog, George. He is passionate about addressing food insecurity, environmental sustainability, and helping neighbors in need. Matt joined BFB’s Board in 2023 and is honored to be a part of such an amazing organization.

secretary: jen Lamson

Jen Lamson has 30+ years’ experience leading, advising, and evaluating nonprofit programs. She has united and led a national democracy coalition with a collective membership of 45 million social justice activists, union members, and civic leaders. She directed Pew Charitable Trusts’ largest land conservation project which provided robust support to Indigenous-led land use planning and advocacy. Jen has worked locally and nationally to improve food systems, partnering with NGOs, farmers, chefs, and others on policy, public awareness, and marketing. She advised two national foundations as they developed food and agriculture funding programs and helped lead local efforts to create a food policy council. Jen lives in North Beach where she and her partner raised 3 children. She believes deeply in Ballard Food Bank’s mission of bringing hope and food to our neighbors while advocating for systemic change to address root causes.

Treasurer: Nathan Walker

Nate has over 17 years of Finance experience. Currently, he is a Program Manager at Expedia Group supporting Enterprise Finance Initiatives. Prior to Expedia Group, Nate worked at Trident Seafoods and Nordstrom. His work centered around implementing finance systems and process improvement. Volunteering in the community has always been important to Nate. He was the President of the Magnolia Chamber of Commerce and a Senior Facilitator with the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) in Montana. Nate lives in West Seattle with his husband and super spoiled pup.

Past-President: Carrie Schneider

Carrie Schneider is passionate about community outreach and ending hunger. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from the University of Washington, where she also competed as a varsity athlete in swimming for four years. Carrie works as an admissions counselor at the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington and has served as the PTA president of West Woodland Elementary. She lives in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood with her husband and two sons. She is excited and grateful to be a part of an organization that is bringing hope, food, and services to our neighbors in Ballard, Queen Anne and Magnolia.

Director: Hsiao-Ching Chou

Hsiao-Ching Chou is the author of Chinese Soul Food and Vegetarian Chinese Soul Food. She is former food editor at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and has appeared on national television and radio, including “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” and “The Splendid Table.” She won the coveted Bert Greene Award from the International Association for Culinary Professionals for excellence in feature writing. After she left the P-I in 2007, she co-founded a public relations firm that specialized in promoting restaurants. In 2011, she pivoted to managing communications for nonprofit biomedical research institutions. She currently is the editorial lead for Salesforce Design. In her spare time, she teaches everyday Chinese home cooking and is most famous for her potsticker classes. She lives in Seattle with her family.

Director: Geeta McCormack

Geeta has over 25 years of consulting and professional services experience.  She is the co-founder of Forum Solutions, a Seattle based management consulting firm that works with clients to design and implement effective strategies for transformative and sustainable results.   Prior to founding Forum, she was the National Practice Director for Point B and led that award-winning professional services firm through 10 years of growth and change.  Geeta is an active supporter of community service and believes that we all benefit from building a healthy community.  Geeta lives in Broadview with her family.

Director: David Perez

David Perez is an attorney at Perkins Coie, LLP, handling complex civil litigation matters. David also maintains a robust pro bono practice that focuses on issues related to civil rights, voting rights, and constitutional law. David received his B.A. from Gonzaga University where he was selected as the student commencement speaker, and his J.D. from Yale Law School. David lives in Queen Anne.

DIRECTOR: VANETTA ABDELLATIF

Vanetta Abdellatif is president and CEO of Arcora Foundation. Arcora, the foundation of Delta Dental of Washington, is dedicated to advancing oral health across Washington state. Arcora’s mission is to bend the arc of oral health toward equity. Vanetta leads Arcora’s efforts to center their work in equity to achieve good oral health for all. Arcora has taken intentional steps to focus their priorities on Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color communities who face health disparities. Through her strategic leadership, Vanetta connects Arcora with partners and community members who are interested in oral health, as well as looks for opportunities to form new partnerships. Her goal is to foster authentic, engaged, and frequent conversations with partners and collaborate on meaningful efforts toward improved health outcomes.

DIRECTOR: DAKOTA RIEKE

Dakota Rieke is a finance professional with deeply rooted passions in wellness, food, and people. A practicing CPA, Dakota works in Corporate Controllership at Trident Seafoods Corporation, a Ballard-based seafood company. While pursuing her master’s degree in accounting from Central Washington University, Dakota’s penchant for community outreach was born through her work supporting finance functions at a local non-profit human services organization. She believes that by addressing food insecurity among our neighbors, we lay the foundation for healing mind, body, and spirit in our community for generations to come. A proud Seattle transplant, Dakota grew up in the mountains of Central Washington and now lives in Wallingford. She feels blessed to be supporting the magic and mission at Ballard Food Bank.

Director: Elizabeth Canizales

Elizabeth is a tax attorney DoorDash, providing tax advisory and support to the DoorDash businesses. Prior to joining DoorDash, she worked at Amazon for 6 years in its tax department. She has substantial prior experience in public accounting, advising clients on a variety of tax issues. Throughout numerous career and city moves, giving back to her community has been a passion and a focus. Elizabeth is proud to work with the Ballard Food Bank because she truly believes that no one should be hungry in our country of plenty. Elizabeth lives in Ballard with her husband and two spoiled dogs.

DIRECTOR: Courtney Saben

Courtney is the Associate Director in the First Year Programs office at the University of Washington, supporting students as they transition to college. She graduated from UW with a degree in Sociology and minors in Education and Diversity. As a first-generation college student, Courtney was struck by the impacts of educational inequity and found her calling. She moved to Baltimore, Maryland after graduating, taught middle school science, completed her M.S. Ed at Johns Hopkins University, and received her Yoga Teacher certification. Courtney returned to Seattle to continue her work expanding educational opportunities for historically marginalized communities with the UW Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity. As someone who frequented Food Banks and benefited from many social services growing up, Courtney is particularly excited to serve the community at the Ballard Food Bank.

DIRECTOR: Taiga Harimoto

Taiga Harimoto is a dedicated community advocate and proud 15-year resident of Seattle. Since 2022 he has been a volunteer at the Ballard Food Bank. Taiga brings his professional experience from his current role as a Senior Procurement Manager at Microsoft and background at Boeing in Supplier Management, Customer Support, and Procurement. During his tenure at Boeing, he served as Grantmaker then President of the Puget Sound chapter of the Boeing Employees Community Fund. In his free time Taiga enjoys traveling, cooking, exploring new breweries, and spending quality time with his partner, Molly, and their dog, Sofie.

DIRECTOR: Orlando Lugo

Orlando is a Product Manager at Salesforce, where he is dedicated to the development of Responsible AI. His expertise lies in enhancing the safety, accuracy, and inclusivity of AI applications. Before joining Salesforce, Orlando spent a decade working in public libraries, taking on various roles in public engagement around criminal justice, immigrant rights, and digital literacy. His most recent position was with The Seattle Public Library, where he was instrumental in broadening access for historically underserved communities and in improving privacy policies concerning the use of patron data. He lives in Seattle with his wife, Marites, and their beloved cat, Cello.