FOUNDING MEMBERS
Nicole Jon Sievers
Eric Sievers
Scott Ross
Therese Clark
Adam Waldman

MEMBERS
Kate Becker
John Richards
Charles Cross
Jessica Swain Bradway
Jonah Willihnganz

Nicole Jon sievers
FOUNDer, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Nicole Jon Sievers is an activist, speaker, writer, problem-solver, educator, and Licensed Clinical Social Worker. In 2011, Nicole founded the non-profit Stand For Courage bullying-prevention program. SFC's student-led, school-based, and community activations offer one ultimate goal: disrupt and end the cycle of bullying by celebrating stand-up bystanders with the support of media recognition and luminary partners. The school pilot program was recognized with an American Psychological Association Visionary Award in 2015. The research continues to inspire, having demonstrated a dramatic reduction in bullying in the schools implementing Stand For Courage.

Nicole has deep connections in Northwest arts, and over 25 years employing a perspective of creativity working with youth and adults. Her diverse roles have included counselor, couple's therapist, teacher, educational consultant, Outward Bound instructor, and forensic consultant. Nicole drives initiatives: she has brought Nobel Peace Laureates to schools for collaborative problem-solving; she has raised funds for the arts and charitable causes. Her capacity to build personal connections in disparate communities has enabled her to be an effective organizer. She's served on the Seattle Music Commission since 2014, where she champions political advocacy, social justice, and community-building initiatives while promoting Seattle's vibrant music culture.

Nicole's 2015 book, "It's Your Mind: Own It!"  offers neuroscience-based information and exercises for adolescents. It won an Indie Excellence book-of-the-year award in psychology. Nicole frequently appears in the media and speaks at schools. Nicole is a producer in the upcoming IndieFlix documentary film, The Bully Factor.  

Nicole lives in Seattle with her husband Eric, their five sons, and a big, white dog.

Ph. (971) 235 - 0388
Email: Nicolejonsievers@gmail.com

ERIC SIEVERS, M.D.
Founding Board Member

Eric Louis Sievers is a pediatric oncologist serving more than 25 years in biotechnology and academia. He is an accomplished educator, speaker, inventor, and strategist, with a deep understanding of clinical trial design, regulatory strategy, and both early and late stages of clinical development. His clinical expertise spans across multiple cancer indications including leukemia, lymphoma, myelodysplastic syndromes, melanoma, and other solid tumors.

Dr. Sievers has authored/co-authored over 60 professional publications including manuscripts appearing in The New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, and The Journal of Clinical Oncology among others. He most recently served as Chief Medical Officer at Trillium Therapeutics in Toronto where he led the clinical development of a novel cancer treatment blocking the CD47 “do not eat” marker that is overexpressed by malignant cells. Earlier, he served as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development at Seattle Genetics, where he played a key leadership role developing and obtaining global approval of the antibody-drug conjugate ADCETRIS® indicated for patients with lymphoma. At the beginning of his career, Dr. Sievers cared for cancer patients for over a decade at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington. During this time, he served as the lead investigator of phase 1 and pivotal trials that resulted in the approval of an antibody-drug conjugate MYLOTARG® indicated for patients with acute myeloid leukemia. He received his Medical and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Brown University. His personal interests include music, dance, travel, writing, and creative problem solving. He and his wife, Nicole, live with their five sons in Seattle.

Scott Ross
FounDING BOARD MEMBER,
Primary Author, Implementer, & Overseer of School-Based Program.

Scott W. Ross, Ph.D., BCBA-D, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation at Utah State University and is a highly regarded presenter in local, national and international settings. Dr. Ross is a co-author of the Bullying Prevention in Positive Behavior Support (BP-PBS) curriculum and received the Research of the Year award in 2011 from the Association of Positive Behavior Supports. He also serves on the Utah state leadership team for the Utah Multi-Tiered Systems of Support initiative (UMTSS), working with school districts across the state to scale-up evidence-based practice. He coordinated the Effective Behavioral and Instructional Support Systems (EBISS) project out of the University of Oregon, where he worked with districts in their blending of Positive Behavioral and Intervention Supports (PBIS) and Response to Intervention (RtI). Dr. Ross teaches coursework in direct instruction, curriculum development, classroom and behavior management, coaching, and systems change. He has also published and reviewed extensively for education journals: Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, School Psychology Quarterly, Teaching Exceptional Children, Education and Treatment of Children, Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, Journal of Special Education, and the Journal of Positive Behavior Support.

Email: ross_s@cde.state.co.us

Therese Clark
founding board member

Terese Clark is committed to empowering individuals and communities to lead meaningful lives.
Clark has spent over three decades in the medical field, working as a business leader, consultant and educator. 
After spending over a decade practicing at a Level One Trauma Center, Clark combined her medical expertise and business acumen to found Nurses2Go, a medical consulting firm. She has taught at Johns Hopkins University and has been an active speaker at the American Senior Housing Association conferences. 
An active philanthropist, Clark follows her passion for a just and equitable world. Her work serves a broad range of communities – notably youth, women and the elderly. She is active in fundraising for youth and combating sex slavery and trafficking. 
Clark serves on the Seattle University School of Nursing advisory Board. Clark is also proud to be an active member of Washington Women's Foundation. 
A Seattle native, Clark is actively involved in public art works and urban regeneration of communities in Seattle.
Clark enjoys outdoor activities in the Northwest, International travel and spending time with her family.

Email: coptercrazy1@gmail.com

adam waldman
founding board member

Adam Waldman is the Owner & CEO of Refinery Creative based out of LA, producing “Creative advertising for the entertainment industry.” Waldman’s clients include AMC, Bravo, Dimension Films, Disney, Focus Features, Fox, Genius Products, HBO, Oxygen, Paramount, Sony, TNT, Universal, Warner Bros., and Weisnstein Co.

Email: adam@therefinerycreative.com

kate becker

Kate Becker was appointed director of the Seattle Office of Film and Music in February, and most recently served as a strategic advisor to the City of Seattle, focusing on nightlife, marijuana, and I-502 implementation policy. Prior to working at the City, Becker served in leadership roles at Seattle Theatre Group, Art Share LA in Los Angeles, and The New Art Center in Newton, MA. She also co-founded The Vera Project in Seattle and the Old Fire House in Redmond, WA. Becker has led the charge to raise over $15 million for five arts programs in the past decade, including three capital campaigns. She has produced multiple fundraising galas and more than 1,000 all ages shows. Becker holds a BA in Liberal Arts from Hampshire College.

Email: kate.becker@seattle.gov

John Richards

John Richards of KEXP is the Morning Show Host and The Director of Programming, On Air.  

John has been starting the day for thousands of "morning faithful" most of his adult life at the station, starting as a volunteer when the station was known as KCMU and eventually becoming the full time host and producer of The Morning Show.   The show has been responsible for breaking acts like The Lumineers, The National, M83 and many others as well as being the on-air leader in fundraising over the years on KEXP.  He also heads up a number of theme shows and causes on the air reminding his listeners "you are not alone".

His responsibilities off-air including managing the on-air sound through his DJ management of over 40 DJs.  He's hired and developed a lot of the on air talent on KEXP as well as helped created a number of specialty shows.  John is also responsible for a lot of the creative themes and ideas at KEXP including the all day breakdowns of albums, Six Degrees days, the Music Heals series and countless other on-the-fly themes and music sets.  

Off the air John DJ's and hosts events, works on music supervision for movies, television and businesses and has a number of projects in the works.  He is co-owner of a brand new music themed bar in Seattle.  His most important work is raising two boys and being married to his wife Amy.

Email: john@kexp.org

charles cross

Charles R. Cross is a Seattle-based journalist and author. He was the Editor of The Rocket in Seattle for fifteen years (1986–2000) during the height of the Seattle music mania. He is also the founder of Backstreets Magazine, a periodical for fans of Bruce Springsteen. His 2001 biography of Kurt Cobain (Heavier Than Heaven) was winner of the 2002 ASCAP Award for Outstanding Biography.

Email: charlesrcross@aol.com

jessica swain bradway

Dr. Jessica Swain-Bradway is the Executive Director for the Northwest PBIS Network www.pbisnetwork.org.  Jessica began her career in special education and School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) in 2005 as a high school teacher in a self-contained program. Her passion for student success lead her to the University of Oregon where she earned her Ph.D. in Special Education in 2009, then moved into a position as Research Associate with Educational and Community Supports, and the Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior.  In her previous position, as the Research and Evaluation Director for Midwest PBIS Network,  Jessica enjoyed providing technical assistance to states and districts on contextualizing, and aligning SWPBIS to address local needs. 
Dr. Swain-Bradway is well-rounded in research endeavors, and the demands of real world school, district, and state level scaling and capacity building.  Jessica has expertise aligning restorative practices, mental health practices, including trauma informed care, and academic response to intervention (RtI) into the SWPBIS framework.  As a parent of two school-aged children, Jessica also understands the experience of the family in the public school.  She is grateful for the educational champions in the lives of her children and appreciates the opportunity to be a champion for students in the Pacific Northwest.  

Email: jsboregon@gmail.com  

Jonah willihnganz

Dr. Jonah Willihnganz is a renowned scholar and professor at Stanford University. Most famous for his Standford Story Telling Project, Dr. Willihnganz imbues the student and reader with the humanity of the story. Recognized internationally, he has published widely. He is the Braden Lecturer in Narrative Art at Stanford University, teaching courses in creative writing, literature, and cultural studies. Dr. Willihnganz is a former Fellow of the Stanford Humanities Center. His writing has appeared in places like American Literary Review and The National Interest and sometimes tells stories live for the San Francisco Porchlight Storytelling Series. His latest piece, on Richard Wright’s first novel, Lawd Today!, appears in the collection Broadcasting Modernism.

Email: willihnganz@gmail.com