Advisory Board

Bill Abbott, Chair

Bio coming soon!

David Brooks

Dave Brooks is the CEO of Providence Health Systems in Everett.  Prior to joining Providence in 2004 as Chief Operating Officer, Brooks was the COO at Central DuPage Health in Winfield, Illinois. Before that, he served in executive roles at CHRISTUS Health in Houston, Texas; Lovelace Health Systems in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and for 10 years at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan. Brooks holds a masters degree from the University of Michigan in  Health Services Administration.

Lou Gray

Lou Gray is a CEO with over 18 years of entrepreneurial and operational leadership. Gray’s entrepreneurial efforts have lead him to the successful creation and sale of awarding winning products and companies, most recently with UIEvolution and at DreamBox Learning. On his journey to becoming a CEO, he has also served as an entrepreneur in residence, an attorney, an international strategic consultant, and director of mergers and acquisitions for an LBO firm. Lou holds a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar, a teaching fellow in negotiations, and a certified mediator for the EEOC and the Harlem Community Justice Center, masters’ degrees in both economics and international affairs from the Maxwell School, and a bachelor’s of science in psychology from Emory University.   Gray was named a “Top 25 Innovator” by Seattle Magazine for 2009.

Anoop Gupta

Anoop Gupta currently serves as Distinguished Scientist for Microsoft Research.  Prior to re-joining MSR, Gupta served as corporate vice president of technology policy and strategy for Microsoft.   He also served as the corporate vice president of the Unlimited Potential Group and Education Products Group and as corporate vice president and founding leader of Microsoft's Unified Communications Group. Before joining Microsoft in 1997, Gupta was a professor of computer science and electrical engineering at Stanford University for 11 years. He received the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award, and held the Robert N. Noyce Faculty Scholar Chair at Stanford. Prior to his role at Stanford, Gupta was on the research faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, where he received his Ph.D. in computer science. He holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Al Higginson

Al Higginson has over 20 years of senior executive and CEO experience in technology-related industries, and uses his extensive leadership skills and experience to help young companies grow and develop. He sits on the boards of several international technology companies, including Chairman of F5 Networks, (FFIV) and Chairman of Hubspan, Inc. Prior to Higginson's work with start-up ventures he spent five years at Sierra On-Line as Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing, served as President and CEO of Bright Star Technology, was President and CEO of Atrieva Corp., and Executive Vice President of ATEX.

John Kinsella

John Kinsella is a Partner at Environmental Resource Management (ERM) and  has almost 30 years of experience in consulting, operations, and practice leadership. He has worked for a variety of clients in the chemical, manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, and waste management industries. John earned an M.Sc. in Hydrogeology from the University of London.

Mahnaz A. Javid

Manhaz Javid is SVP of Global Learning and Development for Avanade.  Prior to working with Avanade she was Readiness Director for Microsoft and served as an adjunct faculty member in UW Bothell’s Computing & Software Systems program. Javid holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Seattle University and a master's in education from the University of Washington Bothell. She is passionate about people and organizational capability development and is an expert in integrating technology across disciplines to enhance learning.

Wendy Lawrence

Captain Lawrence retired from NASA in 2006. A veteran of four space flights, Lawrence has logged over 1225 hours in space. Lawrence  was one of the first two female helicopter pilots to make a long deployment to the Indian Ocean as part of a carrier battle group, and has undertaken multiple technical assignments within the NASA Astronaut Office. Lawrence has received numerous awards for service and leadership.  She holds a Master's of Ocean Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and a bachelor of science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy.

Robert Leach

Bob Leach is Senior Vice President of DA Davidson and Co. and has over 25 years of experience working in the financial industry. His previous experience includes work with Foster & Marshall, and Piper Jaffray & Hopwood. He was manager for both Dain Bosworth and Ragen MacKenzie, and the regional manager of the Northwestern Puget Sound and Eastern Washington Region for Wells Fargo. Leach holds degrees in economics and communications from the University of Washington.

Jud Marquardt

Jud Marquardt is a founding partner of LMN Architects, a Seattle based firm of 125 professionals delivering design services for all projects with particular emphasis in civic and public assembly facilities. LMN projects exist in 27 states and 6 foreign countries. In 1993 Jud was elevated to Fellow in the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and has served with distinction on the national boards of the AIA and the American Architectural Foundation. He currently serves as a visiting team chair for the National Architectural Accreditation Board in accrediting colleges of architecture at various universities across the country.

George Northcroft

George Northcroft is the Regional Administrator of the GSA’s Northwest Region. Northcroft oversees all GSA’s operations in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington – including management of federal real estate and information technology.  Prior to this position Northcroft served as Director of Business Relations & Economic Development for King County.  Additionally, Northcroft has worked as the Director of Treasury and Cash Management for Nordstrom, and Director of the Department of Executive Administration in King County.

Jim Pinkelman

Jim Pinkelman is a senior director in Microsoft Research where he manages external research project and establishes academic collaborations to advance the state of computer science and to increase the impact of computing platforms in scientific research. Prior to joining MSR, Pinkelman was the senior director of Microsoft Academic Relations and was the manager of a technology specialist team for Microsoft in Chicago. Before joining Microsoft, Pinkelman served in senior technology roles at technology venture firms in Chicago. He is a ABET Program Evaluator for the Computing Sciences Accreditation Board, has served as Adjunct Faculty at Loyola University Chicago in the Graduate School of Business, Masters of Information Systems Management program and spent seven years as an officer in the United States Air Force as a project management engineer on space systems.  Pinkelman received a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Notre Dame.

Bill Ptacek

Bill Ptacek is Director of the King County Library System, the second largest library system in the Country.  Prior to his role with KCLS, Ptacek began his career at the Chicago Public Library and worked as the Director of the Idaho Falls and Louisville Free public libraries before coming to the King County Library System. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois, a Masters Degree in Library Science from the State University of New York and Advanced Degree in Administration from the University of Chicago. He has also served as an adjunct professor and a visiting speaker at the University of Washington’s Information School.

James Reed

Bio coming soon!

Richard Shea

Rick Shea is the President and CEO of Spiration.  Shea joined Spiration in 2000, with more than 28 years of medical device and health care industry experience.has lead Spiration through significant growth and development and now commercialization of the company’s minimally invasive IBV Valve System for the treatment of severe emphysema and for the treatment of air leaks post-thoracic surgery. Prior to joining Spiration, Shea held a broad range of executive positions, in sales, marketing, distribution, and research and manufacturing capacities. Shea earned his BS in marketing from Nichols College.

Deborah Wilds

Deborah Wilds currently serves as the President and CEO of the College Success Foundation. Before coming to the Foundation in 2006, Wilds was a senior program officer for education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Prior to that, Wilds served as the Deputy Director of the American Council on Education's (ACE) Office of Minorities in Higher Education, in Washington, DC. She was the Co-Founder and Chair of the Board of Directors of New Era Education, an independent school and pre-school located in Baltimore, Maryland. Wilds’ holds a Ph.D. in Education Policy, Planning, and Administration from the University of Maryland at College Park, an M.S. degree in Education Administration from Howard University and a B.S. degree from the California State University, San Diego.