Board of directors

Marilyn A. Hopkins is a seasoned event producer, marketer, fundraiser and entrepreneur who founded a successful event management consulting business and hemp wellness beauty brand. Her extensive 30+year events marketing and publicity background includes developing and producing film festivals, conferences, comedy and musical concerts, fashion shows, artist showcases and exhibits, including promotional projects/campaigns for clients such as the Watts Foundation, Nathan Fillion, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, Westfield, Microsoft, American Express, UNICEF, Heal the World Foundation, Michael J. Jackson, Nike, Nordstrom, the National Basketball Retired Players Association, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Luly Yang, and the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle. In addition, she served as an advisory member to various nonprofit organizations with program initiatives in Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Kingston Jamaica, Accra and Malawi Africa, and Manila Philippines.

Sharyn Skeeter is a writer, poet, novelist, and educator. She was fiction/poetry/book review editor at Essence and editor in chief at Black Elegance magazine. She's taught at colleges and universities in the Northeast. She participated in panel discussions and readings at universities in India and Singapore. Sharyn Skeeter has published articles, poetry and fiction in journals and anthologies. Her novel Dancing with Langston won a Foreword Reviews Indies Gold Award for Multicultural Adult Fiction. She's editor of the anthology What's Next? Short Fiction in Time of Change, which includes several climate authors. She sponsors a scholarship for students in business and the environment at Fairfield University in Connecticut. https://sharynskeeter.com

David Woolley-Wilson has more 30 years of nonprofit experience focused on environmental justice and climate change. After his graduate work at UC Berkeley, Dave began his work on climate justice in the Bay Area before moving to Washington, DC in 2006 and then to Seattle in 2010. Locally, he chaired the board of Sustainable Seattle for several years and recently rolled off the board of Social Venture Partners after six years of service. As an early supporter of Terra Nostra and now Earth Creative, Dave believes that art can connect people to climate justice and encourage them to take action on the existential threat of climate change.

Gregory Youtz served as Professor of Music Composition and Chinese Studies at Pacific Lutheran University from 1984 to 2023. He is a regular pre-concert lecturer for Symphony Tacoma and a frequent public speaker and MC, presenting on topics ranging from classical and world music to Chinese culture and the study of creativity. His compositions include three operas as well as works for orchestra, band, choir, voice and chamber ensembles. Youtz's music for wind ensemble has won both the NBA and Ostwald awards and his 60 minute oratorio Drum Taps: Nine Poems on Themes of War for orchestra, choir and SATB soloists, was nominated for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in music.

J.R. Harris has immersed himself in his love for painting and is getting ready to unveil The Viewing Lounge! With the creation of The Viewing Lounge, he is embarking on a new chapter in his artistic endeavors, hoping to inspire others to stay creative in their lives. J.R. spent almost 20 years representing professional athletes. He travelled frequently as a sports agent throughout the country and internationally with his clients. He spent almost five years fundraising for United Way; and often speaks to youth. Now J.R. hopes to send a message to others through his artwork to stay creative in their lives and to know that if you believe you can do it, you can.”

Laurie Lauterbach is a Certified Financial Planner ® with broad international and domestic financial experience. After positions with The New York Stock Exchange and the Foreign Policy Association, she retired after 15 years as a Vice President, International Private Banking at JPMorgan Chase, and an additional three years with Charles Schwab as a Private Client Advisor. During her professional career, Laurie created and presented public programs for Charles Schwab, New York Public Library, AARP, Chase Women’s Alliance and Hunter College on Financial Planning, Trust & Estates and Women & Investing and a radio program “E-trade on Air.” Since retirement, she has pursued personal interests in travel, art, music, law and public service through programs in Art Crime and Cultural Heritage at New York University and the Association for Research into Crimes against Art (ARCA) in Amelia Italy; and US Law & Methodologies and Landmark Supreme Court Cases in American History at Fordham University.