Meet Our Team

Mr. van Amen has served HomeStreetBank since 2003 when he joined the Bank as its Treasurer. Mr. van Amen has also served as the Quantitative Analytics Manager for the Royal Bank of Canada and Vice President and Balance Sheet Manager at Old Kent Financial in Michigan. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Weber State University and a master’s degree in Economics from Claremont Graduate University.

Effenus Henderson is President and CEO of HenderWorks, Inc. (www.henderworks.com ) and President / Co-Founder of Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion (www.i4sdi.org ). He served as Chief Diversity Officer for Weyerhaeuser Company, Federal Way, Washington until his retirement in December 2013. He is an internationally recognized diversity thought leader and has been invited by numerous companies and organizations to share his expertise. He has provided advisory support on diversity to the United Nations, US Federal Government’s EPA office, Office of Personnel Management, US Forest Service, State Department and the USDA. As President and Co-Founder of ISDI, he helps provide diversity and inclusion training sessions to Northwest Corporations including Nordstrom, Boeing, Alaska Airlines, Port of Seattle, T-Mobile, Weyerhaeuser, Starbucks, Amazon, SAP-Concur, and others.

He has addressed members of the General Assembly of the United Nations on intercultural and interreligious diversity, and addressed a high-level panel of the Alliance of Civilizations in Madrid, Spain in 2008, Istanbul Turkey in 2009, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2010 and Doha, Qatar in 2011. He was a keynote speaker at the 9th and 10th Forum at Fez Morocco (2012, 2013) and at the 2nd World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue held in Baku, Azerbaijan (2013). He currently serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the Global Dialogue Foundation, located in Melbourne, Australia.

He is a member of the United States Technical Committee 260 (human resource standards) for the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and convener for the development of global diversity and inclusion standards. His background includes development of diversity and inclusion change agendas, formation and oversight of employee resource groups, and training and skill building workshops and speaking engagements in over 18 foreign countries.

He was named one of the top diversity officers in corporate America by Diversity Best Practices / Working Mother Media and received its first Diversity Officer Leadership Award in 2007. He was among the finalists for the second annual global ORC Peter C. Robertson Award for Equality and Diversity Champions. He was one of 100 Global Diversity Thought Leaders invited by the president of the Society of Human Resource Management to a special forum in April 2008 to provide a perspective on the future of global diversity and inclusion. He was named to Savoy magazine’s 2010 list of the Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America. He was the 2010 recipient of the National Urban League’s Collins Award for distinctive service and commitment awarded at the National Urban League’s Whitney M. Young, Jr. Awards Gala in Washington, DC in July 2010. In May of 2011, he was named by Black Enterprise Magazine as one of the “Top Executives in Diversity” for his outstanding business achievements. The World HRD Congress in Mumbai, India honored him for “Outstanding Leadership in Human Resource Management” in 2014. In June 2017 he was honored, along with Barbara Deane, with the Innovation and Inclusion Award in the Non-Profit Sector by the Society for Diversity, Inc. In 2018, he has been admitted to the prestigious Forbes Coaches Council.

He has served on numerous boards including the International Society of Diversity and Inclusion Professionals (ISDIP) where he is a member of the founding board, the National Urban League Board where he has served as a national trustee and president of the Council of Affiliate Board Members. He is also a past chair of the Attrition Retention Consortium, a national group studying turnover trends in Corporate America. He is also former member of the Board of Advisors, School Business, Florida A&M University. He is also a former school board member for the Federal Way, Washington School System.

He is a graduate of North Carolina Central University and the Stanford University Executive Program. He is a 1967 graduate of Carver High School in Mount Olive, North Carolina. He is married to Helen Skinner Henderson and they have three sons, Kevin Effenus (Latonda), Justin Keith (Kristen), and Marcus Edward (Keturah). They are the proud grandparents of six grandchildren – Hamilton, Johnathan, Ryan, Mila, Justyn Kai, and Miles.

Kathleen “Kat” Sims is the executive director of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBAKS), the largest and oldest local homebuilders association in the nation. The association’s first female executive director.

Sims has dedicated her career to addressing issues at the intersection of real estate, land use, sustainability, and the environment. Beginning as an associate attorney with Foster Pepper PLLC, then as a partner with Alston Courtnage & Bassetti LLP, Sims counseled many of the Northwest’s well known developers on a diverse range of real estate issues. Her ability to build relationships, find common ground, and drive bold initiatives helped advance her career as senior director of sustainability and then vice president of government relations with Plum Creek Timber Company, which merged with the Weyerhaeuser Company in 2016. She was later promoted to vice president of environmental affairs, sustainability, and corporate responsibility at Weyerhaeuser. Sims earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign before being awarded her Juris Doctor from Syracuse University College of Law. She also completed two executive education programs, one at Harvard Business School on aligning sustainability with business performance, and one at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School on executive leadership. Sims’ strengths in envisioning the future and transforming ideas into tangible solutions are primarily what drew her to the real estate industry.

The first experience Damon had with Habitat for Humanity was through a high school trip, building walls from mortar and cinderblocks in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  What stood out to him about the experience was the impact of what the team had built, and more importantly, the sense of community and camaraderie shared with everyone there.

Damon first learned of HYP in Seattle towards the end of 2017 through a happy hour posted on Meetup.  It brought back those fond memories from Chaing Mai, and he has been involved ever since with new constructions, ReStores, and a few repairs sites.

Originally from Taiwan, Damon spent a few years in Thailand and Germany before calling Seattle his home.  He received his B.S. from the University of Washington in Aeronautics and Astronautics and now works as a senior engineer at Collins Aerospace.  Outside of Habitat, Damon enjoys everything aviation and automotive, having claimed his fair share of spinouts/premature victory donuts on closed circuit road and dirt tracks.  He also enjoys figuring out new ways to burn his kitchen down and avoiding faceplants on the ski slopes.

Bob has extensive experience in business development and management. He served as a Weyerhaeuser Co. Wood Products Vice President in business and sales and marketing management positions. After retiring he served as President of Oparts Housing Soft, Inc., establishing a Japanese- owned business for the export of building materials to Japan. He served as Vice President of Business Development for World Wide Wood Network, Ltd., a software company linking wood products companies with their customers.

Mr. Moore has a long history with Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King County, serving as Board of Directors President and on many committees. He also serves on the Advisory Council of the Bing Overseas Studies Program at Stanford University. Mr. Moore holds an AB in Political Science from Stanford University and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. Bob and his wife, Margaret, reside in Bellevue.

Elena is a Certified Financial PlannerTM and has held various Securities licenses, including Series 6, 7, 63, 65, 31, as well as Life Insurance, Disability and Long-Term Care agent.  She has worked in the financial services industry from 2000 to 2016.    Elena is currently a stay at home mom, taking care of her two younger daughters and is spending her spare time serving on the board of the Harnish Family Foundation.  Elena is passionate about causes that provide individuals and families a path to earning a roof over their head and finding a place they can call home.

Jolene is the Director of Credit Risk Governance at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines.  She has a background in financial institution risk management, serving as a bank examiner for the State of Washington prior to joining the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle in 2011 (now Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines), where she has held positions in customer, counterparty, and mortgage credit risk management.  Jolene graduated from the University of Washington with bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Political Science, and earned her MBA from Seattle University.

Mr. Lee has more than 35 years of local development and construction experience, providing advisory services to the commercial and multi-family residential markets. His group provides development, design and construction management services for Owners, Developers, Architects, Engineers and Contractors throughout the region.

Scott has been on the Habitat board since 2014, and together with his wife Carrie, have been active in local giving for a number of years. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Management from Oregon State University. The Lee’s reside in Seattle, and have two grown children.

Delano Palmer is the Director of Capital Planning & Projects at Central Washington University.  As a division of the Office of Operations, he is responsible for directing the planning, coordination, and execution of major capital projects funded by the State.  He holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Texas Tech University and a Master’s of Building Construction Management from Purdue University.

Abby Solomon has been driving awareness, advancement, and improved treatment for low-wage workers and disenfranchised populations for more than 20 years. As Executive Director of SEIU 775 Benefits Group, she’s transforming in-home care through portable training, health, retirement and job matching benefits. Abby earned a Master of Social Work from Brown School at Washington University, a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology from Humboldt State University and proudly joined the ranks of Washington’s caregiving workforce in 2020 as a certified home care aide. In her free time, she enjoys reading detective stories and taking long walks.

Bill was raised in the NW and is currently the general manager for a large family owned Highway Construction Company that has built small and large projects throughout the US since 1984. For the last several years he has been involved in and developed housing and industrial redevelopment projects for local families and companies. He has been married to his wife Roni for over 25 years and together they have supported several charities and foundations locally and nationally. Bill and Roni have a 23 year old daughter that graduated from Montana State University, they enjoy working their farm in Eastern Washington, boating and traveling throughout the US and abroad. Bill is currently a Trustee for the Operators JATC, a Co-Chairman of the AGC Road Committee as well as very active with Seattle Yacht Club on their building, and dock repair projects.

Casey McGee currently leads the team of Partner Development Managers responsible for growing our ISV and SI Partner’s cloud business with Microsoft across the United States.

Casey was previously the Chief of Staff for the President and EVP of Microsoft’s Global Sales Marketing and Operations based in Paris, France. He was responsible for business planning, governance, overall business rhythm, and employee and external communications, and he contributed to Microsoft’s most strategic Business Development efforts. He served on the Global Sales Marketing and Operations Leadership Team covering all the countries Microsoft serves. Responsibilities included reviewing and assessing performance for all businesses (i.e., Windows, Office, Server, Consumer, Devices) and all customer segments (government, enterprise, partner, small business, and consumer).

Casey also spent time at Microsoft as General Manager for Strategy Marketing and Operations (SMO) in Microsoft’s Customer Service and Support (CSS) Group. The SMO organization is responsible for supporting Microsoft Delivery Services across all Microsoft’s Audiences including Business, Consumer, and Advertiser. The SMO team included Marketing, Mergers and Acquisitions, Quality Assurance, Business Intelligence, Internal Communications, Business Operations and Planning, PMO, and Strategy. Prior to joining CSS, Casey spent five years in Microsoft’s Enterprise and Partner Group and was responsible for the Worldwide Relationship with EDS and which later became HP’s IT Outsourcing Division. Prior to joining Microsoft’s Worldwide Enterprise and Partner Group, Casey spent seven years as a Software Account Executive selling CRM and Microsoft software to Enterprise Customers.

Specialties: Cloud Business Development, Cloud and Professional Services Sales, Solution Selling, Sales Leadership. General Management, Customer Service and Support, Application, Infrastructure and Platform Software Sales, ITO, and BPO.

Ed Thomas is Managing Partner for the Deloitte Seattle office and serves as Lead Client Service Partner for a number of large corporations and enterprises. He also leads Deloitte’s Strategic Client Program in Seattle. In addition, Thomas is Dean of Deloitte’s senior leadership program, “the Art of the Story.” As part of his 30 years of professional leadership and experience, Thomas has served as a corporate lawyer, a partner in Deloitte’s Merger & Acquisitions Service group, Chief of Staff to Deloitte’s Managing Partner and subsequent Global CEO and a regional Tax Managing Partner. In the community, Thomas has been Chair at IslandWood, served as Treasurer for Pacific Science Center and Woodland Park Zoo. In addition to Plymouth Housing Group, he is also on the boards of the Seattle Foundation and the Western Washington University Foundation.

I grew up a Navy brat (father) between northern California in my early age and moving to Bremerton at a young age. Always had a passion for sports, family, friends and music.

I left home at 17 and moved to Seattle with my brother, where I attended North Seattle Community College, working nights at Red Robin to pay for rent and school.

I was accepted to University of Washington in 2000 with a major in Sociology, where I also found passion for GIS and Urban Planning, which I was interested in immediately.  The social engineering of cities and the use/history of zoning fascinated me and still does today.

After graduating UW with honors in 2003 with a double major in Sociology and Community and Environmental Planning.  I interned with the City of Seattle starting in 2001 until I was eventually offered a full time job in 2003. I worked at DCLU/DPD for the next 12 years reviewing everything I could get my hands on from Single Family housing to downtown high-rises. I also changed disciplines in 2005 to learn the skill of discretionary Land Use decision making, including Short Plats, Design Review, Conditional uses, Full Subdivisions and SEPA. I also served as SPU’s designated planner, designated specifically to review their capital projects for a number of years. I moved back to zoning review around 2010 to become a Senior Planner. In 2015, I left the City for a change and to follow my desire to learn the private side of development, moving to Blueprint. At Blueprint, I focus on project feasibility, future code/policy’s effect on future projects and managing our architects along with the permit process to obtain permits to residential construction to serve our builders. My boss, Dan Duffus, was connected to Habitat for Humanity and wanted to help meet their goal of developing more in Seattle.  At the time Habitat was only in contract to develop the upcoming 16 townhouse units in Lake City. I believe I started getting involved with Habitat in 2017 and it started with the Lake City project and now I have been a member of the Real Estate Recommendation Committee since 2019, working with the team to offer professional assistance or references to build more units to help more people in need.  I have always wanted to give back and with Habitat, I can use my skills and connections to further Habitat’s mission. It really boils down to that feeling of home and giving hope to people/families that need and deserve it. I am honored to be a part of such a great and honorable organization that literally makes dreams come true. I currently live in Green Lake, with my wife Kim and our two boys Diego and Cruz.

Trustee of Seattle Colleges and Seattle Foundation

Mr. Hill is a Trustee of Seattle Colleges and Seattle Foundation. He also serves on the Board of Seattle CityClub. Former Board Member: Washington State Investment Board, WSU Board of Regents, and Consumers Union. Former Director of WA State Retirement Services; and Health Care Authority and Senior VP of Human Resources, Weyerhaeuser.  He holds a BS in Forestry Management from University of California at Berkeley; and an MBA from University of California at Los Angeles.

Jonathan has been engaged in residential and commercial real estate since 1986. HIs experience includes over a decade of practicing real estate law — representing a spectrum of clients from residential purchasers, to national multi-family housing developers, to regional mall owners. Jonathan has worked with many national and regional retail and hospitality concepts with an emphasis on site acquisition, leasing, and development.  He served as Director of Leasing for Starbucks Corporation, where he was an integral part of the development of over 500 coffee stores. As a consultant to companies such as Ace Hardware, Cutter & Buck, Tully’s Coffee, Taco Del Mar, Quiznos Sub, Cucina! Cucina!, Inc., Schwartz Brothers Restaurants, Elephant Bar Restaurants, Garlic Jim’s Famous Gourmet Pizza, and Wingstop, Jonathan has represented retail and restaurant operators on a broad range of leasing, purchase/sale and asset management transactions.

Kirstin grew up in the Pacific Northwest, which drove a love of the beauty in our region. For 16 years Kirstin served in a variety of finance and accounting functions at Saltchuk Resources and its operating subsidiaries.  She spent13 of those years as CFO for Foss Maritime, a global marine services business that was founded in Tacoma in 1889. Prior to joining the Saltchuk organization, Kirstin worked at Optiva Corporation, makers of the Sonicare toothbrush, and previous to that with various public accounting firms.

Kirstin holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in accounting from the University of Washington.  Kirstin retired from the Seattle Foundation in May, 2021, where she held the role of Chief Financial Operating Officer. 

Kirstin loves to travel, is an avid cyclist and enjoys hiking and golfing. Kirstin also serves on the board of the Perigee Fund and the Northwest Maritime Center.

As the Washington market president, Claire is responsible for creating a strategic vision for Regence in Washington that is grounded in partnerships, collaboration, health equity and growth. She directs the statewide operations of Regence, including sales, provider contracting, government affairs, and community relations. Regence serves over 2.1
million members.
Claire brings her strategic vision and transformational leadership to Washington. During more than two decades in the industry, Claire has a record of leading innovative solutions and has been on the cutting edge of new members and employer advocacy
models. Her critical thinking, relationship building, and advocacy bridges her passion and commitment to improving health equity.
Claire has a deep understanding of how to transform the health care experience and has engaged in local, regional and national efforts to reduce health disparities and improve health engagement. Before coming to Regence, she was president and CEO of a national health plan in the Pacific Northwest. In addition, she served as a national leader on developing and implementing innovative consumer engagement solutions that resulted in increased engagement, simplicity, satisfaction and outcomes for members
as they progress through their health journey.
Claire received her bachelor’s degree in Communications and Leadership from St. Catherine University. She has a long history of board service for Northwest nonprofits, including Northwest Center, All Hands Raised, and the American Heart Association of
Oregon and Southwest Washington. She was also a founder of Daring Women, a Seattle Business Magazine program featuring trailblazing women executives. She was most recently named a 2021 Women of Influence in Washington.

Kristin is an accomplished retail executive, with a history of leading complex, customer-focused businesses over the past twenty years at Nordstrom.  She is passionate about solving problems for consumers, building and leading high-performance teams, and driving innovation and growth.

Kristin also serves as Co-Chair of the Seattle Walk to End Alzheimer’s and is a Club Advisory Board member for the Boys’ and Girls’ Club.