BELONG PARTNERS - Key Persons
Alan Wong (he/him) is a lifelong Seattleite who has dedicated his life to helping youth, educators, and communities to grow. Alan began his career in education, working as a reading tutor at Sanislo Elementary, in the very same South Seattle neighborhood where he grew up. Over the last twenty years, he has worked as a lead facilitator and trainer (and previously Program Director and Program Manager) with innovative youth development organizations Power of Hope and Partners for Youth Empowerment - as well as with his own training company, Alan Wong: Facilitation and Training. He has led professional development training for educators throughout the Northwest and United States and in countries across Asia and Latin America. Alan also has experience working as a mental health counselor in Seattle-area schools.
As a facilitator for BELONG Partners, Alan helps educators and administrators implement trauma-informed strategies and reduce discipline issues, while building connection, equity, and social-emotional skills within classrooms. While working on small-scale solutions, Alan also helps educational leaders work towards broader systems change and address unjust institutional structures in ways that are both honest and generative.
Growing up as part of a multi-racial family in South Seattle, Alan has been committed to working toward equity and bringing diverse cultures and communities together since his early days. His Chinese name, 平 "Peng," means "peace" and "balance" - qualities he strives to embody himself and share with the communities he serves. In his spare time, Alan enjoys writing poetry, making music, practicing meditation, playing basketball, and cooking creative cuisine.
Job Titles:
- Program Operations Coordinator
Brook Afework (he/him) is the Program Operations Coordinator at BELONG Partners working to connect people with BELONG Partners programs and keep all of the related operations running smoothly. Brook started working as a teacher assistant at Best In Class Education and then shifted to help his community at the Ethiopian Community Center as a Tutor/Educator for 5 years. Education is of the upmost importance to him and he wanted to dedicate his time to open opportunities for minorities in his community through education. Brook graduated from University of Washington with a Bachelor's in Business Administration.
What is one of your proudest moments?
My proudest moment was being able to see a student I have mentored graduate valedictorian in his high school and continuing that success in college.
What are you interested in outside of work?
I am an outdoorsman, any chance I get I would go out and spend time in nature. Hiking, backpacking, camping, etc.. but only if the weather is warm (not a fan of the cold).
Why are you passionate about working at BELONG Partners?
I am passionate about working at BELONG Partners because the work we do is important and impactful. Hearing how we are affecting teachers and students' lives for the better motivates me to work harder so we can achieve our goals.
Job Titles:
- Treasurer
- Treasurer and Chair, Finance Committee
Dan has nearly 20 years of technology industry experience, most recently in online advertising at Microsoft and Amazon. His focus areas include program management and operational excellence across global teams. Dan holds an M.S. degree in Kinesiology and an M.B.A from the University of Michigan. He currently serves on his children's school parent association board on the Equity & Inclusion and Communications committees. One of his family passions is rescuing stray dogs from the Navajo Nation and working with non-profit organizations to find them homes in the Northwest.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Director, Governance Committee
- Executive Director of Targeted Strategies
Dr. Mia Williams serves as the Executive Director of Targeted Strategies and leads the Office of African American Male Achievement (AAMA), which launched in August 2019 which works to be a lever to reconstruct Seattle Public Schools' educational environment to support the brilliance and excellence of Black boys and teens. In this cabinet-level role, Dr. Williams steers AAMA as it supports the district in intentionally cultivating the cultural and academic strengths of African American male students while simultaneously addressing their needs. With outcomes of Black boys and teens embedded across SPS strategies and goals, there is a strong need for coherence, community leadership and trust. AAMA provides strategic alignment, community partnership, educator development and research, and approaches this work from a framework for systems change, rather than student intervention. By ensuring students furthest away from educational justice thrive, conditions in Seattle Public Schools are improving for all.
Dr. Williams' work to advance racial and educational justice has been consistently recognized. In 2019, she received the National Education Association Mary Hatwood Futrell Human and Civil Rights Award for her institutional leadership in eliminating barriers for women, creating formal support networks, and helping young women scholars gain access to equitable education opportunities. In 2018, she was recognized as the John Morefield Mentor of the Year by Danforth University of Washington and was named the 2016 Washington State Middle Level Principal of the Year.
Almost three decades as an educator of equity-driven, inquiry and data focused, and innovative strategies, Dr. Williams work, includes serving as principal of Aki Kurose Middle School for 11 years. Dr. Williams was previously the assistant principal at Denny International Middle School and Salmon Bay K-8, and taught at Cleveland High School, John Marshall, Rainier Beach High School, and NOMS (New Options Middle School, now Salmon Bay School) before becoming an administrator.
Dr. Williams attended Central Washington University, where she received her teaching certificate; and the University of Washington, where she earned a M.Ed. of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, principal credentials, and a Doctor of Education degree.
Job Titles:
- MEMBER of the BOARD
- Principal at Sound Options Group
Greg is the Principal at Sound Options Group, LLC, a Conflict Engagement firm and Sandbox Leadership, LLC. His primary expertise is in assisting agencies, organizations, and communities in designing and implementing systems for more effectively engaging conflict and facilitating productive and collaborative work environments. He is:
Administrative Agent to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for Washington State and Department of Early Learning to provide Mediation in Special Education under the IDEA
Senior Consultant to CADRE
Partner with TAESE at Utah State University in the Center for Special Education Leadership and Conflict Engagement
Consults nationally in the design and delivery of Conflict Engagement resources.
Previously work in public education in both General and Special Education
Irene's (she/her) work as the Program Manager centers around being the primary contact for customers and overseeing program and projects from creation to completion. Irene collaborates with a variety of teams internally and externally; she is the ‘go to' person when it comes to answering questions for customers and partners. She also supports many details and logistics that make the program effective and accessible.
Irene has worked in both non-profit and corporate settings, specifically her background revolves around tool automation and legal contracts. At heart, a lot of Irene's background stems from data collection, process improvement, and monitoring both customer and donor success satisfaction.
Irene attended the University of Washington in Seattle and obtained a bachelor's degree majoring in Law, Societies and Justice. Furthermore, she minored in both Disability Studies and Political Science. She has worked at the University of Washington College of Education, the Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, and AT&T Corporate. Irene has obtained her certificate in Project Management from Google and is working on her Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate and Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Professional Certificate. Irene volunteers at El Centro de la Raza in the legal clinic.
Janet has dedicated her career in education to the improvement of and in an effort to close learning gaps in communities across the state. Janet quickly recognized that, regardless of outward behavior, every student wants to learn.
She pursued that goal throughout her career beginning as a middle school classroom teacher, followed by work as a school and district math coach with the State of Washington, School Improvement, OSPI, and finally, as District Secondary Math Facilitator. Through her work with WA state, Janet coached in many diverse districts and traveled extensively across the state to both large and small school districts and communities. This work moved Janet's passion and expanded her knowledge and practice in efforts to improve learning and to understand the essential aspects of school community to ensure student learning success.
After a fulfilling career in education, Janet retired. She continues to recognize the need for support for students and school communities, particularly post-pandemic. She regularly volunteers at the local elementary school through small group intervention and after school math programs with the intent to demonstrate that students are accomplished mathematicians in many unique ways!
Janet looks forward to supporting the work of BELONG Partners and is grateful for the opportunity to invest in community and schools. She recognizes that even in retirement, there is work to be done!
Jennifer N. Brown (she/her) manages the details of running the organization (finance, HR, administration) so the staff who work with educators, parents, and the community can focus on what they do best and have the systems and support they need to do it.
Jennifer brings more than 30 years of non-profit management and fundraising experience in education, social justice, public interest, and political advocacy organizations to BELONG Partners. She has an MS in Management and a Certificate in Fundraising Management.
Before she started working at BELONG Partners, Jennifer a workshop for educators. She was blown away from day one and felt that she acquired powerful tools that all of us can use in our lives - not just teachers in classrooms. Jennifer feels proud to be a part of an organization that helps build lifelong skills and tools that can shift how we all treat one another.
Job Titles:
- Chief
- Immediate past President
Jimmy Hung is the Chief Deputy Prosecutor of the Juvenile Division of the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office in Washington State. He graduated from the University of Washington School of Law in 1999 and joined the office that year. During his time as a prosecutor he has worked on all levels of felony and misdemeanor trial practice including homicide, sexual assault, and domestic violence.
Jimmy has led efforts in King County to reduce the use of secure detention and formal court processing of youthful offenders, while increasing the use of restorative justice options.
In December of 2018, Governor Jay Inslee appointed Jimmy to the Washington State Partnership Council on Juvenile Justice where he serves as Co-Chair of the Race and Ethnic Disparities Committee.
Jimmy has previously served on the boards of the Asian Bar Association of Washington and the Washington State Bar Association's Criminal Law Section Executive Committee where he was once President. In addition to BELONG Partners, Jimmy also serves as a board member of Choose 180 and Mentoring Urban Students and Teens (MUST), two other local non-profits that aim to support young people and seek an end to the school-to-prison-pipeline.
Kayla Blau (she/her) deeply values the gifts young people bring to the world, and is passionate about cultivating youth-centered spaces and communities. After witnessing punitive school environments push students out of the school system firsthand, Kayla is excited to share tools and practices to support students that have experienced complex trauma and/or are marginalized in our White-dominant education system.
Kayla previously worked as a Child Advocate at a domestic violence shelter, where she co-curated youth poetry chapbooks with young people to process trauma and build community. She also supported students experiencing homelessness at Seattle Public Schools and provided mental health support to students at Highline Public Schools. She was an active member of the No New Youth Jail campaign, which advocated for community-based alternatives to youth detention and an end to the school-to-prison pipeline. Bearing witness to the harms caused by the carceral system and the U.S public education system fuel her work to challenge racist systems and co-create a more just world.
She holds a Master's in Social Work from the University of Washington, and provides writing support to nonprofits across the Pacific Northwest.
As a freelance journalist, Kayla's work can be found in the South Seattle Emerald, Crosscut, The Stranger, Seattle Globalist, and more.
Job Titles:
- Communications and Marketing Manager
Job Titles:
- Director of Strategic Partnerships
Roxana Amaral (she/her) has been an educator and community activist in the Pacific Northwest for the past 15 years. She holds a unique educational perspective because of her versatility of roles serving school communities as a case manager, teacher, administrator, community partner, and project and education developer. She has held several leadership roles and has received local and national recognition for her work on college and career readiness and racial equity. Roxana was the first female to serve as the President of the Board of Directors for El Centro de La Raza, a non-profit organization in the Seattle Area, committed to social justice.
The last five years of her career prior to starting at BELONG Partners, Roxana worked with the Northwest Carpenters Union's apprenticeship program and council focusing on curriculum and instruction and staff development for the organization which serves 30,000 working families across six states in the Pacific Northwest.
Roxana joined the BELONG Partners team in 2021. As the Director of Strategic Partnerships she worked closely with Strategic Advisor and Founder, Dr. Jody McVittie, to grow a pilot program into an ongoing and expanding program across the Pacific Northwest. This is an exciting endeavor for Roxana as it helps spread the impact of BELONG Partners to thousands of families in new regions.
Roxana first met Dr. Jody McVittie and was introduced to the work of BELONG Partners (then Sound Discipline) early in her educational career. Instantly, she knew the work was innovative and impactful. At Denny International Middle School, she led the BELONG Partners data team and implementation of whole school model of BELONG Partners initiatives. She credits that experience for her personal and professional success working with children and adults.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Director, Governance Committee
Sarah comes to the BELONG Partners Board with a career-long commitment to ensuring children of all backgrounds are provided with the opportunities and the support they need to thrive. After 10 years as a Social Worker working directly with incarcerated youth in King County, she obtained a Master's Degree in Public Administration from the University of Washington. Armed with her new degree and a deep understanding of how the life trajectory of a child is forever altered by a disconnection from school, Sarah spent a decade at the University of Washington conducting research in K-12 public education policy. This work placed her in hundreds of schools in dozens of school districts across the country. She currently works at the University of Washington's Center for Social Sector Analytics and Technology where she helps government agencies improve data collection methods.
She is thrilled to serve on the board and to be able to contribute to the critical work of BELONG Partners.
As the Director of Program at BELONG Partners, Stacy Lappin (she/her) develops and supports school and community partnerships, provides professional development to educators and families, coaches and consults in schools and community organizations, partners to create resources for transformation in schools, and grows and supports the BELONG Partners facilitator team.
Stacy's been a part of BELONG Partners since the very beginning. Before that, she was an elementary school teacher for ten years. The Positive Discipline tools she learned made her last two years in the classroom her favorite two years. Having the tools to build community and elevate student voice allowed her to be a more confident and connected teacher.
Stacy has a bachelor's degree in elementary education and a master's degree in special education. She has been a parent educator for 20 years and enjoys working with diverse families and caregivers. In addition to her passion for education, Stacy's other job is being a mom of three. As her children grow and change, they continue to be her best teachers and chances to practice.
Job Titles:
- MEMBER of the BOARD
- Small Business Owner
Stephanie Sato is a small business owner. She works as a solopreneur helping people through Hypnotherapy and Mind Coaching at Synchronous Hypnosis, LLC. She is a Certified Professional Hypnotist with the International Certification Board of Coaches & Hypnotists, a Member of the Complementary Medical Association, a Certified Hypnotist with the National Guild of Hypnotists, and a Registered Hypnotherapist in the State of Washington.
She also has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a Minor in Music History degree from the University of California San Diego (UCSD). Although she is no longer actively practicing law, she also has a Juris Doctor degree from Seattle University School of Law and is still licensed to practice law in Washington and California.
In her former career she worked as a Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney with the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office for over 17 years where she gained experience in the Criminal Division, in Truancy Intervention, the Juvenile Division, and Human Resources. She was also a member of the Equity and Social Justice Team there from it's inception.
The four plus years she spent working in Truancy Intervention changed how she looks at the world. She took a course on Positive Discipline for Parents when her two daughters were in preschool and elementary school. She was able to apply this knowledge to facilitate policy changes in the county's truancy program and helped to educate the school districts' truancy representatives by bringing in trainers on topics such as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES), Trauma-Informed Care, and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. She also learned from Dr. Jody McVittie at several of the trainings Dr. McVittie conducted at various conferences and children's justice events. This is where Stephanie learned about Sound Discipline (now BELONG Partners) and the great work they do with school communities and is a strong believer in the positive methods they teach.
Sylvia Hadnot (she/them) is a multicultural educator who brings real-world knowledge and experience into her educational endeavors. Sylvia has performed jazz piano at the Triple Door and the Paramount, among other jazz houses. She launched her own benefit events company at age 22 to support local artists in the city. She has written youth curricula for social-emotional health, college and career readiness, and environmental justice. Between all of her activities and work, Sylvia also found the time to complete a Master's in Education, focusing on Anti-Racist and Urban Environmental Education.
Perpetually interested in the growth and success of those around her, Sylvia has been interested in education since age 5. With several years of classroom teaching experience, from working with students in the King County Youth Detention Center to special populations, Sylvia is excited to work in the classroom from a different perspective, by supporting teachers in social-emotional learning for diverse scholars.
Born and raised in Seattle, Sylvia grew up in the Beacon Hill neighborhood before moving to Shoreline to attend high school. She now lives in South Lake Union with her black cat, Jabari, and her dog, Kareem.
What do you like to do outside of work?
Walk my neighborhood with Kareem, study the latest in equitable classroom practices, stretch in a yoga class, mosey around at a plant sale, and ride the light rail to networking events.
What's one of your proudest moments?
Graduating cum laude from undergrad university.