Staff

Karen Daubert - Executive Director

A Washington native who scrambles an average of 30 peaks a year, Karen would be a natural leader of WTA even without her breadth of professional experience. Add to that her years as King County’s Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, her role as Founding Director of the Seattle Parks Foundation and her history on numerous environmental nonprofit boards – and it’s obvious that Karen is the ideal person to guide WTA. Karen hikes with her family and friends. She fondly remembers a trip to Horseshoe Basin, standing on Tea Pot Peak with six friends and singing “I’m a Little Tea Pot.” Karen’s favorite hikes are along the Hoh River and the Wonderland Trail.

Email: karen@wta.org

____________________________________________________

Arlen Bogaards - Northwest Regional Manager

Arlen runs the WTA show in Northwest Washington, crew leading work parties, representing WTA at outreach fairs and promoting hiking in the area. Somehow, in between all of this he finds time to feed the chickens and goats on his small farm. After years in the construction field, Arlen finally united his work with his passion: trails. He enjoys a good day hike in a high meadow or a backpacking trip in the desolate North Cascades, and his favorite hike is Skyline Divide. If he ever gets the chance, he would like to section hike the Pacific Crest Trail. Email: arlen@wta.org

____________________________________________________

Eli Boschetto - Editor, Washington Trails

After three years as a feature writer, gear team member and photographer for Washington Trails magazine, Eli Boschetto took on the editor position in November 2011. He's an avid backpacker and outdoor photographer, with an education in journalism and geology, and comes to WTA with a strong publishing, design and marketing background. Adding to his outdoors resume, Eli has also a been a Trail Correspondent for Backpacker magazine since 2008. While his hiking range is far and wide – from California's Sierras to the Canadian Rockies - his favorite hikes in Washington are Maple Pass in the North Cascades and the Snowgrass Flats in the Goat Rocks Wilderness. Email: eli@wta.org

____________________________________________________

Kim Brown - Office Administrator 

If you call the WTA office, Kim’s voice is the first you’ll hear. Kim answers phone calls and manages day-to-day logistics in the WTA office. Given that she spends almost every weekend hiking, you can ask Kim pretty much anything about trails in Washington and she’ll give you a sound answer. She likes hiking in the rain because it means a better chance of finding solitude on trail, and she often explores abandoned or little used trails. Her very favorite hikes are 13 Mile Trail and Eightmile to Squire Creek Pass. Kim’s dream is to hike the old Cascade Crest route using vintage gear and food recipes from the 1960s. Email: kim@wta.org

Julie Cassata - Volunteer Coordinator

Kara Chin - Membership Manager

Kara has spent her life playing in the diverse bio-niches of the Pacific Northwest. Kara first came to WTA as a trail maintenance and TrailsFest volunteer, then as an administrative intern in 2000 while pursuing her graduate degree. After a brief interlude in New York, she returned in search of evergreens and moss. She now takes care of “all things membership” at WTA. Although trained as an artist, choreographer, and costume designer she has always found inspiration in her extended backyard. If you’re lucky, you’ll run into Kara on trail - or catch her in the WTA office next time you’re downtown.  Email: kara@wta.org

____________________________________________________

Krista Dooley - Youth Programs Manager

Krista is a Washington native who has been working at outdoor youth programs since 2001 in various regions of the US and Switzerland. Since 2007, Krista has been organizing and guiding WTA's youth programs. Before joining WTA, Krista spent two years as Program Director for Camp Highland Outdoor Science in Southern California, but she decided she missed the seasons and big trees of the Pacific Northwest and returned to Washington to pursue graduate studies in Environmental Education at IslandWood and the University of Washington. Her love for the outdoors keeps her working and playing in the woods year round. Krista enjoys hiking anywhere in the Goat Rocks Wilderness.  Email: krista@wta.org

Loren Drummond - Digital Content Manager

Loren comes to WTA with more than a decade of digital communications and advocacy experience, most recently with The Humane Society of the United States in Washington, D.C. She's backpacked (and rebuilt) sections of the Colorado Trail, and she's put in miles on the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails, too. As the Digital Content Manager for WTA, she loves connecting with and supporting an incredible community of volunteers, hikers and would-be hikers with Washington's wild places. She has a particular fondness for desert camping, alpine lakes and marmots. Email: loren@wta.org

Susan Elderkin - Communications and Outreach Director

Little did Susan know when she went on her first work party in 1995 that in the coming years she would serve on WTA’s board, become the board president, join staff as Web Editor and finally become the director of WTA’s Communications and Outreach team. With more than 20 years of experience at various environmental nonprofits in Washington state and Washington D.C., Susan brings a good sense of direction to WTA. She is an avid hiker and hiked the Colorado Trail in 1995. These days Susan is most interested in finding hikes that her young children enjoy; a current favorite is Shi Shi Beach. Email: susan@wta.org

Ilona Fauver - Bookkeeper

After stints working as a bookkeeper in the flooring industry and at a guardianships non-profit, Ilona moved over to the world of trails. She crunches numbers and manages paychecks for WTA – a job that requires a lot of chocolate sustenance. While she’s pounding away at the keyboard in her office, Ilona dreams of being on trail early enough to catch the sunrise outside of the city limits. She does love a good urban hike too, and especially enjoys hiking with her husband in Carkeek Park or Golden Gardens in Seattle. Email: ilona@wta.org

Jonathan Guzzo - Advocacy Manager

Jonathan joined WTA in 2001 after working for Minnesota PIRG and other non-profits for seven years. As Advocacy Director, Jonathan charts the policy course at WTA, working with politicians and National Forest and Park Service staff to make sure that the decisions they make are good for Washington's hikers. He spends most of the winter months in Olympia and visits Washington, DC at least once a year to make sure that our state and federal representatives and senators hear from hikers. Jonathan has hiked all over the Northern Midwest and Washington. His favorite hike: Juniper Ridge in the Dark Divide Roadless Area of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Email: jonathan@wta.org

Deb Hemingway - Finance and Administrative Manager

Deb Hemingway’s love of numbers and mountains began in high school in northern Indiana. After a trip to the Rockies and college accounting and geology courses, she headed west. After years of homeschooling, accounting in small business and an international nonprofit, and most recently, development work on annual and capital campaigns for the Arboretum Foundation, Deb is very pleased to be a part of the greater outdoor community. Though partial to the Skyline Trail in early summer, any trail along water or a beach is a favorite. Email: debh@wta.org

____________________________________________________

Rebecca Lavigne - Development Director

Rebecca joined the WTA staff team in 2008, thrilled that her love of hiking was considered a job qualification. Before landing at WTA, she gained donor relations, grant management, and communications experience while working on land conservation in the Northwest and local food system efforts in Chicago. Her appreciation for Washington's mountains and saltwater started early in life. Rebecca's favorite hikes take her to places where pikas or mountain goats live. She is a graduate of the University of Washington.

Email: rebecca@wta.org

____________________________________________________

Zachary McBride - Puget Sound Crew Leader 

After a stint working to destroy trails to preserve wilderness areas in the Mojave Desert, Zachary saw the light and started building trails with WTA instead. His conservation experience transfers quite well to his role as WTA's year-round Puget Sound crew leader. If you ever venture out on a work party near Seattle during the week, Zachary is sure to teach you a thing or two about moving rocks, building trail and identifying native plants. He enjoys hiking slowly enough to enjoy the surrounding plants and scenery, taking plenty of breaks to examine mushrooms and seasonal flowers. Someday, he dreams of through-hiking the Olympic Mountains. Email: zachary@wta.org

____________________________________________________

Alan Carter Mortimer - Field Programs Manager

It took Alan 11 years of volunteering on trail with WTA to decide that he liked WTA volunteers and trail work enough to stay. He started receiving a WTA paycheck in 2007 and has been working overtime ever since. If you’ve ever wondered how WTA decides what work to do on which trails, talk to Alan. He coordinates with land managers to plan our yearlong schedule for day trips and Back Country Response Teams (BCRTs) and also works to ensure that volunteers have a safe, fun and rewarding experience on trail. Alan, who also goes by the alternate nicknames “Ace,” “Sheldon” or “Mort,” dabbles in mountain climbing. One of his favorite hikes is the Shedroof Divide in the Salmo Priest Wilderness of Eastern Washington.

Email: alan@wta.org

____________________________________________________

Ryan Ojerio - Southwest Regional Manager

Ryan is, in and of himself, a WTA microcosm in Southwest Washington. He manages volunteers, scouts projects, advocates for trails and promotes hiking in Southwest Washington. Armed with a Masters in Community and Regional Planning and several years of experience managing crews for the Northwest Youth Corps, Ryan is more than up to the task of handling all these different parts of the program in the Southwest. Although these days his hiking pace is set by his two-year-old daughter, there was a time when he solo backpacked through Yosemite National Park and mountaineered in Peru. One day, Ryan would like to take a summer-long motorcycle tour to visit all the trails he's ever worked on. Email: ryan@wta.org

____________________________________________________

Kindra Ramos - Engagement Manager

Excited to put her personal passions and professional experience together educating and engaging hikers, Kindra came to WTA in December 2006. She helps trail enthusiasts better understand their connection to parks, forests, and policy, what WTA’s role is, and what hikers can do to make a difference. Prior to coming to WTA, Kindra worked in Washington, DC doing outreach and advocacy for several non-profits. Her favorite hike: (mid-week during huckleberry season) Heliotrope Ridge in the Mount Baker Wilderness.  Email: kindra@wta.org

Sarah Rich - Program Assistant

What do you do with an English degree and a love for the outdoors? You write about trails – or, in Sarah’s case, about trail maintenance. Sarah is the link between WTA’s communications and trail maintenance departments, writing emails and articles and blogs that support our volunteers’ efforts. Sarah’s outdoor adventures range from hiking along Hadrian’s Wall in Scotland to canoeing and camping in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota to, more recently, backpacking trips to Lake Chelan and the Goat Rocks Wilderness. She is itching to do a longer-distance trip too, maybe along the Camino De Santiago in Spain. Email: sarah@wta.org

____________________________________________________

Lucy Shirley - Program Assistant

Having stumbled upon WTA through the volunteer program that placed her here, Lucy has gotten to know Washington’s trails through the content she designs and writes for WTA’s membership and communications departments. With a background in art, Lucy’s excellent design skills are coveted among WTA’s staff. She likes hiking slowly so that she has time to enjoy the scenery and eat tasty trail snacks along the way. In 2012 Lucy completed a rim-to-rim hike of the Grand Canyon and she has enjoyed exploring hikes around Seattle since she moved to Washington. Someday Lucy hopes to increase her trail cred by becoming a trail runner. Email: lucy@wta.org

Lisa Unsoeld-Chang - Development Manager

Originally from Texas, Lisa enjoys the quality of life in the Pacific Northwest, from its picturesque mountains to the strong emphasis on sustainability. She is passionate about making hiking more accessible for all by strengthening member engagement. When Lisa's not in the office or out on the trail, you can find her cultivating new community contacts or learning something new in the classroom and beyond. This year, she's looking forward to exploring eastern Washington and The Enchantments.
Email: lisac@wta.org

____________________________________________________

Tim Van Beek - Field Programs Manager

Tim represents the ultimate WTA success story. First he was a volunteer. Then he became a crew leader. And finally, many miles of hiking later, Tim was hired to manage WTA’s Volunteer Vacation program. If you’ve ever been on one of our summer weeklong trips, Tim was probably the one who determined much of your week – from where you worked to what you ate. That’s why Tim takes so seriously the task of ensuring that volunteers have a good time on trail. In the good old days, Tim was a fast and furious hiker; he remembers hiking 1300 miles in a year while also holding a full-time job. His pace now is a little slower, but he still enjoys hiking Marmot Pass or the Chelan Lakeshore Trail.  Email: tim@wta.org

____________________________________________________

Green Hard Hat: Has participated in five or more trail work parties.

Orange Hard Hat: Is an assistant crew leader for WTA on trail work parties.

Blue Hard Hat: Is a chief crew leader for WTA on trail work parties.