We are families with children, Masters swimmers, coaches, and those who do not know how to swim.
Our Board
Our Board was established in November 2018. Board meetings are held monthly. Our Board is 100% volunteer and made up of dedicated community members impassioned to address the great need for additional aquatics facilities in our community. The moment is upon us.
Susan Pappalardo
President, CO - Founder
Susan provides energy, enthusiasm and passion to our efforts. A consummate researcher, user advocate, thought leader and lifelong learner, she is committed to all that it takes to bring a world-class aquatics center to our region. She is driven to bring the voices of ALL user groups to the project, define best practices to ensure aquatics leadership and create sustainable partnerships. She spent much of her youth swimming underwater in her community pool and is now a masters swimmer, former LWHS and BCST swim parent, masters track and cross country athlete and volunteer youth cross county and track coach (Go Striders!). She is our social media voice, web developer, grant writer, and relentless strategic partner.
Julie Franck
Treasurer
Julie’s career experience as a tax attorney at Deloitte, professionalism, passion for the project and family ties to aquatics lend themselves well to our Treasurer role in our early phase and as we grow into our role as a private funding partner. Julie looks forward to seeing her three young children follow their dad’s aquatics passions, a former youth & collegiate (UW) swimmer, to one day swim & have fun in a local regional facility.
Kelsey Robb
Board CPA
CPA, MST
TAX SENIOR Manager CBIZ Berntson Porter
Kelsey has a deep passion for all things aquatics and is all in for SPLASHForward’s mission. She grew up in Southern California as a swimmer and water polo player, nearly playing water polo at the collegiate level. She was a lifeguard, swim instructor, and coached water polo. She is a mom of three and lives in Sammamish. She knows first-hand the challenges in trying to book and find swim lessons and the dire state of affairs we live in for accessible public pools. She has struggled to find swim lessons for all of her kids. She is passionate about ensuring all families have easy affordable access to swim lessons, a full range of aquatic programs, and places to recreate year round.
Jeff Lowell
BSD director of athletics & activities
Jeff provides wisdom and oversight on our organizational development, board management and community outreach strategy. Jeff intimately understands the benefits of aquatics, the great needs within the school district and is the steady hand to our efforts. Jeff’s many roles in the aquatics storyline of our community, from swimming to coaching to being a well oiled meet director, give him great knowledge, insights and motivation to bring new facilities to our region for many future generations.
Erik Teutsch
Principle solution Engineer, tableau software
Erik loves data storytelling and helping us hone and tell our story. He is an asset on any Board as our number one motion maker. As a former LWHS swimmer, LWHS swim parent and a current Masters swimmer, he is beyond motivated to bring much needed new aquatics facilities to our starved communities. He is a reliable lane leader in the water.
Katoya Palmer
Chief Operating Officer for Community Passageways, Seattle
Katoya brings with her a deep passion for aquatics and intimately understands the many benefits access to aquatics can bring to someone’s life. She is an activist, a self-starter, former high school water polo sensation, and community partnership builder. She is not afraid to dream big to make our aquatic facility dreams happen. She is uniquely qualified to bring the perspective of our black and minority community to our efforts. She will help us establish the community partnerships to create and sustain aquatics pathways to best serve those without or with limited access to aquatics today.
She was introduced to swimming through her local YMCA (Auburn), was a junior lifeguard, swam on swim team, played Water Polo in high school (State, All American, club team). She has coached the Garfield girls HS swim team and coaches the Interlake and Sammamish Girls and Boys HS Water Polo team.
Blake Hamamoto
sales manager
Microsoft
Blake brings to our board a strong passion for the water, focusing on equity and reducing barriers to essential swimming skills. He has keen analytical skills with a career in sales and digital marketing within the advertising and tech industries. Blake is proud to represent his Asian American Pacific Islander heritage and is currently a masters swimmer at the Bellevue Club. He grew up in University Place attending one of the few high schools in our state with a pool (Curtis High School) and enjoyed being on the swim team, lifeguarding, and teaching youth swim lessons. As a father of two kids, Blake has a desire to bring the joy of water to others and is excited to help drive SPLASHForward’s vision.
Stephanie Fox
Partner, Bristlecone Advisors
Stephanie brings her lived experience as a mom who nearly gave up on finding swim lessons for her two elementary school age children. She is passionate about ensuring all families have easy affordable access to swim lessons and places to recreate year round. As a Relationship Manager at Bristlecone Advisors, Stephanie she brings her attention to detail, financial acumen, and the warm personal touch she brings to partnerships and custodial care for those she serves. Like many parents, life, both personal and work revolve around weekly swim lessons and family time.
Richard Bendix
Former Senior vp & Director of marketing Homestreet bank
As a former SPLASH (2006-9) board member, Richard rekindles his commitment to support new public aquatic facilities in our community. His former career as Senior VP & Director of Marketing for HomeStreet Bank and background as a brand and marketing consultant will help hone our communications strategy and prepare us for our next big steps. Richard is a regular lap swimmer and former swim dad of a high school and college swimmer. He’s been around the pool deck and followed the black line just a few times. Richard is excited to realize the new Bellevue Aquatic Center.
Veronica Cotto
Owner of swim school Natura Splash
Veronica has a lifelong passion and involvement in aquatics. As a top level youth swimmer, longtime gifted Waterbabies instructor, and owner of the local swim school Natura Splash, she brings to SPLASHForward her lens to create equitable access to aquatics and high quality educational aquatics curriculum for all ages. As a bilingual Hispanic woman of color, she is excited to create aquatics pathways and build community around new public aquatic facilities.
Raoul Sreenivasan
VP of AMazon Global Air
Amazon
Raoul has a ready passion to fill our aquatic facility gaps in our community so that everyone has access to aquatic opportunities. Raoul was a competitive swimmer in the UK in his youth and has enthusiastically supported his son’s success in the water at a very high level. He’s lived around the world, swam in many pools, and after sitting deck side in most every pool in our region he intimately understands our lack of new modern public pools. He brings his strategic thinking, logistics acumen, and enthusiastic achievement mindset to make our team and our community stronger.
Nancy Wenke Price
Independent Financial Advisor (ret)
Nancy is a Bellevue native who started her swimming career with Midlakes Summer Swim Program. She is still swimming strong today as a Masters swimmer. Having raised her two now grown children in Bellevue who both swam competitively and played water polo, she knows firsthand the experience of driving to King County Aquatic Center during week nights to support training needs. Nancy was a member of the inaugural women’s water polo team at Standford University. She brings to our efforts her financial and governance board experience and keen decision making honed after a career in the energy, computer, and finance fields. She is eager to help us expand our capacity in both operations and fundraising.
Jim Lasersohn
Project Manager PointB (ret)
Jim grew up locally on Mercer Island and has deep ties to local swimming as a summer league swimmer, swim lesson instructor, coach, high school swimmer, and now masters swimmer. Jim brings broad leadership and project management skills to our organization. He has long served on the Orca Swim Team board and has been the meet and event director for many USMS events including the Fat Salmon Open Water Swim and the 2013 International LGBTQ+ Aquatics (IGLA) meet at King County Aquatic Center. He is semi-retired from a 30+year project management career. Jim brings great passion, insight, and project capacity throughput to our efforts. We look forward to all the ways Jim will lift up and create momentum for for new public pools in our region.
Tyler Jones
partner, helsell fetterman
nonprofit legal counsel
Helsell Fetterman provides legal services to our nonprofit. They generously provided pro bono services to support our nonprofit forrmation. Tyler has a strong prerference for frozen water found in the higher elevations of our great Northwest
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BOARD SECRETARY
Seeking qualified and interested individual to provide financial guidance, board oversight and oversight of policies and procedures as well as fundraising guidance. Previous Board experience a plus. Community focused and passionate individual will be a valued Board member.
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board member
Seeking qualified and interested individuals. Previous Board experience a plus. Community focused and passionate individual will be a valued Board member.
Bob Regan
Honorary Board Member IN Memorium (1928 - 2022)
A local PNW swimming legend who supported youth, high school and college swimming. Bob served in almost every role as club founder of Olympic Swim Club (Cascade Swim Club), Coach, WA State Meet Director, WISCA Board Member (30 yrs), PNS Chair and Director of King County Pools & Beaches including planning and programming of King County Aquatic Center and was the voice of University of Washington swimming for over 50 years. Bob wanted to see much needed new facilities that support high school swimming. We look to honor Bob’s memory by bringing new public aquatic facilities to life.
Our steering committee&
advisors
We have a strong set of local leaders representing businesses, aquatics groups, aquatics governing bodies, community organizations, and individual community supporters.
We rely on the talents, input and support of our advisors and Steering Committee to chart our course forward. This effort is large and it takes a village to realize a world-class aquatics facility.
Project Consultants
Stu Isaac, Owner
Stu Isaac, Aquatics Consultants
Isaac Sports Group
The Isaac Sports Group, LLC has been an long standing advisor to our efforts. ISG was hired as a consultant in Jan of 2019 to develop the SPLASHForward and ISG Bellevue Health and Aquatic Center Feasibility Study and Analysis Report delivered in September 2020.
Stu Isaac, after a twenty-six year tenure at Speedo Swimwear and the 2008 Olympic Games, established ISG as an independent consulting firm building on his years of experience and network in the aquatic and Olympic sports world. The company was built on the mission of providing feasibility, program, design, marketing, sales, and organizational management and consulting services to help communities, sports organizations, corporations, teams, not-for-profits, and facilities achieve the fullest potential of their performance objectives.
ISG has 30+ yrs in facility operating experience from budgets to programs and managing the full range of events including USA Swimming, NCAA, USA Diving, US Masters Swimming and US Synchronized Swimming National and Regional Championships, Collegiate meets, High School championships, YMCA events, and Special Olympic and Paralympic Championships.
Stu has deep experience with Public/Private Partnerships and are a nationally recognized aquatics leader with strong relationships with Sports Governing Bodies and the aquatics industry.
Cole Eckerman, Principal & Founder
Emilie Smith, Principal
Fundraising Development Consultants
Eckerhaus Consulting
Cole Eckerman, the Principal & Founder of Eckerhaus Consulting, brings more than two decades of nonprofit experience to her consulting work. Cole moved to WA to direct door-to-door grassroots fundraising efforts for the Yes on I-937 Clean Energy Initiative campaign. Most recently, she served as the Director of Development & Government Relations for the Bellevue Arts Museum. She was also named to the Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list in 2023.
Brittany Kirk, President & Grants Practice Director
Julie Bianchi, Campaign Practice Director
Grants & Capital Campaign Consultants
Cloudbreak Collective
Brittany Kirk, is the Cloudbreak Collective, Grans Practice Director. Brittany has worked with more than 100 diverse organizations across a wide spectrum of missions in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. She has directly raised at least $70M in public and private funding, including multi-year grants, general operating gifts, capital campaign contributions, capacity building grants, federal contracts, innovation and pilot funding, and more. She has secured funding from large private foundations and corporations including M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Satterberg Foundation, Norcliffe Foundation, Medina Foundation, Boeing, Gates, Microsoft, and more; as well as public entites such as the U.S. government, Washington State, King County, the City of Seattle, and many more.
Julie Bianchi, CFRE, is the Cloudbreak Collective Campaign Practice Director. Julie has worked with more than 40 organizations across the country and has significant campaign experience, with goals ranging from $1million to $300 million. She is a founding-Board member for the Association of Fundraising Professionals Advancement Northwest Chapter. She also teaches as adjunct faculty in the nonprofit certification programs at Seattle University and University of Washington.
Advisors
Chuck Arnold
Seattle Seahawks President
Chuck Arnold, Business and Operations Advisor
As the president of the Seattle Seahawks and his 26 year career with the Seahawks organization, including Chief Operations Officer and building the Seahawk fanbase and brand, Chuck brings his financial, business and operations acumen to our efforts. Chuck also brings his passion for supporting the community and investing in our youth. Chuck knows first hand the great need for aquatics facilities through his son and daughter who are top high school club swimmers and his son a nationally ranked swimmer. We are incredibly grateful for Chuck’s excellent detailed questions, business acumen and dedicated follow through on all things SPLASHForward. Chuck has been a part of our efforts since our inception and his input always makes us better.
Shelley Moore
President and Founder
Insight Strategic Concepts Inc and BLOOM Success Solutions, LLC
Shelley Moore, Project Advisor
Shelley is an entrepreneur at heart and a savvy and skilled business woman driven by a passion for enabling communities to grow and thrive through intentional development and place making. Since founding Insight Strategic Concepts 22 years ago, she has worked with over 200 organizations and driven $1Billion in growth impact for her clients. Shelley led the strategic planning, development, project design, fundraising, and communications for the $69.5M Elkhart Aquatics Center. She has been a project and strategic advisor to our efforts since our inception and remains our go to person when needing input from someone who has been there before. We are extremely grateful for Shelley’s mentorship, generous information sharing from her Elkhart project experience, and ability to quickly identify and dispense insights and advice. It is no surprise that Shelley has earned many top accolades for the work she does to bring out the best in leaders and teams.
Kyle Funakoshi
Director of Philanthropy, NW Region, National Parks Foundation
Kyle Funakoshi, Philanthropy Advisor
With over 21 years of professional experience in philanthropy and fundraising and 17 years Board experience in various capacities, Kyle brings not only best practices in high level philanthropy but an equally high level of integrity and authenticity in his investment in people and causes he cares about. Kyle has also long been an advocate and leader shepherding policies and efforts relating to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for people of color. We are beyond grateful for his mentorship, guidance and professionalism to elevate our moment.
Bob Peters
Former Executive VP and Senior Advisor to WA Federal Bank; Former WA State President of Bank of America; Bellevue Downtown Association Board Member
Bob Peters, Strategic and Financial Advisor
Bob served as the Washington State President for Bank of America (2010-2013) and was an Executive Vice President at WaFd Bank overseeing Commercial Banking and most recently served as a Senior Advisor to the CEO (2015-2021). Bob retired from a 36-year banking career in Commercial Banking having helped many small, medium, large, private and public companies access capital to help their business grow.
Bob earned his BA International Studies and MBA from the University of Washington, a member of the University of Washington Men’s Swim Team from 1979-1981 and member of the 1979 US Swimming Olympic Development team.
Bob lends us his strategic and financial guidance as we lay the foundation for broad community support and local business partnerships.
Raymond Woods
Coach & Former Aquatics Director
Coach Raymond Woods, Endorser and Technique Advisor
American Swimming Coaches Association Hall of Fame Coach Ray Woods has been coaching for over 50yrs at the pre-competitive, club and NCAA levels in California, Texas, Florida, Louisiana and currently in Washington. Ray has not only developed recreational and competitive swim programs, but has served as an aquatics director and coach for 17yrs years at the Univ of New Orleans. Ray’s passion for swimming started as a lifeguard when he was a teenager in California. We are grateful for Coach Ray’s endorsement of our efforts and providing his insights.
SPLASHForward
We are committed to nonprofit transparency earning GuideStar’s highest seal of transparency.
SPLASHForward is a registered 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity.
SPLASHForward is a registered WA State nonprofit.
