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Pathwaves WA

  • About us
    • Staff + board
    • Careers
  • Mission + Values
  • Our Fellowship
    • Apply
    • Placement Sites
    • Fellowship FAQs
  • News + Updates
  • Contact Us
  • Donate

Staff + board

Our staff

Nubia López (she/her/hers)

Co-Executive Director

Nubia López has over 15 years of experience working at the intersection of community partnerships and education systems in Washington state before she joined Pathwaves WA. She was the Community Partner Liaison for the University of Washington’s College of Education, where she oversaw internship placements for undergraduate students across a broad network of educational partners.

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Her work is grounded in the belief that strong partnerships are the fuel required to develop high-quality and equitable education systems that all children and families deserve. Previously, Nubia worked at Puget Sound Educational Service District, where she managed program components across Head Start, Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP), and Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS).

Nubia holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Washington and a Bachelor in Political Science from California Polytechnic State University. Nubia is a parent to a preschooler and enjoys hiking and camping in her spare time.

Lish Olson (she/they/her/their)

Program Coordinator

Lish has worked in youth development for over 14 years, supporting after-school care programs, summer camps, school-community engagement, and extra-curricular advocacy activities. They joined our team as Program Coordinator in May of 2022. Prior to this role, she facilitated a program that educates young people around the world about the global water crisis and sustainable development practices.

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Lish’s work is rooted in a deep desire to create opportunities for people to make connections with one another through story sharing and listening. In high school, Lish had the opportunity to serve as a student facilitator for an anti-racist educational program offered to students and staff at her high school. This is where her passion for facilitation was ignited. In every space she occupies, Lish seeks to cultivate a space that allows for individual and collective reflection and growth. They currently serve as a member of the Storytellers for Change facilitation team, and is an alumnus of their Storytelling for Changemaking course.

Lish holds a bachelor’s degree in Theology, with a focus in Reconciliation. She enjoys cooking, baking, traveling, live music, and any water-related activities.

Our board

Angela Griffin (she/her/hers)

Launch CEO

Angela Griffin is a visionary and inspirational leader as the CEO for Launch with over 27 years of experience, primarily focused on the development and implementation of early learning, child care and youth development programs. Angela has a reputation for building strong relationships and partnerships, inspiring teams to action, and crafting effective strategies to ensure children, youth, and communities equitably access all the available opportunities leading to successful life outcomes.

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Angela was previously the Chief Program Officer at Treehouse where she led the agency in achieving its ambitious goal of increasing the graduation rate for youth experiencing foster care and scaling vital services statewide. Prior to Treehouse, she was a transformational leader of programs for children birth to age 12 for the YMCA and the Boys & Girls Club.

She has served on a variety of boards including the Federal Way School Board, and currently the King County Children and Youth Advisory Board (CYAB), WA State Leadership Board, Youth Development Executives of King County (YDEKC), Child Care Aware of WA (CCAWA), King County Early Learning Coalition (KCELC), and the Woodland Park Zoo.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Human Services and a Master of Arts in Education, both from California State University. She earned her doctorate in Educational and Organizational Leadership from Seattle University. She is the parent of three adult children and one teen, as well as the grandmother of an adorable toddler.
related activities.

Haydeé Lavariega (they/them/theirs)

Associate Director of Education Strategies at United Way of King County

Haydeé (pronounced “Eye-They”) Lavariega is a Bene Xhon (Zapotec) Indigenous nonbinary organizer and educator from Oaxaca, Mexico. Haydeé grounds their practice in Indigenous values of collectivity, acknowledgement, and relationships. Honoring the knowledges and narratives of their community is at the forefront of their work. Haydeé is working to will an environment that allows transformative justice and a liberated reality-future to be cultivated and sustained.

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Haydeé works diligently and intentionally in community to organize and heal, utilizing decolonizing practices and anti-racist frameworks that center Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color in practice. They believe that organizing and healing must be done together, with awareness of the multitude of intersections and complexities of community, in order to become located at a space of collective liberation.

Haydeé holds a doctorate in Leadership for Learning from the University of Washington. They have previously worked at the intersections of philanthropy, communities, and education from early learning to higher ed. As a cofounder of Collective Liberation in Practice, their work is in participatory ways of doing, including participatory funding, participatory coalition building, participatory evaluation, and participatory research.

Maggie Mendoza (she/her/hers)

Early Education P-3 Coordinator at Educational Service District 105

Maggie Mendoza has been in the early learning field for over 18 years and brings a wealth of experience in Head Start, ECEAP, Migrant Head Start, Licensed Childcare, K-12, and higher education.

At Educational Service District 105, Maggie provides professional development opportunities for PreK-3 educators that focus on supporting the unique needs of migrant and bilingual students and families, such as developing curriculum, materials, and instruction for English language learners to promote inclusive high-quality early learning environments. She is also an Early Childhood Education Adjunct faculty member at Yakima Valley College.

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She is the first in her family to graduate from college and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education with a Teaching English as a Second Language minor and a master’s degree in Early Childhood Studies with an emphasis in Administration, Leadership & Management. Maggie is currently pursuing a doctorate in Education with a specialization in Early Childhood Education.

She enjoys traveling and camping with her husband of nineteen years and their two teenagers.

Maria Vasquez (she/her/hers)

Associate Director of Early Learning Special Services & Family Engagement at Catholic Charities Serving Central Washington

Maria Vasquez (she/her) has spent the last 25 years working in various leadership capacities with underserved families and children throughout Central Washington, including 11 years as a Bilingual Maternity Support Services and Infant Case Manager. She was a Child Passenger Safety Technician and Child Birth and Breastfeeding educator for Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital, specializing in training families of diverse and mono-lingual Spanish populations.

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In her 13 years with Catholic Charities, she has served as an Executive Board member of the Early Learning Coalition, playing a significant role in community systems and early childhood development. As the Associate Director of Early Learning Special Services & Family Engagement for Child Care Aware of Central Washington, she works to support an environment that advances racial equity and cultural inclusivity, building trust and relationships among diverse communities while promoting social justice for the children and families these programs serve.

She holds a bachelor’s in Children’s Studies, an associate’s in Nutrition, and is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. She is a proud wife of 29 years, mommy to a 26-year-old daughter and 25-year-old son, and a most gracious Nana to her 3-year-old grandson.

Soleil Boyd (she/her/hers)

Senior Program Officer for Washington STEM

At Washington STEM, Soleil Boyd supports the organization’s Early Learning and King County strategies. She partners with key early education, industry, and policy partners to support programming and policy intent on dismantling institutional and systemic inequities that disproportionately impact families and children of color, those from low-income and rural backgrounds, and women.

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Prior to Washington STEM, Soleil was Director of Professional Development and Coaching at Cultivate Learning. She directed the Certificate in Practice-Based Coaching and taught Early Childhood and Family Studies courses at the University of Washington, where she completed her doctoral degree in education.

Soleil started her early childhood education career as a preschool teacher assistant before becoming a preschool lead teacher, program supervisor, early learning coach, product developer, and university instructor.

Her past research addressed caregivers’ beliefs and practices related to early mathematics learning and the design of professional development that promotes reflection and practice and supports young children’s engagement in learning. Her professional work includes directing coach support in Washington state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), directing coach support for Early Achievers and implementing professional development for educators and coaches in and beyond Washington state.

Acknowledgments

Pathwaves WA is built on the work and wisdom of our mentors, partners, and teachers. We wish to especially acknowledge Leslie Dozono (she/her) as a co-founding consultant and Interim Executive Director and Makeba Greene (she/her) as co-founding consultant, as well as Meg Gomez (they/them) and Arianna McLaren-Simpson (they/them), who have provided consultant support.

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