Joey Manson, Board Chair, has resided in Seattle for more than twenty years. He places a great level of importance on building strong communities and has allied himself with a number of non-profits and community organizations. His work helps people appreciate wild spaces both near and far. A native of Washington, D.C., Joey studied Applied Design at University of Maryland, College Park. He has worked in the stained glass industry for over 20 years as a window fabricator, instructor, a retail sales manager, and a sales representative for an international supply distributor. He later embarked on a renewable energy project in the San Joaquin Valley. As a project manager, Joey worked to build an anaerobic digester in Modesto, CA. Upon completion, Joseph returned to Seattle and began working for the National Audubon Society as a manager in their Seward Park environmental learning center. For the past two years Joey has served as the Director of the Seward Park Audubon Center. Joey is an active member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. He participates in recreational activities with Outdoor Afro and is a regular bird watcher. He is a recreational motorcyclist and continues to enjoy stained glass and glass fusing as a hobby. He also loves to tinker with things. 

Gabe Aeschliman is currently a Philanthropy Officer with The Wilderness Society helping develop relationships between people and their public lands. Previously, he was the Senior Philanthropic Advisor with Seattle Foundation advising individuals, families and groups on effective philanthropic strategies, and leading the environmental grantmaking work. He received BA in History from California State University, Sacramento. With strong ties to California, he often finds himself hiking and climbing at destinations along the West Coast.

JoAnn Mills has worked over twenty years with leaders across the nonprofit landscape. Her expertise is designing major campaigns to support ambitious projects central to achieving mission-based aspirations. Her strength is assessing internal and external challenges, identifying opportunities and assets, and mobilizing staff and volunteers around a road map for forward movement. She finds working with leaders who take on transformational change especially rewarding. As a lead consultant with The Collins Group and Campbell & Company, she has worked primarily in the Northwest and Hawaii with arts, environmental, social service, research, healthcare, animal welfare, and educational institutions. She received her BA from the University of Washington Jackson School of International Studies, and a masters certificate in leadership coaching from Fielding University in California.

Colin Lingle is a specialist in political messaging, digital publishing, and multiplatform marketing, with two decades of experience helping organizations communicate effectively. He has worked with Braided River and other environmental and political groups to translate research into strategies for reaching and motivating communities. A dedicated son of the Pacific Northwest, he has ambled through rainforests from Gold Beach to Orcas Island. He earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies at Yale University, a master’s in Journalism and Communication from the University of Colorado, and a doctorate in Political Communication at UW. 

Rob Smith is Northwest Regional Director for National Parks Conservation Association, the citizen advocacy voice for the national parks.  Prior to coming to NPCA, Rob worked for three decades with the Sierra Club in the Southwest doing advocacy, organizing, communications and lobbying to save special places and to defend clean air and water.  He grew up between the Northwest and the Midwest before going to Bowdoin College in Maine.  One of the experiences that shaped his passion for the outdoors and the Northwest was hiking along the remote Olympic coastline during a high school outing.  When it’s too rainy to go out, Rob enjoys reading through the stacks of books at home and looking at maps to plan future trips.  

Joseph Bogaard grew up with his parents and three siblings near the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in southern California. He first got hooked on Northwest salmon and restoration efforts while in graduate school where he authored a paper in the early-1990s, exploring the then-relatively recent Snake River salmon listings under the Endangered Species Act. Joseph began working for Save Our Wild Salmon in 1996 as an organizer; he’s been its executive director for the last eight years. Before joining the SOS team, Joseph spent nearly ten years teaching and working and exploring in the lands and waters of the American West - including as a backcountry crew leader for the Student Conservation Association, wilderness ranger in North Cascades National Park, and trail crew in Washington and Idaho. Today, Joseph lives on outside of Seattle with his wife Amy and two children Liesl and Jeremiah.