Board Of Directors

Marsha Botzer, Secretary

As well as being a founding member of Equal Rights Washington's board, Marsha Botzer founded Seattle's prominent Ingersoll Gender Center, informally in the late 1970's, and formally as a non-profit in 1984, and she continues to support the Center's work. She served on the Board of Visitors of Antioch University Seattle, active in securing volunteers and promoting outreach to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and allied Communities. Marsha served as co-chair of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force during 2005-6. In her home state of Washington she served on the board of the Pride Foundation, and as a reviewer in the Pride Scholarship Program.

In 2008 Ms. Botzer served as a national co-chair of the Obama Pride Campaign.

In 2007 and 2008 Marsha co-lead development of the Out in Front LGBT Leadership Training Program. The first class began in early 2009.

George Cheung

George Cheung is Director of the Win/Win Network, an nonprofit technical assistance provider promoting civic engagement in Washington State. Prior to this position, George was Founder and CEO of Lopez & Cheung, Inc., an independent consulting practice focused on social science research, geographic information systems and public policy. The firm’s past clients include the National Fair Housing Alliance, Zipcar, APIA Vote, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation/Making Connections. He also worked for several civil rights enforcement agencies. In his volunteer time, George helped found Equal Rights Washington and has served as Board Chair or Interim Executive Director from 2004-2006.

A Renton native, George received his Bachelors in Political Science from Brown University and a Master in Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Dave Coffman

Dave Coffman is an attorney in solo practice, with an emphasis in international law, business, tax, and LGBT issues both domestic and foreign. He is recognized worldwide as an expert in the field of International Water Law, for which he undertook a Ph.D while teaching law school in Australia. Dave returned to Seattle in late 2003 after living in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom for several years. In the arena of LGBT rights, Dave assisted New Zealand Parliamentarians with their civil rights bills that were passed earlier this decade.

Heavily involved in local community affairs, Dave currently serves as pro-bono counsel for Seattle Out and Proud. He also serves as the Chair for the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Network for the American Bar Association’s International Tax Section, and serves as their liaison to the ABA’s Presidential Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Dave lectures as an Adjunct Professor of Taxation for Golden Gate University, and has an appointment to sit as Judge Pro-Tempore for the Snohomish County District Court. He is an active member of the 34th District Democrats.

Dave was born in California but raised in Durango, Colorado. Prior to becoming an attorney, he was a firefighter/EMT for 10 years. He and his partner Matt live in West Seattle, where they are kept in check by their two dogs, Loki and Sparky.

Gina Popovic

Gina has been involved in community activism and the spirit of volunteerism since she was 13. The daughter of two mechanics, her politics are rooted in practicality and fairness which makes her uniquely suited to advancing the progressive agenda in Eastern Washington. A resident of Ellensburg and Yakima for almost 20 years, Gina is currently the Vice President of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho.In addition to her work with Equal Rights Washington, Gina serves on the board of the Yakima County League of Women Voters and the Leadership Team of Central Washington Progress: a partner organization of the Win-Win Coalition.

Andy Sachs

Andy Sachs is an attorney at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP and maintains a commercial and intellectual property litigation practice. Andy also dedicates time to an active pro bono practice that focuses on cases involving dependent children and termination of parental rights. He is president-elect of QLaw, the LGBT bar association for Washington State, and is also on the Board of Directors for Washington State CASA, an organization that advocates for abused and neglected children. In his free time Andy trains for distance triathlons, having completed two full Ironman races, and can usually be found skiing or backpacking in the mountains on the weekends.

Herb Krohn

Herb's political expertise spans a liftime including service as a Congressional Page in 1979, 1st openly Gay Legislative District Vice Chair and Chair in Washington State (1982-1986), 1st openly Gay person to win a contested Primary Election race in Washington State (1986), Elected SEAMEC Steering Committee (1986-Present), Elected SEAMEC Co-Chair (1992-2000, & 2002-Present), Board Member . Seattle LGBT Community Center (2003-Present), Charter Member . Log Cabin Washington (formerly GROW) (1981-Present), Elected Board Member . Log Cabin Washington (1986-Present), Elected Co-Chair, Seattle Metropolitan Election Committee, (1992-2000 & June 2001-Present), Board Member, Discrimination Free Washington (2004), and many others.

Ryan Mello

Ryan Mello is a political consultant/manager in Tacoma/Pierce County. He has worked on numerous campaigns for progressive candidates and issues. Ryan lives in Tacoma where he graduated from the University of Puget Sound with a degree in Politics & Government. He also serves on the boards of the Pierce Conservation Voters and Tacoma United for Fairness (TUFF), organized in 2002 to defeat Initiative 1, seeking to overturn Tacoma's antidiscrimination ordinance for LGBT people.

Ryan originally grew up in Hawaii where his parents and family still live. Ryan enjoys playing music, volleyball, the outdoors and activism around progressive politics particularly in the environmental and LGBT civil rights movement.

Shilpen Patel

Shilpen Patel is a radiation oncologist at the University of Washington. He currently works an assistant professor and specializes in lung and gastrointestinal tumors. He moved to Seattle in 2006 and prior to that was working at the Greenebaum Cancer Center in Baltimore. He currently works with a number of organizations to improve health care including the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, American Medical Association, and Washington State Medical Association. Shilpen earned his MD from the University of Texas and has published extensively in the medical field. He has recently been named one of Seattle's Top Doctors in Seattle Magazine and won the 2009 AMA Foundation Leadership Award.

Margaret Rothschild

Margaret Rothschild has a Masters in Art Therapy. She is an artist and spiritual director. She has a passionate interest in social justice and civil rights issues. She and her husband, George Heidorn, have been supporters of ERW since its inception. She's also on the vestry of St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral.

Cynthia Scheiderer

Cynthia Scheiderer is a communications consultant and freelance writer who has worked with foundations, technology companies, and nonprofits. Working with foundations and nonprofits over the past six years, she has researched and developed outreach initiatives that include grassroots organizing, technology, storytelling, media, and policy components. She is a former director of public affairs and communications at Casey Family Programs in Seattle, Washington, where she built a community outreach function, led the start-up of a national consumer advocacy group, and managed grants focused on constituency organizing.

Prior to this, Cynthia spent seven years in the high-tech industry, including five years at Adobe Systems, during which she managed teams and initiatives in customer support, knowledge management, education, training, business development, and consulting. Cynthia earned her bachelor's degree in communications from California State University, Fullerton, and her master's degree in education from Seattle University. Cynthia and her husband Greg reside in West Seattle with two cats and enjoy theater and baseball.

Mike Wrenn, Co-Chair

Michael R. Wrenn is a named partner in the law firm of Wolfe Wrenn & Zariski and specializes in complex litigation. He is a member of the firm-wide Diversity Committee and LGBT Task Force for the 700-attorney firm. He also Chairs the Diversity Committee for the firm's Seattle office.

From 1995 to 2005 Michael was a member of the Board of Trustees for the King County Bar Foundation and its President for 2000 and 2001. The Foundation sponsors and funds the pro bono programs for King County, including the Voluntary Attorneys for Persons with AIDS/HIV Legal Access, as well as 25 Neighborhood Legal Clinics.

Michael received the King County Bar Association's Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award for 2006. He earned his undergraduate degree in Society and Justice and his law degree from the University of Washington. He currently resides in Rainier Beach (Seattle) with his partner of ten years.

Thomas Zambito, Co-Chair

Thomas Zambito is a manager at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP, an entity of Deloitte & Touche LLP where he helps small to multi-billion dollar sized clients to quantify and articulate values for financial reporting and transaction related purposes. Thomas is a founding member of Seattle GLOBE; Deloitte's LGBT Business Resource Group and is a member of the Northwest Corporate LGBT Network Roundtable which works to empower Northwest LGBT employees and their allies through education, partnership, positive leadership, and community visibility. Thomas has previous fundraising and volunteering campaign experience. Thomas earned his MBA degree from Thunderbird with an emphasis in Finance. He currently resides with his partner in Seattle, WA.