Advisory Board
Jennifer Potter
Initiative for Global Development (IGD)
Jennifer is a Senior Officer at The Seattle Foundation and also leads the Foundation’s Global Giving services which she launched in 2008. She serves on the Advisory Committee for TechSoup Global’s NGOsource and helped develop the first Pacific Northwest Global Donors Conference in 2010. Prior to The Seattle Foundation, Jennifer was an Associate Director within the Children, Youth and Family Services Division at the YWCA of Seattle-King County-Snohomish County. She also worked for public relations agencies in Chicago and Seattle where she developed and managed communications programs for national and international companies. Jennifer received her B.A. from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and a Master of Public Administration from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington.
Herman Uscategui
Starbucks Coffee Company
Herman Uscategui is a director, international business development for Starbucks Coffee Company. Responsible for new markets development, including partner
selection process, negotiations, and coordination of overall project deliverables. Prior to joining Starbucks, Herman was director, Worldwide Projects at Westin Hotels & Resorts corporate offices in Seattle. He was responsible for international hotel management development and franchises agreements. Herman started his responsibilities at Westin representing then Westin’s parent company, Aoki Corporation of Japan in international business ventures. He started his business career in Tokyo, Japan with Aoki Corporation. He received a Master in Engineering from Saitama University/University of Tokyo and doctoral studies from the University of Tokyo in Japan. He also holds a Master in Economics from Temple University in Japan and is fluent in several languages.
Jeff Vincent
Laird Norton Company
Jeff Vincent has been leading the Laird Norton Company since January of 2001, overseeing current investments and managing the company’s day-to-day activities. With more than 20 years of business experience, Jeff has experience as a CEO, CFO, corporate development officer, and strategy consultant. He has restructured business operations, bought and sold more than 15 companies, and directed a variety of strategic initiatives in product development and international expansion. Over the past 15 years, Jeff has worked exclusively with privately held family companies. He is a director of Pro-Build Holdings, Inc. and a member of the Washington State Board of Education.
Bob Watt
Boeing Company
Bob Watt retired as vice president of State & Local Government Relations and Global Corporate Citizenship for The Boeing Company in 2007. Prior to coming to Boeing in January of 2002, Bob was president and CEO of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, a position he held from November 1995 through December 2001. Bob’s career has included leadership positions with PhyCom Corporation, as deputy mayor of the City of Seattle under Mayor Norm Rice; five years as president of Family Services of Seattle/King County and more than 12 years at Youth Eastside Services, the last five as its executive director. He currently serves as chair of The Seattle Foundation board, chair of the White Center Making Connections Partners Group, and as a vice chair of Thrive by Five, Washington State’s public/private partnership for early learning. He is a member of the board of Casey Family Programs, the Business Partnership for Early Learning and the Seattle Children’s’ Hospital Foundation. He also serves as a member of the Institute for Learning and Brain Science Advisory Board.
Akhtar Badshah
Microsoft
As senior director of Microsoft Community Affairs, Akhtar Badshah manages Unlimited Potential, a global initiative to promote digital inclusion and increased access to technology skills training in underserved communities. Before joining Microsoft, Badshah was the CEO and president of Digital Partners Foundation, a Seattle-area nonprofit organization whose mission is to use the digital economy to benefit the poor. He established the organization’s core programs in India, Africa, and Latin America, and developed the Digital Partners Social Venture Fund, which
supports the expansion of IT-based anti-poverty efforts around the world. Badshah also helped to develop the Digital Partners Social Enterprise Laboratory, an initiative that mentors and provides seed money to entrepreneurs whose vision and business models use information and communication technologies to empower the poor and their communities. Badshah serves on the Advisory Board for the Development Gateway Project of the World Bank, World Links India, World Corp, Teachers without Borders, and the Datamation Foundation India.
Kristi Branch
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
Kristi is Senior Program Manager at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and an internationally recognized expert on social impact assessment, public involvement, and institutional analysis. She served as the interim director of the Pacific Northwest Center for Global Security of Battelle, and has worked on community and natural resource development in a variety of countries in Africa and Asia. Kristi has played an active role in the application of social impact assessment techniques to the identification and evaluation of environmental policies and implementation strategies. She is a specialist in helping organizations achieve effective involvement of interested and affected parties to achieve transparency, build confidence, and reduce tensions. Her principal areas of interest are environmental and energy security, regional stability, and the role of nonproliferation and human security in international development. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Malaysia, and currently serves as a Trustee of the World Affairs Council.
Carol Lewis
Philanthropy Northwest
Carol is the CEO of Philanthropy Northwest and serves as the Managing Partner of The Giving Practice. Carol served as Corporate Secretary and Chief Administrative Officer for Coinstar, Inc., as executive director of Pacific Northwest Ballet and as the City of Seattle’s Deputy Mayor under former Mayor Charles Royer. She currently serves on the boards of the Seattle Parks Foundation, Washington Women’s Foundation, the Nesholm Family Foundation, and as a trustee for Seattle Biomedical Research Institute. Carol earned a BA in Economics and Political
Science at Stanford University, and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University.
Jennifer Martin
The Seattle Foundation
Jennifer is a Senior Officer at The Seattle Foundation and also leads the Foundation’s Global Giving services which she launched in 2008. She serves on the Advisory Committee for TechSoup Global’s NGOsource and helped develop the first Pacific Northwest Global Donors Conference in 2010. Prior to The Seattle Foundation, Jennifer was an Associate Director within the Children, Youth and Family Services Division at the YWCA of Seattle-King County-Snohomish County. She also worked for public relations agencies in Chicago and Seattle where she developed and managed communications programs for national and internationalcompanies. Jennifer received her B.A. from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and a Master of Public Administration from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington.
