FOUNDATION FOR TACOMA STUDENTS
The Foundation for Tacoma Students is the backbone organization to the Graduate Tacoma community-wide movement.
Our mission is to build and strengthen Tacoma’s community-wide movement to help every child achieve success from cradle to college and career by aligning goals, data, resources, and partners.
We facilitate a sense of belonging and create shared ownership by engaging Tacoma parents, youth and community (indirectly and directly), policymakers, and elected officials across multiple sectors to address equity gaps facing youth — cradle to career.
We provide a trusted source of aggregated, disaggregated, and student-level data for Graduate Tacoma Networks and community partners to best impact, influence, and improve outcomes for youth and families — cradle to career.
We serve as a key intermediary, to help align funding and community resources around strategies that positively impact youth achieving success from cradle to career.
We inform, activate, and elevate the Graduate Tacoma community movement in local, regional, and state policy to affect equitable outcomes and dismantle systems of oppression cradle to career.
We are a resource for community partners to help expand and sustain their capacity and capability to improve measurable outcomes for youth by supporting and facilitating continuous skills sharing.
Equity is an approach. Equity recognizes that we do not all start from the same place because advantages and barriers exist. Equity is a process. By acknowledging these varied starting places, the Foundation seeks to correct the imbalance for the most marginalized and minoritized populations.
Focusing on populations furthest from meaningful opportunities.
Disrupting and dismantling structural and institutional racism and systems that result in oppression.
Aligning and directing resources to populations under-resourced.
Representing the community in which FFTS serves at all levels.
Redress past systemic and institutional practices by partnering and contracting with women-owned businesses and business owned and operated by people of color.
Dr. Tafona Ervin
Executive Director
Gray Sterling
Deputy Director
Devin Rydel Kelly
Director of Research, Evaluation & Data
Rosie Ayala
Director of Operations
Ben Mitchell
Director of Advocacy & Policy
Shaima Shamdeen
Director of Communications
Rodney Wolfenbarger
Director of Pierce County Pathways
Sarah Detweiler
Associate Director of Pierce County Pathways
Chanel R. Hall
Associate Director of Strategy & Impact
Alan Foote
Data Analyst
Kennadi Bouyer
Operations Manager
Hannah Hibbs
Strategy Manager
Asha Richardson
Strategy Manager
Abby Shade
Strategy Manager
Wendy Holcomb
Strategy Manager
SVP of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Strategy & Engagement, KeyBank of WA
Managing Principal, BCRA Design
Chief Communications Office, Tacoma Public Schools
President, Tacoma Community College
Principal Consultant, Advancement Enterprises
Chief Community Executive, MultiCare Health System
School Board President, Tacoma Public Schools
President/CEO, Workforce Central
Executive Director, Metro Parks Tacoma
Pierce County Engagement Specialist, Molina Healthcare
Mayor, City of Tacoma
Director of Multicultural Outreach & Engagement, Pacific Lutheran University
President & CEO, Boys & Girls Club of South Puget Sound
Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Production Engineering Manager, The Boeing Company
Superintendent, Tacoma Public Schools
Secretary Treasurer, Pierce County Central Labor Council
Managing Attorney, North x Northwest Law Group
Administrative Assistant, City of Tacoma
Executive Director, Bamford Family Foundation
THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS
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