Sita Symonette, Brenda Rodríguez López, and Kazi Joshua.
ABERDEEN, Wash. — Inatai Foundation’s board of directors elected three new members and named its next board chair at a recent quarterly meeting. Sita Symonette, Brenda Rodríguez López, and Kazi Joshua are the first members to join the foundation since 2017, shortly after it was established with the proceeds of Kaiser Permanente’s acquisition of Group Health Cooperative. Seth Kirby was named board chair, succeeding Dr. Benjamin Danielson who will continue to serve on the board.
The recruitment process began last year as Inatai’s earliest board members began to complete their terms of service and others stepped down for personal reasons. The board was especially interested in bringing on leaders who were from identity- and place-based communities underrepresented on the board. The following three people were enthusiastically and unanimously elected for their inaugural terms:
- Sita Symonette lives in Vancouver, Washington, and is a practicing acupuncturist. She is the owner of Black Pearl Acupuncture and co-owner/founder of Black Pearl Wellness clinic. Symonette proudly identifies as Black and queer and is an advocate for health equity. She served on the Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette board for seven years and currently sits on the board of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She holds degrees from Western Washington University and Oregon College of East Asian Medicine.
- Brenda Rodríguez López is the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network’s first executive director, leading a statewide, diverse, and powerful network of 400 organizations working to advance and protect the rights of immigrants and refugees. A queer and undocumented organizer, strategist, and storyteller, she grew up in Basin City, where she worked in the fields every summer alongside her family. As an organizer with the Crimson Group at Washington State University, Rodríguez López worked to remove barriers and increase retention of undocumented students. She lives in Pasco.
- Kazi Joshua is the vice president for student life, dean of students, and teacher of the Indigeneity race and ethnic studies program and first-year experience course at Whitman College. He attends and regularly speaks at First Congressional Church and serves as vice president of the board at Sherwood Trust. Joshua is also president of Fabian’s Fund, which supports liberation education for those impacted by the carceral state, and volunteers at the Washington State Penitentiary. He studied at Trinity College of Vermont, Maryknoll School of Theology, Yale University, and University of Chicago.
“As the needs of Washingtonians continue to evolve, we are learning, growing, and adapting to align with the communities we’re accountable to,” says Nichole June Maher, president and CEO of Inatai. “I offer a warm welcome to our newest board members, Sita, Brenda, and Kazi. They truly embody the values of Inatai Foundation and bring a wealth of knowledge that will make us better partners to Washington communities in pursuit of racial justice and equity.”
Having fulfilled his three-year term as board chair, Dr. Benjamin Danielson is passing the torch to Seth Kirby. A clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington, Dr. Danielson expertly led Inatai through the COVID-19 pandemic and the foundation’s first years of significant grantmaking. “We are grateful that Inatai will continue to benefit from Dr. Danielson’s guidance as a board member,” says Maher.
Kirby is chief impact officer at Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, where he identifies, designs, and champions lasting connections and investments in Pierce County. For over 20 years, he has worked and volunteered in the fields of HIV and violence prevention, civil rights policy and implementation, and youth leadership development. In his new role, Kirby will be one of very few transgender leaders in the country holding the position of board chair at a foundation.
Other board leadership transitions include Martha Choe as board vice chair and JanMarie Ward as treasurer. Choe most recently served as the chief administrative officer and director of global libraries at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Ward is a national expert in tribal health and well-being and leads public health policy initiatives for the American Indian Health Commission for Washington State.
The Inatai board of directors also celebrated the leadership of founding board chair Sue Byington, who has completed her seventh year of service with Inatai. “Sue has been with the foundation since the day we were founded, before many of us arrived,” says Maher. “So, it’s been especially fitting that she’s spent the last year putting in countless hours to recruit the next generation of board members. We continue to be deeply grateful for the groundwork she’s laid.”
About Inatai Foundation
Inatai Foundation (formerly Group Health Foundation) is a 501(c)(4) grantmaking organization serving Washington state. Inatai works to transform the balance of power to ensure equity and racial justice across Washington and beyond. For more, visit www.inatai.org.
