Director: Tasha Ina Church

Tasha has been the director of Vibrant Schools Tacoma since October 2012. Growing up in a household with two teachers for parents, she has always had a passion for learning and a need to share that passion with others. She is a graduate of The Evergreen State College Tacoma Campus with her Bachelor of Arts. Her area of emphasis was Clinical Psychology with a minor in Literature. She takes on Evergreen Tacoma Campus’s motto “Enter to Learn, Depart to Serve,” and wants to do all she can to help others succeed.

Outside of Vibrant Schools, Tasha is actively involved in the Tacoma community. She is the co-owner of a business called Ladies First (Ladies1stOrg.com), which is an in school and after school empowerment program for young ladies. The program is at First Creek Middle Schools, Lincoln High School, and Stadium High School. Tasha is a multicultural consultant and the author and illustrator of a children’s books, We Are One at the Falling of the Sun (www.TashaInaChurch.com), doing book readings throughout the puget sound. Before this work, for three years she had done grant writing for an urban arts studio called Fab-5 (www.Fab-5.org). They teach breakdancing, legal graffiti art, lyricism, and djing.

She became interested in Vibrant Schools because of their passion for positive change in the Tacoma Public School system and appreciates all community members, school district members, and caring citizens dedicated to making this change happen!

Steering Committee Member: Bill Hanawalt

Bill Hanawalt is the Executive Director of Peace Community Center in Tacoma (www.peacetacoma.org). He has held this position for over a decade. Peace Community Center opened its doors in 2001 and is the community-based non-profit vision and ministry of Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church. At Peace Community Center, Bill has gained skills and expertise in fundraising, community based program development, strategic planning & implementation and non-profit start-up. Bill has led fund development that has raised over $3.5 million dollars in operational funds during his career, watching the organization grow to an annual budget of just under $1 million per year. Bill, and his wife Kathy of eight years, along with their daughters Nora and Maryn, attend Peace Lutheran Church and live in the Hilltop community which the Center serves.

Bill has a bachelor of sciences degree in Mathematics from the University of Puget Sound. Bill began his work at Peace Community Center initially as the volunteer Executive Director right out of college and has grown the Center’s programming, infrastructure, and strategic direction from the ground up. Today the Center, a Social Ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, serves over 500 children and youth, and 500 adults each year. Over the last seven years the Center has support nearly 100 low-income students and or students of color to graduate high school, of which over 60 are currently enrolled in college and twelve have graduated from college with their bachelors degree. These students have garnered nearly four million dollars in scholarships to support their goal of a college education. Bill currently serves on the board of Lutheran Services in America, a network of Lutheran affiliated non-profits who serve 1 in 50 Americans with locations in every state, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, as well as the board of Tacoma College Ministry. In 2009, Bill was named one of Pierce County’s 40 under 40 as an outstanding community leader under the age of forty by the Pierce County Business Examiner.

Steering Committee Member: Eve Bowen

Eve Bowen was born in Ohio and lived in a working-class, ethnically diverse farming community until her parents and sibling moved to Washington State in 1958. There, her family resided in another rural farming community before moving to the suburbs of Pierce County in 1962.

Eve attended junior high and high school in the Franklin Pierce School District, earned her BA in Education at the University of Puget Sound and her MA in Education at Antioch University-Seattle.

During her career of 35 years, Eve served Tacoma Public Schools as a teacher, as well as other related roles. She had the wonderful privilege of teaching in a building where the principal, at that time, came to the building with extraordinary skills to lead her staff and students toward excellence in every way.

Eve learned that very skilled, focused instruction coupled with high academic expectations aligned with effective cultural competence and ongoing research truly made the difference in the academic success of all students, including students of color and students impacted by poverty. Eve’s experience in the Tacoma Public Schools led to her recognition of her “calling” – to advocate for academic high expectations for all students, with a focus on students of color and students impacted by poverty. Additionally, part of this focus is to highlight educational policies which may need to be adjusted.

Eve retired in 2007 from Tacoma Public Schools, but remains actively involved in advocacy efforts in the educational field. Her passion for equity and social justice intersects with her educational advocacy work. Eve has immersed herself in the undertaking and development of different organizations: Vibrant Schools Tacoma (steering committee); Race and Pedagogy Initiative at the University of Puget Sound; the social justice group, The Conversation; Northwest Equity Consortium (Seattle); the Tacoma/Pierce County Black Collective; and as a Community Steward for prospective teachers in the new Masters in Teaching (MiT) program at Evergreen State College-Tacoma. This is all a labor of love for her.

Eve is happily married with two grown daughters who live in the area.

Steering Committee Member: Sally Perkins

Sally Perkins is the owner of Practical Solutions (www.practicalsolutionstacoma.com), a business and management consulting firm serving non-profit and public sector clients in the greater Puget Sound region since 1996. Prior to that, Sally served as Executive Director of Planned Parenthood of Pierce and the Coastal Counties, and in Washington State government in public health and budget and finance positions.
As a volunteer and resident of the Hilltop since 1997, Sally has tutored high school students–Hilltop Scholars at the Peace Community Center—since 2008, which has motivated her to advocate for system-level improvements in public education that benefit all children. “The Vibrant Schools Tacoma Coalition is the perfect place to add my voice to so many powerful voices on behalf of students. Being part of the Coalition is an amazing experience.”
As a Master Gardener, Sally helps lead an effort to teach gardening skills to families on the Hilltop, so that people can grow their own fruits and vegetables (and flowers). Sally is a member of Peace Lutheran Church.

Steering Committee Member: Jonathan Johnson

Family: Jonathan hails from New Mexico as the fourth of seven siblings and the oldest male. He is the father of two daughters and a son all exceptionally creative and talented to their credit.
Career: Jonathan served as a career Army Officer in roles of increasing responsibility including; command, staff, project management and command-and-control research. Currently on staff at Pacific Lutheran University (www.plu.edu), where he provides instruction and software technical support aimed at empowering faculty and staff. He served two terms as co-chair of the Safety Committee, as a member of the diversity committee and on the Provost Search Committee.
Education: B.A., Arizona State University; Studied Computer Science at the Masters level at Pacific Lutheran University.
Community Service: Jonathan directed a teen ministry for 13 years; focused on citizenship, faith, academy and leadership. Bridging the technology divide, established a distribution of computers and provided computer and software training for hundreds of teens and parents. With education as a passion, he serves as chair of the Education Committee of the Tacoma Branch NAACP (www.tacoma-naacp.org), the Northwest Advisory Committee of Kids at Hope, and 2nd Vice President of the Tacoma Branch NAACP. Other community efforts include partnering with nonprofits on the following issues; foreclosure prevention, eliminating predatory lending, community development.