2009-2010 Steering Committee

Ken Kramer, Co-Chair

Michael Andrew, Treasurer

Michael Andrew has served on the SEAMEC Steering Committee since 1998. He has been SEAMEC Co-Chair and Secretary and currently serves as Treasurer. Michael is currently a member of the Executive Board of Washington State Jobs With Justice; a coalition of 135 labor unions, community organizations, and faith groups, and is Treasurer of Out Front Labor Coalition/Pride At Work. He has also served as Campaign Manager for Brita Butler-Wall (2003) and Curt Firestone (2001).

Benj Sheppard, Secretary

Benjamin Sheppard has an extensive background in social marketing for HIV/AIDS education and prevention, editing and publications management. He’s a veteran activist of several national organizations in Washington, D.C., including the National Minority AIDS Council, PFLAG and LLEGÓ. A native of the Canal Zone in Panama, he came to the United States in 1987 to study and graduated in 1990 from the University of Washington. He also has an advanced Medical Interpreter’s certification from Washington State and is fluent in Spanish, French, German and Russian.

Herb Krohn

Jim Irish

Derek Stanford

Derek Stanford first joined the SEAMEC Steering Committee in 2003, and served as Co-Chair in 2009.  Derek earned a PhD in Statistics at the University of Washington in 1999.  Since then, he has worked as a research scientist, statistical consultant, and currently Director of Analytics at a local telecommunications company.  He has authored academic papers and spoken internationally on datamining and predictive models, recently earning recognition as a Senior Member of the IEEE.  Previous board service includes Washington Public Campaigns (www.washclean.org), the 43rd District Democrats, and one year as a board intern at FareStart (www.farestart.org).  He also serves as Membership Chair for WashTech (CWA local 37083).

Jeremy Brown

Jeremy Brown is a proud Cobalt Group employee. The events of 9/11 have encouraged him to look at politics and the political process. He has been an active volunteer interview panelist since 2005, was elected to the board in 2006, and served as co-chair in 2007-2008. He lives with his partner of seven years, Keith.