Melinda M. De Lanoy, Board President.  Melinda is a member of the WSBA, serves on Seattle Art Museum’s Decorative Arts and Paintings Council and speaks on employment law-related issues. 

While attending the University of Puget Sound, Melinda interned for two years as a work-study student with the Washington State Child Care Resource and Referral Network.  Upon completion of her undergraduate studies she joined the Network Staff full time for two years. Melinda received her Juris-Doctorate from the Seattle University School of Law (Cum laude, 2000).

Caterina Tassara-Vaubel, Board Vice-President, Caterina is the Director of Family and Children's Services for Volunteers of America Western Washington.  Prior to serving in this position, Caterina worked for the Washington Association for the Education of Young Children (WAEYC) where she was responsible for working with the WA Division of Child Care and Early Learning (DCCEL) in the management of the State Training And Registry System (STARS).  Previous to her work in Washington, she lived and worked in Southern California where she served as Director of Operations and Organizational Management for the Los Angeles County Children's Planning Council - a public private planning body of the LA County Board of Supervisors. 

Caterina has also worked as the Child Care Resource and Referral Program Manger at Connections for Children - a child care resource and referral agency.  Caterina has been active in AEYC and the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network where she served as the southern regional vice-president.  She holds a Bachelors degree in Psychology, with course emphasis in Education, from the University of Southern California and has completed Masters level coursework in organizational management at Antioch University.  Caterina is fluent in Spanish speaking, reading, and writing and is also "mommy" to a 3 year old pre-schooler who amazes and inspires her work on a daily basis.

John Thielbahr, Interim Treasurer. John has spent the past 40 years managing people, projects, and budgets.  Recently retired from Washington State University where he was the director of continuing education for 10 years, John has a varied and entrepreneurial background that includes both private sector and public sector experience, and non-profit leadership experience.  Highlights of John’s career include the following:

•  25 years of private sector experience in corporate finance, business consulting, and economic development
• 10 years as Director of Professional Education at Washington State University, managing development, funding and delivery of statewide, national and international education programs with a focus on children and the environment, in partnership with organizations such as the National Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club, and Nature Conservancy
• 2 years as volunteer President of the Board of the Palouse Clearwater Environmental Institute (PCEI), a Moscow, Idaho-based environmental education and habitat restoration non-profit operating throughout the Inland Northwest
• 2 years as volunteer member of Richard Louv’s national Grassroots Leadership Team, a part of the Children and Nature Network
• Volunteer Member of the Washington State No Child Left Inside Grant Advisory Committee, charged by the Washington Legislature to allocate an appropriated $1.5 million in grants for programs to connect children with nature
• Volunteer Member of the Washington Attorney General’s Youth Internet Safety Task Force to address predators stalking children on the Internet
• MBA in Finance from the Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management, Phoenix, Arizona
• Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations, Cum Laude, from Stanford University, Palo Alto, California

John is married and the father of four children, one of which is adopted.  He has nine grandchildren, three of which are adopted.  He lives with his wife Sonia in Pullman, Washington.

Layne Barndt, Chair, Contract Oversight Committee. Layne is President of Network Administrative Services, 4719 Slayden Rd NE, Tacoma, WA 98422.

Kim Ferguson, Director, Child Care and Senior Services, Catholic Family & Child Service, Wenatchee, WA.

Erica Hallock resides in Spokane and works as the President/CEO of the United Ways of Washington, focusing on issues relating to income, education and health.  Erica was appointed by Governor Christine Gregoire to the Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission in 2006 as a public member.  Prior to moving to Spokane in 2001, Erica worked in Sacramento focusing on public policy at the California State Association of Counties and the Child Development Policy Advisory Committee.  Erica holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Riverside and a Master of Public Policy and Administration from California State University, Sacramento.  Erica's greatest joy are her two girls, Gillian (11) and Kirsten (8).

Jean F. Kelly is a Research Professor with the Department of Family and Child Nursing at the University of Washington.  She also serves as Director of Nursing Child Assessment Satellite Training Programs at the School of Nursing.  Her achievements in research include ten years participation in “The NICHD Study of Early Child Care” (funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development).  She has also directed the following projects: “Promoting Parent-Child Relationships in Early Intervention Settings” (funded by Infant Toddler Early Intervention Program, Department of Social and Health Services); “Promoting Young Children’s Mental Health in the Early Childhood Setting: A Training Project for Early Head Start Service Providers” (funded by Region X Early Head Start); and “Promoting Young Children’s Mental Health in the Child Care Setting: A Training Project for Child Care Consultants” (funded as a subcontract with the Washington State Department of Health).

Jean has published over 30 studies in her career, including numerous articles as a co-author reporting results from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care; The development of toddlers with special needs in relation to child-care experiences, co-authored by C. L. Booth and published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly; and The early child care study of young children with special needs, also co-authored by C. L. Booth and published in International Review of Research in Mental Retardation, Vol. 25.

Jean currently serves as Chair of the State Interagency Coordinating Council, the Governor-appointed Advisory Council to Washington State's Infant-Toddler Early Intervention Program; Chair of the Early Intervention Task Force, Center on Human Development and Disability at the University of Washington; and is a member of the School of Nursing Research and Intramural Funding Committee.

Trise Moore, Family Partnership Advocate, Federal Way Public Schools.

Deeann Puffert, CEO, Child Care Resources, Seattle, WA.

Elaine VonRosenstiel, Public Policy Committee, has over 25 years experience in education and health care public policy.  Currently, she is Special Assistant to the State Superintendent for Public Instruction on early learning issues.  Prior early learning work experience includes serving as Early Education Liaison for the League of Education Voters (where she led the development of the Great Beginnings Preschool Partnership Program as the early education component of I-884) and directing the early learning policy agenda for the Economic Opportunity Institute.  Before focusing on early education, Elaine was vice-president of public policy and strategic planning for Group Health Cooperative and Kaiser-Group Health.

Elaine’s community service includes serving two terms on the Bainbridge Island School Board, being a member of the parent team that wrote Initiative 728 (to increase state funding of public schools) and volunteering as the I-728 campaign manager.  Currently, she is on the boards of the League of Education Voters and the Bainbridge Island Health, Housing and Human Services Council.