BRIDGES BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Phil Borges - President of the Board
For over 25 years Phil Borges has been visiting and documenting people of indigenous and tribal cultures around the world. His images tap deeply into the human spirit of his subjects. Through his various exhibits, books and educational programs, he strives to promote cultural diversity. Phil is the founder and director of Bridges to Understanding. Phil teaches and lectures internationally and is co-founder of Blue Earth Alliance, a 501c3 that sponsors photographic projects focusing on endangered cultures and threatened environments. He lives with his family in Mercer Island, WA.

Ellen Ferguson
Ellen Ferguson is a 3rd generation Seattleite and serves as the Community Relations Director at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle. She is active in many environmental, social justice, and educational causes locally and internationally and is a long-time supporter of Bridges. Ellen serves on the local Rotary, and travels often on behalf of Rotary, the Museum and numerous other organizations.

Terry Lee
Terry Lee is an electrical engineer who worked as a systems analyst and program manager for IBM, Boeing, and Microsoft over a period of 40 years. He has long been interested in international travel and photography, and became involved with Bridges after taking our Peru workshop. He has traveled overseas over 40 times on business and vacation all over the world, most recently to China. He would like to see Bridges develop into a well-known and self-sustaining organization. He wants to help Bridges build a reputation for making major improvements in international cross-cultural understanding through story telling using photography and video. He values educating teenagers in storytelling to improve their understanding of the world’s cultures. Terry is retired and spends his time with grandchildren, family, gardening, boating, golfing, traveling, and home construction projects.

Myra Platt
Myra Platt is cofounder and co-artistic director of Book-It Repertory Theatre in Seattle. As actor, director, adapter and composer, she has helped Book-It produce over 30 world-premiere stage adaptations. She has adapted and directed Giant, Red Ranger Came Calling, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Cowboys Are My Weakness, Roman Fever, A Little Cloud (by James Joyce), A Telephone Call (by Dorothy Parker), and A Child’s Christmas in Wales. She was instrumental in the success of Bridges' Worlds Apart, HeARTs Together project in 2006 during which six South African students experienced a cultural exchange with students at Washington Middle School.

Ron Rabin
Ron Rabin is the founding and current executive director of the Kirlin Charitable Foundation in Bellevue, Washington. Ron came to Kirlin after a twenty year career in the fields of psychology and preventive medicine. Among other positions, Ron currently serves on the Steering Committee for Thrive By Five, the newly established statewide public-private partnership for early learning. Ron was the founding board president for Arts Corps and served as president until 2006. Ron also serves on the board of CASEL, the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning and is a founding member of the Advocacy and Policy Committee, Social Venture Partners Seattle. >Ron lives in Issaquah, Washington, with his wife and partner, Nancy Rumbel, a musician and recording artist. They are the parents of two wonderful college-age children.

Matt Ragen
Matthew Ragen is a senior director of licensing policy and programs at Microsoft Corporation. With twenty years of experience at Microsoft, he has held roles in product and industry marketing, business management, and acquisition integration in a number of high-growth groups. Prior to joining Microsoft, he was a product manager at Hewlett-Packard in the Bay Area. Matt holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BS degree from Yale University in Electrical Engineering. Matt has been interested in photography and the way that it tells stories since first seeing an image emerge from a tray of developer in a high school darkroom. In 2008, Matt published a photography book in conjunction with the Bridges workshop in South Africa. Ubomi Ban, Impilo Yam (My Life, My Health) showcases the photographs and story of the students at the Hector Peterson High School near Cape Town, South Africa. He served on the Board of Trustees of The Bush School for nine years. Matt lives in Seattle with his wife and two teenage boys.

FOUNDING BOARD MEMBERS:
Bihoa Caldwell
Cynthia Hartwig
Michael Levin
Reynaldo Renderos
Mardie Rhodes