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.

Kirk Anderson
Kirk is a multi-faceted and principled leader with 26 years of business experience, primarily with a diverse, mid-sized public company engaged in multiple industries. A graduate of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Executive Development Program (2000), Kirk also holds a BA in Real Estate from Washington State University and is known for his demonstrated ability to combine visionary leadership with analytical rigor to pursue emerging market opportunities.

Recognized for his ability to lead complex and challenging projects, bring fresh thinking and uncommon insight to situations and to empower and align diverse groups of people around common goals, he was asked to also lead Fisher’s Information Technology & Services (ITS) Group. As President/CEO of Fisher Media Services Company, he created the vision, development concept, and business model for Fisher Plaza, a $140 million development in Seattle, and performed development & asset management for the project, exceeding all expectations.

Bihoa Caldwell
BiHoa Caldwell attended Bailey Gatzert, Washington Junior High and Garfield High School in Seattle. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and then served in the Peace Corps for three years teaching in Kenya. Aki Kurose Middle School is her second principalship in 20 years as principal.

Jim Hanna
Jim has worked with commercial, government and non-profit organizations to apply information technology in a variety of roles: as entrepreneur, manager, consultant and board member. He is interested in the power of collaboration, dedicated to environmental issues and is an amateur photographer. He is currently the Vice President of Product Development for Optimum Energy, a local Seattle firm that develops energy efficiency solutions for commercial air conditioning systems. Jim and his family live in Seattle , WA .

Cynthia Hartwig
Cynthia has been writing and creative directing for over twenty years. Her advertising work has won many national awards, including One Shows, Clios, N.Y. Art Director’s Club, Communications Arts, and National Addies as well as John Caples awards for direct marketing effectiveness. She co-owned Sharp Hartwig Advertising for fourteen years. In 1994, she sold her firm and became Executive Creative Director for what is now Foote Cone & Belding’s Seattle office. Six years ago, she left the agency business in order to focus on freelance creative assignments.

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.

Michael Levin
For over 30 years, Michael has provided marketing communications and strategic planning services for clients such as Boeing, Microsoft, Nike, Starbucks, Arthur Andersen, Prudential Real Estate and Vulcan Northwest. Michael has also developed a specialty in the naming and branding of several well-known Northwest places and companies. Michael is a principle in Seattle-based Idealogik. He and his family live on Mercer Island, WA.

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 6 South African students experienced a cultural exchange with students at Washington middle School.

Reynaldo Renderos
Reynaldo is a native of El Salvador. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1980 and originally settled in San Francisco. Reynaldo joined Bayley Construction in 1987 and is now Bayley’s Head Manager of the Tenant Improvement Division. He has visited the BRIDGES’ site in Ollantaytambo, Peru with Phil, where he acted as a mentor and translator. He is an avid amateur photographer and a true believer in the benefits of life-long learning. Reynaldo and his family live in Bellevue, WA.

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.

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.