IATC Board of Directors and Staff
Kelly Jiang, Board president
Kelly loves being able to hike and run the network of trails in the Issaquah Alps from her front door. By day, she works on sustainability for multifamily housing, ensuring that climate action is accessible to all. After hours, she can be found running (and snacking) in the Issaquah Alps with her running group, the Issaquah Alps Trail Running Club. As Board Vice President and Advocacy Committee Chair, Kelly works closely with IATC’s land manager, nonprofit, and governmental partners on issues related to trails, land, access, and resources for the Issaquah Alps. She enjoys working with IATC to preserve these wild spaces for future generations and ensure equitable access to these trails in our backyard.
Ryan Mcirvin, board Vice president
Ryan is the Director of Government and Community Relations at the University of Washington Bothell. In addition to his current professional position in Bothell, he was elected to serve on the Renton City Council in 2015 and re-elected in 2019. While in office he has been a consistent voice for strengthening environmental protections and managing growth through sustainable development practices. Ryan is an avid runner and enjoys getting out regularly to train on the trails of the Issaquah Alps.
James Li, treasurer
James is the IATC Treasurer and is a Senior Technical Product Manager at Amazon Prime. James has a background in finance and accounting, holding a CPA and Masters in Accounting. James is an active trail runner as a new resident of Issaquah. James is an advocate for equity and access on the trails and feels public goods should be shared and accessed equitably amongst all. You may see James out running on the trails with his newly adopted husky, Nico, who has been loving the snow in the Issaquah Alps!
suzanne kagen, secretary
Collaboration, consensus-building, strategic planning and organizational development have been recurring themes in Suzanne’s life work. After serving for many years on various boards for regional and state parks while a stay-at-home Mom of three children, she returned to full-time employment to facilitate operations for Leadership Eastside. She now works for Washington State Parks as a Program Specialist, helping to facilitate events large and small in Cascade Foothill parks.
An avid equestrian, Suzanne is involved in various horse related organizations. A founding member of the Eastside Race & Leadership Coalition, she is unwavering about taking on tough issues and having courageous conversations.
She is also an advocate for the Arts, serving as board or officer for various organizations. Not content to applaud from the audience, she sings with Kirkland Choral Society. Other hobbies include hiking, knitting, cycling, reading and adventurous travel (ask her to regale you with stories of Europe, South Africa, Peru and Australia.)
Suzanne and her husband, Chris, moved to Kirkland in 1987 and have raised three children here, and is the proud “Elisi” of 3 grandchildren.
david kappler, co-founder
As a charter member of the club, David wins the prize for board member with the longest membership tenure. His leadership roles over the years have included President, member of the board, “Squak Watcher”, hike leader, and currently, Vice President of Advocacy. He took a step back from leadership roles in the club for 19 years to step into another leadership role - as Issaquah City Council member, where his voice for sustainability and conservation left its mark.
As Vice President of Advocacy, David works on many fronts, advocating for public lands across the myriad of jurisdictions present in the Issaquah Alps – the City of Issaquah, the City of Bellevue, the City of Newcastle, King County Parks, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, and Washington State Parks. And that’s just a partial list! In a region of such complexity, challenges are ever present, and David enjoys the opportunity to take a stand for public lands.
Nicole Assumpcao, Executive Director
Brazilian born and Woodinville raised, Nicole didn’t truly discover her love of the outdoors until after college when she undertook a solo cross-country road trip to Baltimore. After two years of driving an hour and a half to hike 1600 foot “mountains” while pursuing her ScM in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, she was happy to live out the millennial “boomerang kid” dream and move back in with her parents in Issaquah. She credits the Issaquah Alps with her growth as an outdoorswoman, trail runner, and human being, and can’t count the number of times she found herself running to the forests of Tiger mountain for comfort as she navigated the tumultuous waters of young adulthood. Her “quarter life crisis” jobs included working as a server, a tutor, and as an adaptive camp counselor with Outdoors for All out of Lake Sammamish State Park. Most recently, she worked as a research coordinator for an international malaria grant at the University of Washington. She is thrilled be switching gears to join IATC as its new Executive Director to expand her skillset, engage the community, preserve her most beloved natural spaces, and ensure equitable access to the outdoors for all. When she’s not working, you can usually find her on a mountain somewhere wrangling her two dogs, talking to strangers (usually about aforementioned dogs), or in her kitchen baking cookies.
david dunphy, board member
David has been an Issaquah Alps Trails Club board member since 2016. When he joined, he unknowingly dropped the youngest member age by several decades. Growing up in Issaquah David has a deep love for the Issaquah Alps and Cascade Mountains. At Gonzaga University he studied Environmental Studies and Business Administration and found our current treasurer Sarah, who was his neighbor and study buddy. David spent several years leading climbing, backpacking and sea kayaking trips for; the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), REI Outdoor School and the Y’s The Boys and Girls Outdoor Leadership Program (BOLD/GOLD). After which he was the program director of outdoor and teen leadership programs at the Sammamish Community Y. Currently he is the Executive Director at the Youth Experiential Training Institute (Y.E.T.I.) a non-profit that focuses on providing outdoor adventures to young people in South King County. When not at work, you might find him caretaking the YMCA Camp in Preston with his co-caretaker and partner Shawna, playing in the mountains with his friends or volunteering with the local Search and Rescue team. David is passionate about helping the IATC engage the next generation of conservation leaders in our community.
Svet Semov, board member
Svet is a data scientist and economist. He has worked on building experimentation and measurement tooling and culture for tech companies, most recently for Instagram. He moved to the PNW area in 2017 and fell in love with local nature. It was the small things that drew him in and taught him to see and appreciate it - the plants that grow on other plants (epiphytes, or air plants) like moss and fern, the nurse logs that give life to new seedlings, the somewhat delicious fruits of the Himalayan berry, a noxious weed.
Svet and his wife moved to Newcastle in 2022 and they regularly explore the Issaquah Alps together. He credits his wife with keeping his curiosity about nature and wildlife alive even when he’s sometimes too distracted to see them.
He wants to share with others about the benefits of preserving, enjoying, and connecting to nature. He is passionate about policy issues (in the past he has researched the implications of concentration in the financial industry) and wants to understand the relationship between local organizations, policy-making, climate change, and making change at scale.
Kim Ngo, Program & Volunteer Coordinator
Kim brings a business and community partnership perspective to IATC with her experience as a venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and active parent volunteer. Growing up in Hawaii and spending the majority of her early adult life in major cities around the globe, Kim has a relatively new yet ever-growing appreciation for the outdoors. Following a career in international finance, she moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2011 to raise her family and has since explored nearly every trail in the Issaquah Alps on foot, with two wheels, and even strapped to snowshoes. One can often find Kim riding solo somewhere along the Mountains to Sound Greenway or walking with her teens on Grand Ridge Trail, as she often encourages her two athletes to join her on the trails to reinvigorate their sense of adventure and purpose. Kim is excited to share her passion for the outdoors and to introduce the greater community to the importance of preserving public lands for future generations as the IATC Program & Volunteer Coordinator.
Gaurav Sharma, board member
Gaurav is an IT consultant by profession with 16 years of Industry experience, working on Retail business transformations. He is passionate about photography, hiking, sports, trail running, bird watching and wildlife conservation. He is also an avid user of trails and after living in some very densely populated cities he’s become a believer in “Public lands for Everyone, Everyone for Public lands.” He has volunteered with the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival in 2017 and with both Evergreen & WTA at trail maintenance work parties. He also enjoys bird watching and wildlife tracking (Favorite Birds – Hummingbirds and Birds of Prey).
Joel Gartenberg, Board Member
Joel Gartenberg, also known as "Captain Croc," is a dedicated board member with deep roots in the Issaquah Alps. His 100 mile trail running adventures (often in Crocs and Hawaiian shirts) reflect a unique blend of fun, respect for the wilderness and a desire to get things done! Currently serving as a Communications Specialist at Costco Wholesale, Joel hopes to bring a vibrant voice to the Issaquah Alps Trails Club. With a passion for community connections and conservation, Joel's local upbringing adds a personal touch to his commitment to preserving the natural beauty of the Issaquah Alps.
Selena Eon, Board Member
Selena Eon is an avid hiker and peakbagger based in Issaquah. She is out in the Issaquah Alps nearly every day and loves the easy accessibility to trails that they offer. As a naturopathic doctor, Selena is a big advocate for her patients to get “Vitamin N” (for nature). She loves the Issaquah Alps in every season, but particularly the spring when the wildflowers are blooming. Keep your eyes peeled for plant identification hikes led by Dr. Selena Eon this spring!
Stephanie Barry, Board Member
Stephanie has a background in engineering and management, and although currently living and working in Seattle, she escapes to the mountains every chance she gets. She enjoys trail running, ultramarathons, hiking, yoga, and baking. She grew up on the East Coast and in her adult life moved around the world before landing in the Pacific Northwest, where she fell in love with everything the outdoors had to offer. Stephanie is an advocate for protecting our natural resources, public lands, and recreational spaces, while making these spaces accessible to everyone, including future generations.
Alex galeana, board member
Alex began his career with organizing and legislative advocacy. As a student experiencing homelessness, he served on the Student Senate for California Community Colleges and successfully wrote and lobbied for passage of a bill allowing his peers to use their school’s shower facilities. After this, he worked as an Organizing Director for NextGen America, where he helped flip one of the most competitive congressional districts in 2018, CA-10. From 2018-2021, Alex was the Managing Director of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) Action Fund, where he ran the largest BIPOC voter engagement program in Colorado in the 2020 cycle and helped elect more Latinx city councilmembers into Denver City Council than in any point in the city’s history. Doing this was important to Alex, since, as a DACA recipient, he recognizes that building electoral power is critical in pushing our elected officials to pass pro-immigrant policy. Alex continued his commitment towards BIPOC voter engagement during his time at Strategies 360, where he provided electoral, fundraising, and organizing guidance to various progressive organizations and emerging 501(c)(4)s.
Most recently, Alex served as the New Mexico State Director for America Votes. In this role, he oversaw the state’s C4 and independent expenditure table tasked with 3 key election objectives, all met. These included flipping one of the most competitive congressional districts in the country, NM-2, and helping re-elect the only Latina Governor in the U.S., Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. Outside of work and his volunteer roles, Alex likes to run the groovy trails in the Issaquah Alps, climb mountains, eat tacos, meditate, and travel.