2012 WESTAF Cohort

Wayne Burke, Carson City, Nevada (deceased)

Previous Chairman | Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe

Abigail Engherst, Anchorage, Alaska

Department of Conservation

Trisha Lagaso Goldberg, Hawai'i

Sarah Guerra, California

Sophia Fernandez Healy She/Her/Hers, Pueblo, Colorado

Artist

Bianca McCarthy She/Her/Hers, Portland, Oregon

Executive Director | Echo Theater Company

Mỹ Tâm H. Nguyễn, Seattle, Washington

My Tam Nguyen previously served as the Vice President of Business Development at Blokable, a Washington-based modular housing technology company. Its mission is making housing accessible and affordable for everyone. She previously worked as the deputy campaign manager for the 7th Congressional District race in 2016, as the first social media manager for Governor Jay Inslee, and as the public engagement lead for the city planning team at the City of Seattle.

My Tam was also a fellow with the Harvard Business School’s U.S. Competitiveness Project’s Young American Leaders Program, which focuses on the region’s workforce development with a cohort of 10 cross-sector colleagues. She also served as a political partner for the Truman National Security Project, the leading think tank for progressive national security solutions. Her background in politics and experience in the public and private sectors contribute towards building a better understanding of national security and global affairs while bridging civilians with the military, intelligence, diplomacy and development community.

Maria Paredes, Thousand Oaks, California

Director of Development | California Lutheran University

Maria Paredes is a professional fundraiser with ten years of experience working with philanthropists supporting arts organizations and universities in Southern California. Before joining California Lutheran University, she served as the Director of Development at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) at CSUN. As the frontline fundraiser for The Soraya, she developed strategic relationships with funders to present a wide variety of performances that not only include new and original work from the Los Angeles region but also work from around the world that appeals to all of LA’s rich and diverse communities. Maria is devoted to best practices in philanthropy to develop resources for organizations that spark, nurture, and sustain the fire of aesthetic and intellectual creativity. She has worked with philanthropists of diverse interests and backgrounds to create a positive impact in their respective areas of interest through significant gifts. Previously held positions with Center Theatre Group, Freewaves, Arts Orange County, the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, The Dia Art Foundation, and the Idyllwild Arts Academy. She also likes to give back to her community, and from 2011-2014 she led the Emerging Arts Leaders Los Angeles (EAL/LA) Development Committee to implement professional development workshops for the organization’s constituents. She co-founded the CMC San Fernando Valley (SFV) Alumni Chapter, which aims to connect, build, and maintain meaningful relationships between SFV based alumni and the CMC campus. As a Kravis Leadership Fellow, she mentors college students and advises on leadership program development at CMC.

Michelle Patrick, Las Vegas, Nevada

Section Manager (Performing Arts) | City of Las Vegas Office of Cultural Affairs

Michelle Patrick joined the City of Las Vegas’ Office of Cultural Affairs in 2020. Originally from New York City, Patrick serves as a board member for the Las Vegas Arts District, is an advisor for the City of Henderson’s Arts and Cultural Advisory Council, and served as the community arts development specialist and accessibility coordinator for the Nevada Arts Council. She is also an actress, director and voice over artist. Over the past decade, Patrick has worked at the intersections of theater, dance, film, arts programming, and public speaking. Her work currently focuses on nonprofit arts organizations, cultural institutions and individual artists. Patrick’s experience comes from a varied background that includes positions at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Sundance Film Festival, and People Productions. She recently launched the Nevada Basin to Range Exchange, a program dedicated to promoting rural and urban arts-based collaboration. She is also implementing IDEAS Through Reconciliation, an intensive designed to evaluate bias in creative spaces. Patrick previously served on the boards of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance and City Park Jazz .. She has served as co-chair for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ (DCPA) Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee; as a change leader for the DCPA leadership team; and is an alumna of the Change Leadership programs under Colorado Creative Industries and Utah’s Division of Arts and Museums.

Follow: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-patrick/

Affiliations: Board Member Las Vegas Arts District, National Endowment for the Arts

Skills & Interests:

Brooke Swaney, Montana

Brooke grew up on and then off the Flathead Reservation, when her single mother moved the two of them to the “big city,” or Helena, Montana. That’s where she lost her Rez accent, although her accent was pretty dorky before she left the rez. The next 3 decades she spent toiling on her education: first as a high school valedictorian – don’t be too impressed, the title was shared amongst 8 people, then obtaining her “practical” degree in Psychology at Stanford, and then impractically getting a MFA in Film at NYU. She paid for this by working at non-profits, a yoga ranch, and a boatload of student loans. Oh and working on films. Brooke works to tell contemporary Native Stories. Her first feature documentary DAUGHTER OF A LOST BIRD (Vision Maker Media/CPB) is beginning its festival circuit. Most recently and notably she made the Blacklist’s Inaugural Indigenous List in 2020 with TINDER ON THE REZ along with her cowriter and friend Angela Tucker. When not working in the film industry, Brooke shares her skills with her screenwriting students as a Faculty Mentor at the Institute of American Indian Arts’ Low Residency MFA program. Brooke is an enrolled citizen of the Blackfeet Nation and a Bitterroot Salish descendent of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Brooke likes bitmojis, living in Montana, and her special needs dog, Schoko.