Jim Theofelis
Executive Director, The Mockingbird Society
Expertise: At-risk youth
Jim has nearly thirty years of experience (resume) working with youth in a variety of roles ranging from direct service to senior management. He is a national and regional trainer and consultant to human service organizations, schools and faith-based programs. He is well respected as an innovator in developing quality programs for Washington's most vulnerable children and youth. In 1999 the Washington State Legislature passed The HOPE Act (HOmeless Youth Prevention/Protection and Education), which has improved the services available to youth in Washington who are now homeless but are eligible for the Foster Care System. Jim Theofelis wrote and facilitated The HOPE Act into passage.

Claudia Black, M.S.W., Ph.D.
Expertise: Addiction
Claudia Black, M.S.W., Ph.D. is a renowned author and trainer internationally recognized for her pioneering and contemporary work with family systems and addictive disorders. Since the 1970's Dr. Black's work has encompassed the impact of addiction on young and adult children. Dr. Black designs and presents training workshops and seminars to professional audiences in the field of family service, mental health, addiction and correctional services. She is a Clinical Consultant for The Meadows Treatment Center in Wickenburg, Arizona; she serves on the Advisory Board for the National Association of Children of Alcoholics, and the Advisory Council of the Moyer Foundation. She is also part-time faculty at the University of Washington School of Social Work in Seattle, Washington.

Dr. Lee Hartwell Ph.D.
Expertise: Cancer Research
Dr. Lee Hartwell is president and director of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and a professor of genome sciences and adjunct professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. In 2001, Dr. Hartwell received the Nobel Prize in physiology for medicine. Recently Dr. Hartwell's interests have turned to how we can use the enormous knowledge that has accumulated over the last 50 years in genetics and biochemistry to benefit cancer patients. He has directed his efforts toward national and international projects to increase the number of laboratories working in protein diagnostics (to detect cancer at an early stage), develop more team science and stimulate new technology development.

Ross M. Hays M.D.
Professor University of Washington School of Medicine; Director Palliative Care Consulting Service Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center
Expertise: Pediatric Palliative Care
Board certified in three different medical specialties, Pediatrics, Rehabilitation Medicine and Hospice & Palliative Care, Dr. Hays is one of the only doctors in the country with this special combination of credentials

Dr. Donna Schuurman
National Director of The Dougy Center for Grieving Children & Families
Expertise: Childhood Grief
Donna Schuurman has served in various roles at The Dougy Center for over twenty years. She has written and trained internationally on grief, loss, children’s bereavement issues, and suicide prevention, and is the author of Never the Same: Coming to Terms with the Death of a Parent. Dr. Schuurman served eight years on the Board of Directors of the Association for Death Education & Counseling, including President, and in 2003 received their Annual Service Award. She is a member of the International Work Group on Death and Dying, and serves as a Director on the boards of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention NW, and The National Alliance for Grieving Children.

Jennifer Annable
Principal, UW Experimental Education Unit
Expertise: Childhood Development