Board of Trustees
- Nettie Fabrie, Trustee
- Stafford Smith, Vice President
- Cathy Buller, Board Development Director
- Johanna Steegmans, Trustee
- Diann Shope, Secretary/Treasurer
- Cynthia McGrath, President
Cynthia McGrath
Cynthia was born and raised in the Chicago area. After completing her BA at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, she received the MA degree in Speech Pathology from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Cynthia worked as a speech pathologist for 27 years, half that time in California and half in Seattle. She and her husband John have two sons who are graduates of the Seattle Waldorf School and The Colorado College. Cynthia was initially introduced to Waldorf education and the Steiner philosophy 23 years ago, when her eldest son was two and she began to investigate educational models. The McGrath's were affiliated with the East Bay Waldorf School in Berkeley for six years prior to moving to Seattle in 1991. Cynthia served on the boards of both the East Bay and Seattle Waldorf Schools while her children were in elementary school. In addition to her work with Sound Circle, Cynthia is a docent at the historic Dunn Gardens in Broadview, is an avid gardener herself, and enjoys literature, travel, and collecting art.
President
Stafford Smith
Stafford is a graduate of Stanford University and the Harvard Law School and moved to the northwest in 1970.His son Peter was a member of the first grade school class at Whatcom Hills Waldorf School in Bellingham, where Stafford served on the board of trustees. In 1991 he and and his family moved to Seattle, enrolled Peter in the sixth grade at the Seattle Waldorf School, and Stafford soon thereafter joined the SWS board. More recently, he served on the initial board for Bright Water School and was active in the school's efforts to secure its attractive new location on Capitol Hill. Stafford recently retired as King County Hearing Examiner, which entailed holding public hearings and issuing decisions on land use permits and appeals. In addition to Peter, he and his wife Barbara have (collectively) four older children. Stafford also serves as board chairman for the Vedanta Society of Western Washington.
Vice President
Diann
Shope
Diann grew up in Bremerton, WA, and received her degrees in International Relations from Lewis and Clark College and the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver. She and husband Ed discovered Anthroposophy through her brother Steve, who moved to Aberdeen, Scotland, the home of the Camphill Movement, in the early 70’s. Ed was a member of Suzanne Szekely’s study group and a founder of the Seattle Waldorf School. Both Shopes served SWS as President of the Board of Trustees and in many other capacities over the years. SWS got underway too late for the Shopes’ eldest son, Scott, but their younger son, Michael, attended preschool through eighth grade and graduated with Tyler McGrath in the class of 1996. Diann retired in 2005 after almost 30 years with the City of Seattle, having worked for the City Council, the Budget Office, the Arts Commission and Seattle Public Utilities. She was involved in budgeting, strategic planning, performance measurement and work process redesign, and served in a variety of management positions. Diann is enjoying rowing and yoga and more time for meditation, reading, house projects, travel and visiting friends in her retirement.
Secretary
Treasurer
Cathy
Buller
Cathy was born in San Francisco, raised in the SF Bay Area, and has lived in Seattle since 1979: long enough to earn a “green card.” Her daughter Hannah was in the first 8th grade graduating class at Bright Water School (Seattle), where Cathy’s family was part of a strong community building the school. Cathy discovered Rudolf Steiner’s work in high school through meetings with biodynamic/French Intensive gardener Alan Chadwick. Cathy has also “learned by osmosis” via the extensive involvement of her brother, sister-in-law, and niece with Waldorf schools in the SF Bay Area. Cathy studied Environmental Planning at Univ. of California, Santa Cruz and worked for years on large-facility environmental impact statements and permit applications. She has worked since 1997 at the Pacific NW Pollution Prevention Resource Center, planning seminars and facilitating ongoing work to deepen environmental practices in businesses and government. She also volunteers with organizations like the Whidbey Institute and the Center for Ethical Leadership. Cathy's enduring interests are sustainability, community-building, and transforming positive ideas into tangible reality.
Development Director
Trish Bondurant
Trish Bondurant was born in Montana and grew up in Colorado.ÊShe graduated from Rudolf Steiner College in 1989 with a Waldorf teaching certificate.ÊAfter a year of substituting and leading the after school care program at the Lake Champlain Waldorf School, she returned to the West coast and joined the Seattle Waldorf School.ÊTrish led Seattle Waldorf's after school program for one year and then took the grade one class in the fall of 1991.ÊUpon the graduation of that class from grade 8, Trish took a sabbatical and then returned to take the 5th grade through to grade 8.ÊThat class graduated in June 2004.ÊShe joined the Bright Water Faculty in the fall of 2004 and was a class teacher for two years before being hired as Bright Water's Pedagogical Development Chair in 2006.ÊTrish is an avid cyclist who loves to travel on two wheels.
Trustee
Nettie
Fabrie
Born and raised in the Netherlands, Nettie worked as a public school teacher before becoming trained in Waldorf Education. From 1976-1993 she was a class teacher at the Brabant Waldorf School in Eindhoven, where she took two classes through grades 1-8. Since 1992, she has done extensive study of, and teaching in, remedial education. For many years, Nettie has taught and mentored teachers in the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Canada, and the U.S. and is a regular contributor to the Teacher Training at the Rudolf Steiner Centre in Toronto.
Trustee
Johanna Steegmans
Johanna was born, raised, and trained as a pediatrician in southern Germany. She came to Seattle in 1989. Here she completed her training in Naturopathic Medicine at John Bastyr University. Johanna was on the founding faculty of Sound Circle Center, teaching in the Early Childhood courses and the Foundation Year. Now, besides co-directing the Foundation Year Studies in Sound Circle Center, Johanna travels and teaches in various places here and abroad. Johanna currently teaches Community and Communication: Group Work, Principles of Anthroposophy: Study Group and Alchemy of the Year.
Trustee
