Community Center for Education Results Board
We are currently recruiting board members – click here for more information.
Michael Heinisch, President
Mike retired after 21 years as Executive Director of Kent Youth and Family Services November 2020 and a 40-year career in human services in King County focused on behavioral health, child welfare, early childhood education, youth development, family homelessness, human trafficking and other areas. He has extensive experience with every level of jurisdictional contracting with human services agencies for services. He has served on numerous boards and commissions over the years and currently serves on the board of: Communities in Schools Kent, Highline Heritage Museum, Non-Profit Insurance Program (NPIP) and City of Burien Human Services Commission, in addition to CCER as Board Chair for the past number of years.
Favorite place in the Road Map Project region? All of South King County, of course!
John Kim, Secretary
John Kim was recently the Executive Director of Seattle Jobs Initiative and the Chief Operating Officer at Northwest Regional Primary Care Association before that. He was born and raised in Pennsylvania and earned his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College. After working in New York, Boston, and Seoul, he earned his law degree from New York University.
John moved to Seattle in 1997 to become Vice President of Corporate Affairs of Northwest Hospital & Medical Center. After a stint in Panama, John returned to the area and joined the boards of Seattle Jobs Initiative, Dale Turner Family YMCA, Shoreline Breakfast Rotary, Northwest Community Health Education and Simulation Center, and took a leadership role with Richmond Beach Congregational Church UCC.
Israel Vela
Israel Vela is Kent School District’s Chief School Operations and Academic Support Officer. He was previously the Southwest Region Executive Director of Schools for Seattle Public Schools and the Director of Student Services and then Executive Director of Student and Family Support Services for Kent School District. He is Chair of the Bilingual Education Advisory Council.
Israel knows how critical it is to have support and high expectations in place that ensure all students are prepared for life beyond high school. He was a classroom teacher for more than a decade in Moses Lake and Lake Washington School districts. His bachelor’s degree in elementary education is from Central Washington University. Israel and his family have lived in Kent since 1999. His children Carly and Cameron are both Kentwood High School graduates.
Tomi Wahlstrom
Tomi Lennart Wahlstrom received his Doctor of Management degree from Colorado Technical University in 1997. He also received his MA in Human Resource Management from Hawaii Pacific University in 1992 and MS in Instructional Design from Saint Leo University in 2015. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer of Soccer Universities and was previously the Provost of United States Sports University. He frequently writes on issues related to management and leadership, with special interest in strategic management and organizational behavior. He also serves as Professor of Management and teaches a wide variety of courses. He has taught in higher education since 1997, in over 20 different universities and colleges. In addition, he has provided a variety of consulting services and owned three consulting firms.
Shelby Cooley
Shelby is a research leader and social justice advocate from Southeast Seattle. As a Data and Evaluation Lead at King County’s Children Youth and Young Adult Division, she supports an amazing team providing applied research, data-capacity, and community accountability, across initiatives in child care, education, restorative justice, and transitions to adulthood. Previously, she led Seattle Public Schools’ research portfolio for the Office of African American Male Achievement and established the research function at the Community Center for Education Results as the Director of Research.
With a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in child social development, Shelby has consulted on anti-racism in schools for Learning for Justice and CNN’s AC360. Her prior roles include applied research in early literacy at NYU and Child Trends’ D.C. Public School’s Head Start Evaluation. Her work has been featured in the Seattle Times, NPR, and utilized in local legislative advocacy.
Shelby also serves on the Washington Education Research Association as an elected board member and holds positions as a Senior Fellow with Education Northwest and Adjunct Faculty at Seattle University, where she teaches advanced research methods in the Ed.D. program.