Ideas shaped by lived experience.

Aaron Verzosa

Chef & culinary historian

LinkedIn Website

Aaron Verzosa is a chef, scholar, and 2026 James Beard National Semifinalist for Outstanding Chef whose work explores history, identity, and resilience through food. He and his partner, Amber Manuguid, opened Archipelago in Seattle in 2018, creating what they describe as a “community classroom” centered on the Filipino American experience. Through locally sourced, research-driven menus, Aaron uses food to illuminate overlooked histories and reconnect culinary tradition with place. A co-founder of the ILAW coalition and partner in Filipinx U.S. history education, he approaches the dining table as both a gathering place and a living archive.

Adam Pinsky

Co-founder & publisher

LinkedIn

Adam Pinsky is a co-founder and publisher of The Issaquah Spotlight, a nonprofit weekly digital newspaper serving his longtime community. A Greater Issaquah resident for more than 30 years, Adam spent his career in construction finance, helping launch several start-ups before retiring as chief financial officer of Bayley Construction. The closure of The Issaquah Press in 2017 left a gap he felt deeply and helped inspire his work to bring local journalism back to the community. Adam holds a history degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the University of Washington.

Anthony Oren

Cybersecurity strategist

LinkedIn

Anthony Oren is a cybersecurity strategist who has spent more than a decade helping families, schools, businesses, and organizations protect themselves from digital threats. A childhood fascination with how systems worked grew into a career dedicated to defense. He has helped countless individuals and companies use technology to succeed and stay secure. Anthony’s work focuses on making cybersecurity accessible, giving everyday people the tools and mindset to think like defenders, recognize vulnerabilities, and build lasting digital resilience in an increasingly connected world.

Cheryl Yamamoto

Mindfulness & yoga practitioner

Instagram

Cheryl Yamamoto is a longtime yoga and mindfulness practitioner with more than 4,800 hours of teaching experience. As Lead Instructor and Master Trainer at Pineapple Life, she draws from traditions including Vinyasa, Yin, Ashtanga, Iyengar, Anusara, and Hatha, along with meditation, Yoga Nidra, and sound healing. Cheryl has been part of the Pineapple Life community since its earliest days and now leads its teacher training programs, preparing new instructors in Vinyasa Flow and Yin Yoga. Her work brings together movement, breath, sound, and stillness through years of practice, study, and teaching.

Krishiv Goswami

Inventor & accessibility advocate

LinkedIn

Krishiv Goswami is a junior at Interlake High School, inventor, and advocate for more inclusive product design. Inspired by his older brother, Priyansh, who has cerebral palsy, Krishiv has volunteered with organizations supporting people with disabilities, including Challenger Baseball. His interest in business, engineering, and accessibility led him to invent a patent-pending weighted modular pencil grip designed to assist people with disabilities. Krishiv believes accessibility should not be treated as an afterthought or separate discipline, but as a fundamental part of how products and systems are designed. His work explores what becomes possible when inclusion starts at the beginning.

Kristen Coffield

Author & purposeful-aging advocate

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Kristen Coffield is the founder of the Active Grandparenting™ movement and an advocate for purposeful aging. Through her work as a speaker, coach, and author, she helps women in life’s third act build vitality, live intentionally, and grandparent with impact. Kristen also founded The Culinary Cure™, where she has long championed wellness- and longevity-focused eating. She is the author of How Healthy People Eat: An Eater’s Guide to Healthy Habits and creator of the 21-Day Active Grandparenting™ Wellness Reset. Her work has been featured on ABC7, Fox5, and media outlets nationwide.

Martha Carlin

Citizen scientist & entrepreneur

LinkedIn Website

Martha Carlin is a citizen scientist and entrepreneur exploring the connections between the microbiome, agriculture, and human health. Her work began after her husband was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s disease, prompting her to leave a career in business operations and investigate the microbial roots of chronic illness. Martha founded The BioCollective and BiotiQuest and co-founded Ancient Organics BioSciences. She has spoken at the White House Microbiome Initiative, TEDxBoulder, SXSW, and scientific conferences worldwide. A Research Fellow at Australian National University, she is also the author of Connected and My Search for the Perfect Poop.

Ruchika T. Malhotra

Author & inclusion strategist

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Ruchika T. Malhotra is an author and inclusion strategist whose work challenges conventional ideas about competition, belonging, and success. She is the author of three books, including the national bestseller Uncompete: Rejecting Competition to Unlock Success. A former business journalist, her work has appeared in The New York Times, NPR, NBC, The Seattle Times, and Harvard Business Review, where an article she co-authored was named among HBR.org’s most impactful of the past century. Ruchika is also the founder of Candour, an inclusion strategy firm, and advises the University of Washington’s Communication Leadership graduate program.