Meet the board

The Seattle Amistad School Board of Directors provides mission-based leadership and strategic governance. The Board of Directors is responsible for setting policies, monitoring the financial health of the organization and ensuring that Amistad services are consistent with the school’s mission.

The Board seeks applicants to serve on the board who are passion able about the school’s mission and who have the skills, knowledge and personal qualities to effectively perform Board member duties.

Interested candidates may contact the school to inquire further.

ANDRES MENDEZ – President

Born and raised in New York City, Tessa has called Seattle home for over a decade. She holds a BA from Oberlin College and an MBA from Presidio University, and is currently a Program Director and Senior Associate at Gensler, a global strategy and design firm where she leads early stage research, strategy and planning for clients across both the public and private sectors.

The parent of an Amistad kindergartener, Tessa is passionate about creating diverse and inclusive learning communities. She lives in the Central District with her husband, daughter, small brown dog. She loves jumping in the lake, visiting libraries, using public transportation and delighting in wacky kid art.

PABLO TREJOS- Treasurer

ANNE LARKIN- Member

Anne Larkin is from Idaho originally but has lived in Seattle for over a decade. She is a senior program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and previously led communications for the Aspen Institute’s higher education program. Anne is focused on centering economic mobility in the national conversation about education, and she believes in the importance of visionary leadership and diverse perspectives in delivering excellent and equitable student outcomes. In her free time, Anne is a rower and reader. Her daughter is a student at Seattle Amistad School, and has seen first-hand how the school’s mission and approach fosters smart, caring citizens.

ESTELL WILLIAMS- Member

Estell Williams, M.D. was born and raised in Oakland, California. The youngest of seven siblings, raised
by a single father and the first in her family to attend college. After attending Xavier University of
Louisiana, a historically black college and university (HBCU) for undergrad she was ultimately displaced
by Hurricane Katrina and transferred to the University of San Francisco where she ultimately graduated
college. She went on to attend medical school and residency training in general surgery at the University
of Washington. She is now an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the School of Medicine and an Acute Care
Surgeon in the Department of Surgery, Section of Emergency General Surgery. She also serves as Vice
Chair for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in her department of surgery. Within the School of Medicine,
she is Executive Director for the Center for Workforce Inclusion and Healthcare System Equity (WIHSE),
which supports ecosystem programming for marginalized students starting at the elementary grade
level across the UW school of medicine and health system. Additionally, she serves as a physician-at-
large member of the Washington State Medical Association (WSMA) Foundation Board, working to
advance efforts around healthcare equity. Her passions include health justice, healthcare disparities,
healthcare workforce diversity, ecosystem programming to increase the number of students
traditionally underrepresented in medicine and healthcare careers. In her free time, she enjoys spending
time with her family including her husband and two children. She also co-founded along with her
husband Estelita’s Social Justice Library, a community library and bookstore focused on uplifting voices
of communities of color, named after their daughter. Both her children attend Seattle Amistad in
Crisalidas and Primer Grado.

MIGUEL RAMIREZ- Member

Miguel is the Partnerships Director at EarthCorps and a social entrepreneur with extensive experience building diverse and inclusive organizations, projects, programs, and collaboration networks worldwide. He has been the Co-Founder of several international initiatives, social enterprises, NGOs, networks, and multilateral partnerships in more than 50 countries.

Throughout his career, Miguel’s work has focused on empowering underserved communities, promoting environmental justice, ensuring equal access to technology, youth education, gender equality, enhancing civic and community engagement, and developing clusters of social innovation. Miguel is also an artist, enjoys carpentry and construction, and is a serious coffee lover, an avid cyclist, a mountaineer, and a cuisine enthusiast.

LISA DEVINE- Member

Lisa Devine is the Associate Director of Global Programs at Lakeside School in Seattle, where she designs custom immersive experiential education programs for students in international settings.

Early in her career, Lisa studied Arabic in Egypt, Spanish in Mexico and Spain, and Chinese in China, where she spent seven years studying, conducting research, and managing undergraduate and graduate programs for Middlebury College and Johns Hopkins University.

Lisa holds a B.A. in Anthropology and Chinese Language and Literature from the University of Iowa and a Master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in International Development from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington.

Lisa is also the proud mother of a preschooler at Seattle Amistad School.