[ who we are ]

Our Board of Directors

Women's Education Initiative board members are volunteers who donate their time and talents.

Cheryl Hatch is a writer, photographer and educator. As a photojournalist, she covered conflict in the Middle East and Africa for nearly a decade.She is the founder of a journalism conference and multimedia workshop. Cheryl is an avid scuba diver and open-water swimmer.

Samanda worked as a photographer, editor and photo editor for newspapers and magazines around the U.S. She has a Master of Arts in photography from the School of Visual Communication at Ohio University, and a B.A. in journalism from San Jose State. Her award-winning images have been exhibited and published around the world. She is a contract multimedia editor for MarketWatch.com and TheStreet.com.

Born and raised near Pittsburgh, Amanda graduated Allegheny College with a bachelor of science in biology. She published three articles in scientific journals for her undergraduate research on population-level DNA analysis and infectious disease transmission in amphibians. After graduation in 2015, she embarked on a career in journalism. In 2018, she returned to graduate school, where she's pursuing her master's in education.

An Oregon native, Alice jumped coasts for college and has called Maine home ever since. She graduated in 2012 from College of the Atlantic with a degree in human ecology with an emphasis on the intersection between science and art. After college, Alice spent several years working for the Hurricane Island Foundation, a science and eduction nonprofit in Midcoast Maine. She recently switched gears, and moved to Portland, Maine, where she works as an audio engineer at Acadia Recording Company. She also produces a podcast for Making Magazine, and bartends at a local southern restaurant, Hot Suppa.

Nancy Raskauskas-Coons,
board member

New to our board in March 2019, Nancy works as a Public Information Officer and Grants Writer for a small school district on the South Coast of Oregon. Her previous work includes communication and public relations for nonprofits, marketing and communications for a large university department, and work as a journalist and salmon researcher. Outside of work, Nancy loves the water, and lives in the perfect place with her husband and young son by the ocean and between four incredible wild and scenic rivers: Rogue, Chetco, Smith, and Klamath.

Aurora Arop is a graduate of Allegheny College in political science. At Allegheny, she developed a focus in international relations and international human rights. Aurora has worked domestically and internationally as an advocate promoting resilience for children who have experienced trauma. In the U.S., she has worked closely with homeless, refugee and at-risk youth. Aurora designed youth-empowering activities in Kiberia, Kenya, where implemented an afterschool program for at-risk children. Prior to joining Isis Initiative, Aurora volunteered with the United Nations Children's Fund, Save the Children, Amnesty International and Imagine No Malaria. She hopes to continue to be driven by a strong passion to alleviate the suffering of disadvantaged people around the world and make that into a lifelong career.

Melanthia is a Seattle writer and mother of three. She was a military reporter with The Associated Press from 2001 until 2008, when she resigned to stay home with her young son. During her free time, she maintains several blogs and writes for Seattle’s Child magazine, focusing on organic gardening and environmental topics. Melanthia holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with a minor in Communications from the University of Montana in Missoula. Born in California, she and her family later moved to a small farming town in northeast Montana. She is married to Michael Peterman, a software engineer with Disney Internet Group.Web site: www.gardeness.com