Adele Peterson spent 18 years at Apple as an engineering leader on the most used Apple apps during an unprecedented era of growth. She led teams that worked on WebKit, Safari, Messages, Mail, and visionOS Apps. Adele is an expert in developing easy-to-use, reliable software that works within ecosystem constraints. Her strength is quickly understanding a project or organization’s barriers and helping people determine the best way to move towards long-term goals. As a consultant, volunteer, and philanthropist, Adele is focused on helping people make their own positive impact on the world.
Adele’s LinkedIn Profile.
In 2016, after having left her law practice to ensure her children received a meaningful education wherein real-world problems were addressed, April supported her children in starting Heirs To Our Ocean (H2OO) along with 11 other tweens who were concerned about what they are inheriting.
After stepping into her voluntary role as Founding Director, April applied the project-based interdisciplinary, real-world-theme focused learning model she had developed in 2010 to H2OO’s programming. April has worked tirelessly to ensure all H2OO programs have an empathetic leadership foundation, are holistic and comprehensive, connect youth across barriers, and serve youth who are most vulnerably situated and traditionally marginalized.
In working with youth through the years, April has actively elevated youth in their development and skill building with hands-on, real-world leadership opportunities. She has supported youth as they move from H2OO’s programming to internships to staff and to the Board of Directors, with the vision of H2OO since its inception being to transition youth ultimately into making up the organization’s executive team. April is so very happy to now be in an advisory role to H2OO’s new executive team of youth leaders.
April believes that the survivability of humanity is dependent upon education — all youth should have an opportunity to understand the value of intact life sources on our planet and human impacts on those life sources today, as well as opportunities to develop essential empowering skills to effectively advocate for themselves and others and solve problems together.
Thangam brings a strong commitment to H2OO as one of the founding chapter parents contributing to its initial growth phase along with her husband, son and daughter who have continued to pursue their interests in climate change related studies.
For the last four years, since moving to the greater Seattle area, Thangam has been the Treasurer and Board Member of Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center for 2 years followed by becoming its Interim Executive Director in 2022 to successfully fundraise $750K and stabilize finance and operations as KIAC segued from founder and volunteer-based to a full-time staff.
Thangam also brings relevant nonprofit funding from the funder perspective having been part of the City of Bainbridge Island’s 2021 cultural taskforce that oversees funding local nonprofits. Thangam has an MBA from University of Nebraska and Masters in Accounting from East Carolina University. She is also a certified naturalist with the American Cetacean Society.
Nousheen has more than 20 years of experience in the Tech and Medical Device industries.
She is currently Chief of Staff at Visby Medical in the fight against COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Previously, Nousheen was Director of Innovation at eBay leading a 2000+ employee Innovation Program, an incubator for groundbreaking ideas, and the place where participants could shape the future of eBay with a project they believed in. Prior to that, she led the design, development, and manufacturing of Boston Scientific’s Endoscopic Vessel Harvesting device.
Nousheen is passionate about inspiring youth to think about our planet’s most pressing needs and instills the belief that they can make a difference. She is involved with several organizations and programs that provide education and opportunities to youth to create a better world for their generation and beyond.
Latifah, from Uganda, agreed to join the H2OO Board of Directors at 19 years old because she believes that youth voices at the Director level ensures that youth can vote for what really works and against what does not work for youth, as she can directly express to the Board what it is that youth need.
Having youth on the Board also supports the mission and vision of the organization and is a step in staying true to why the organization was founded. Latifah strongly feels that allowing youth a Board of Director position is an empowerment opportunity providing them with insight into the organization and greater professional skill-building opportunities.
As a Director of H2OO, Latifah feels even more motivated and inspired to become a leader in this world and make positive change in an important position, including as a future policy maker.
Charley is both honored and happy to be one of the first youth leaders on H2OO’s Board of Directors.
Charley believes that, upon entering adult age, it was important for them to be a Director of H2OO as they have been with H2OO from the start understanding the why, what H2OO stands for, the values, and the importance of the organization’s evolution driven by youth.
Charley takes their role very seriously carving a path for additional young Directors, as they look forward to other youth leaders of H2OO joining the Board in the future who will also contribute to decision making for-youth, by-youth. Charley feels that all organizations that impact or advocate for the futures of youth today should encourage and raise youth voices including at the Director level.
Memory is the Executive Director at the African Women’s Development and Communication Network or FEMNET. Memory is a pan-African feminist, gender and women’s rights activist with over 18 years of experience developing, managing and implementing programs promoting women and girls’ rights regionally and globally.
A seasoned cross-cultural thought leader and strategist, she bridges national, regional, and global women’s rights networks with policy leaders. Memory is a board member of the award-winning UNESCO Female Students Support Network Trust in Zimbabwe, which assists young women in tertiary institutions in fighting gender-based violence.
She is a coach and mentor for young women across the continent of Africa and has helped in founding several organizations. Memory was named by Apolitical among the top 100 women in gender policy in 2019, is a SheDecides champion, and a member of the UN Women Civil society advisory group for the #GenerationEqualityForum.
When Dakota co-founded Heirs To Our Ocean (H2OO), it was a passion project for her at 10 years of age due to her strong interest in ocean life and wanting to know more.
As H2OO grew, she connected with and learned from youth from around the world who also wanted to see a better, safer future. At a very young age, Dakota understood that H2OO must be about youth protection, especially for those suffering the most now, with attention to the health of our planet and what the next generation is inheriting. Dakota is committed to H2OO’s mission of connecting youth in purpose and providing opportunities and resources to the greatest stakeholders of the climate crisis – youth everywhere.
Dakota has participated in many speaking and media events and presented for TED. She has raised awareness with performance art, such as this moving dance-based story about the climate crisis A Source of Hope.
Nathalie Udo has a passion for raising corporate and individual social consciousness and igniting positive change. That passion drives her consultancy, InDepth Strategies, which focuses on achieving transformational change through executive coaching, program management, cross-cultural communication, and leadership development. Her wide-ranging experience, which spans industries and continents, informs her insights into the impact and importance of values, communication, and sustainability.
Nathalie is coauthor of Organizational Survival: Profitable Strategies for a Sustainable Future (McGraw-Hill, 2013). She has a master’s degree in economics and business administration from Maastricht University, Netherlands, and is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC®).
Organizations that want to translate a business strategy into execution or implement process improvement that generates meaningful results will benefit from Nathalie’s expertise. She focuses on providing the right mixture of executive coaching, project management, cross-cultural communication, and leadership for each organization. She takes strong ownership and accountability for deliverables and drives positive results, helping teams achieve goals they thought were impossible. This singular dedication has won high praise from previous clients.
Nathalie has been an avid scuba diver for almost three decades and has seen the negative changes in our ocean firsthand, all over the world. She firmly believes that by working together and educating all generations we can keep our ocean and planet remain vibrant, resilient, and teeming with life for generations to come.
For Nathalie’s professional credentials and publications see her LinkedIn profile.