The Health of our Democracy
POSTPONED UNTIL TUESDAY APRIL 1ST DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER.
Join us for an energizing evening dedicated to the health of our democratic institutions. Engage in meaningful discussions with political and constitutional experts while connecting with women who share your passion for a vibrant and representative democracy. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn, share, and build community with like-minded women who care about this issue.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our moderator, Dr. Christina Sciabarra, and her esteemed panelists: Gael Tarleton, Sharonne Navas, Halei Watkins, Kirsten Gagnaire, Silvia Giannattasio, and Rebecca Thorpe. Their insights and enthusiasm are sure to enrich our conversations. Read their full bios below.
Prepare for an educational and spirited evening filled with engaging conversation, tasty nibbles, wine, and non-alcoholic drinks. Come and be part of this vital discussion that fuels our collective commitment to a healthier democracy!
Event Details & Tickets
When: Tuesday, April 1, 2025. Doors open at 5:30, program begins at 6:00.
Where: Taswira Gallery, Pioneer Square, Seattle WA. Street parking is available, be sure to check parking garage closing times as some in the area close early on weekdays.
Tickets: General Admission: $45 | Students, job seekers, and NGO employees: $25
Our Moderator & Panelists
Dr Christina Sciabarra | Professor, Political Science Department at Bellevue College
Christina is an adjunct faculty member in Political Science at Bellevue College. She formerly served as the Director of the Center for Career Connections/the Women’s Center in the RISE Learning Institute at BC. She graduated from the US Naval Academy with a B.S. in History and completed a B.A. in Russian and Political Science from the University of Arizona and a Master’s in International Diplomacy from Norwich University. She earned my doctorate from the University of Arizona and research focuses on building peace after civil wars.
She has conducted field work in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Northern Ireland focused on understanding concepts of peace in post-conflict states. Specializing in the Middle East, particularly Iraq and the Levant region, she is actively engaged with organizations building cultural bridges between the Middle East and the US. She is a United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Fellow, works with an international non-profit focused on youth social entrepreneurship, and is a Board Member for the Center for Women & Democracy. As a veteran of the war in Iraq, she is committed to peace through dialogue, art, and education above all else.
Gael Tarleton | Former WA State Representative for the 36th Legislative District
Gael Tarleton retired almost exactly a year ago on March 26, 2024, after more than 40 years working in both the public and private sectors. She held public office here in Washington State between 2008 and 2021 as a WA State Representative for the 36th District, and a Port of Seattle Commissioner elected King County-wide. Gael was only the third woman elected Port of Seattle Commissioner in its 100-year history. Throughout a career that spanned the Cold War to the Post-Pandemic Era, Gael has tackled big problems that pose severe risks to our communities, our nation, our global partners, and our rights and freedoms. In 1989, she was one of the youngest women to ever receive the Intelligence Community’s Medal of Achievement for extraordinary contributions to our nation’s security. Just seven years later, Gael stood in front of a joint session of the Russian Parliament in Moscow, as the first American businesswoman invited to speak about the rights of Russian employees to work in foreign-owned companies.
From 2004 to 2012, Gael worked full-time and then part-time at the University of Washington, helping faculty and students win research and education grants on national security, international politics, and regional resilience initiatives. As a state legislator, Gael led efforts to fully fund career and technical education programs in our high schools to prepare students for jobs in our maritime, fishing, and manufacturing industries. She also prime-sponsored and negotiated the state’s landmark 2019 legislation to transition our state’s electrical grid to 100% clean energy by 2045.
Gael chose to retire last year so she could write a book that tells stories about the people she worked with and the challenges she faced as a woman professional in the national security and foreign policy arena. However, Gael’s book-writing has been interrupted. She has turned her writing to the present-day crisis facing our nation. Because for the first time in her life, Gael knows that everything she has worked for and believes in about America and our relationship with the rest of the world is in peril. Gael holds a Master’s degree from Georgetown in government and national security, and Bachelor’s in Science from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, where she concentrated on Russian and Soviet history and International Business Diplomacy.
Sharonne Navas | Co-Founder & Executive Director, Equity in Education Center
The first American born child of immigrant parents from Guatemala and El Salvador, Sharonne understands, and values, the complexity of being mutli-lingual and multi-cultural in America. A native of New York City, Sharonne moved to the Seattle area in 2009.
Past professions include being a community organizer with Stand for Children, Executive Director of Para Los Niños, Assistant Director of Development for NARAL Pro-Choice America, Deputy Executive Director for Ayuda, Inc., and Development Coordinator for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
In 2010, she was appointed as Commissioner for the Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs. In 2016, she was appointed to the Board of Trustees of Green River Community College.
Sharonne was an advisory member for the Thrive By Five‘s “Talk, Love, Play” initiative, a cohort member of Thrive by Five’s “Advancing Racial Equity Theory of Change in Early Learning,” a committee member of the WA State Education Opportunity Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee. Sharonne is currently a member of the advocacy caucus, community network steering committee and sponsors group of the Road Map Project of CCER.
She also volunteers for the South King Council on Human Services and was a Board member of the League of Education Voters and is on the Steering Committee of the Southeast Seattle Education Coalition. Sharonne holds a BA in Psychology and Sociology from St. John’s University.
She spends her off-time exploring the various foods and wines of WA State with her husband Steve and their tweenie dachshunds, Manny, and Porter.
Kirsten Gagnaire | Transformational Global Health & Development Leader
Kirsten is the Founder & CEO of Kati Collective, a global consulting firm dedicated to advancing equity in global health and development. She has advised institutions such as the World Bank, Global Financing Facility (GFF), Global Fund, WHO, UNICEF, Gavi, PATH, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Meta, guiding strategy, impact measurement, and operational effectiveness. She is currently working on her Executive MSc in International Strategy and Diplomacy from the London School of Economics & Political Science, exploring what the current geopolitical landscape means for health and development both domestically and abroad.
Halei Watkins | Communications Manager, King County Elections
Halei oversees press relations, social media, web, creation of voter education materials, and marketing. Prior to joining King County Elections, Halei spent a decade in community organizing and outreach, advocacy, and as a strategic communications consultant. She is a University of Washington graduate, with a degree in Political Science and History.
Silvia Giannattasio | Co-Executive Director, Young Women Empowered
Silvia has developed an extensive background in relationship management and strategic communications. As a first generation American, Silvia is passionate about working with communities through grassroot engagement to organize for equality. She received her undergraduate degree in Social Science from the University of Washington and a master’s degree in Global Communications from the American University of Paris. She has worked in the non-profit, government and private sector creating outreach, communications and social media plans.
Rebecca Thorpe | Professor, Department of Political Science at UW
Becca Thorpe is a political science professor at the University of Washington. She studies US institutions and political development, with a focus on the emergence and growth of the world’s most powerful military complex and expansive prison apparatus. Thorpe’s current project examines violence and world-building in politically repressive conditions.
Her work has received national recognition, including the American Political Science Association's Richard Neustadt Award for best book on executive politics, the D. B. Hardeman Award presented by the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation for the best book on the US Congress, and APSA’s Heinz Eulau Award for the best article in Perspectives on Politics.