Seattle Audubon
for birds and nature

Seattle Audubon is supported by a dedicated Board of Directors. They help to accomplish the mission to lead a local community in appreciating, understanding, and protecting birds and their natural habitats, through a set of shared values that underline our vision of a healthy environment in balance, where people enjoy, respect and care for our urban community.

Our Board of Directors play a vital role in ensuring Seattle Audubon has the strategic direction and necessary resources to create a sustainable community. In addition to their role as at large board members, several serve on Committees. We are grateful for their expertise and focus ranging from policy/legal, marketing, management, planning, communications, and community engagement to ensuring financial stability of the organization.

Seattle Audubon Director Biographies

Jennifer McKeirnan, President: Jen is a Master Birder and leads field trips with Seattle Audubon. She is a graduate of the University of Washington with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and has earned her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. She has worked at Boeing for over 15 years as a stress engineer,  flight controls test director and currently as a Project Manager.  In 2016, she took a year off of work to do a WA State Big Year and designed a website www.wabirdyear.com.  In her free time, she volunteers for various activities with Seattle Audubon including the Governance Committee.  She also enjoys traveling, hiking and biking.

Andrew Schepers, Vice President: Andrew has been building growth strategies using marketing technology for over fifteen years. He is currently the Senior Manager of Marketing Operations at Starbucks, where he leads a team responsible for digital content publishing and technical strategy across the US, Canada, and the UK. In his previous role managing email marketing for Teavana, his efforts engaged over two million new customers. He moved to Seattle in 2014, after falling in love with the local flora and fauna, especially the birds. Andrew strongly believes in engaging diverse communities in the effort to protect and renew nature. He has been active with Seattle Audubon’s NextGen Advisory Council since its inception in October 2018 and recently assisted Seattle Audubon with their email system migration and newsletter redesign. Andrew is an avid birder and regularly attends Seattle Audubon neighborhood walks, classes, and the CBC.

Mary Bond, Secretary: Mary Bond has lived in Seattle for over 35 years. Her children, now grown, participated in Seattle Audubon's Finding Urban Nature (FUN), Nature Camp, and Teen Birder programs. She served as SAS's Conservation Manager for two years. Most recently she has worked doing plant monitoring in prairie and sagebrush-steppe ecosystems for the University of Washington's Terrestrial Restoration Ecology Lab. Mary has a BA from The Evergreen State College, and a Certificate in Wetlands Management from the UW.

Susan Marks, Treasurer: Susan is a CPA and a semi-retired Audit Principal with McDonald Jacobs, P.C., with over thirty five years of experience as an auditor and practicing accountant, specializing in the nonprofit industry. After 15 years of commuting between Seattle and Portland for work, Susan has settled permanently in Kirkland with husband and pets. Susan also serves on the finance committee for The Street Trust (Portland). Susan received a BS degree in business administration/accounting from Oregon State University.

Supriya Kumar, PhD: Supriya is a Program Officer in global public health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She believes strongly in equity and access to resources for all members of society, irrespective of race, ethnicity, or economic ability to pay. As an immigrant mother, she represents the view point of immigrant families in Seattle, who may not always know of or know how to access the awesome opportunities to explore natural spaces through Audubon. As a scientist and former professor, she brings scientific leadership experience, and an interest in engaging communities in the value of science. She holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a PhD in biological sciences from Carnegie Mellon University.

Catherine Maxson: Catherine joined the Seattle Audubon board in January 2020. She is an attorney, specializing in intellectual property law. Catherine moved to Seattle in 1996 due to the abundance of nature in the city and surrounding areas, and sees serving on the Seattle Audubon board as a way to help sustain the natural areas and creatures that she loves.

Robert Sieh: Bob is a past president of Seattle Audubon (1992-94), current chair of the Martin Miller Special Habitat Selection Committee, and was for many years a board member of EarthShare Washington. Bob grew up in Illinois, and moved to Seattle with his wife, Ellen, in 1975. Since then, Bob has practiced law in various areas, including real estate, corporate, and general practice.

Jennifer Steele: Jen is a master birder and long-time supporter of and volunteer for Seattle Audubon. Jen is Managing Director at SEI Huntington Steele, advising her client families on investments and legacy planning.  Prior to founding her company, Jen was the Assistant Treasurer at Amazon.com. Jen started her career in corporate treasury roles at the Walt Disney Company and Microsoft Corporation. Community involvement has always been a passion for Jen and she has served in a variety of capacities through the years including as a founding board member of Seattle Summer Search, audit committee member for the YWCA, investment committee member for the Seattle Symphony and the Overlake school, and she currently serves on the board of Island Conservation. Jen has masters and bachelors of science degrees in industrial engineering and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology degree all from Stanford University.

Amanda Virbitsky: Virb (Amanda Virbitsky) is originally from Pennsylvania and first started birding while on a 2013 trip to New Zealand with her wife, where lots of the birds were both easy to identify and unfazed by humans. She moved to Portland, OR in 2013 and to Seattle in 2016, and is a graduate of the 2019 Seattle Audubon Master Birder class. She is excited about conservation, and thinks that birds are a great way to get more people outside and to connect them to the natural world. Virb holds a B.S. in Rehabilitation Science and an M.B.A. with a marketing focus, both from the University of Pittsburgh. In her day job as the Volunteer Services Representative at The Mountaineers, Virb helps people across Western Washington get outside safely by supporting volunteer leaders, and works with land managers across Washington state to ensure that the organization is in compliance with permit regulations. Additionally, she is the staff liaison for the "Mountain Queers" LGBTQIA+ affinity group, serves on the Climbing Stewardship and Access Committee, and assists with sustainability and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. She is the elected chair of Seattle Audubon’s NextGen Advisory Council.

Committee Opportunities

Seattle Audubon has several program committees that support our organization’s mission to lead a local community in appreciating, understanding, and protecting birds and their natural habitats. Committee members provide their insight and experience in the areas of Environmental Education, Conservation, and Science. In addition, Seattle Audubon has several organizational committees, including Development, Governance, and Personnel Committees. The committees meet monthly or quarterly and are made up of both board and non-board members.

If you are interested in learning more about the Seattle Audubon Board positions or Committee roles, please send a message to volunteerc@seattleaudubon.org.