Our Board and Advisory Committee members represent a broad coalition of community leaders and service providers dedicated to supporting children and their caregivers in Kitsap County and the surrounding area.  Our Board is comprised of parents and grandparents, birth professionals, early childhood educators, psychotherapists, pediatricians and financial consultants. Peacock Family Center will offer on-going and flexible child care, open play, enrichment and family support.  Established with the core belief that children and their caregivers are interdependent, our center will offer programming to nurture both children and the adults who care for them. Screening for financial aid and sliding scale fees can be obtained through Helpline House www.helplinehouse.org

Kelly Sparks, Co-Founder & Executive Director
Kelly recently stepped down from her role as Vice President of Finance at Nordstrom to become the Founding Executive Director of Peacock Family Center.  At Nordstrom, she managed multiple functions in the areas of financial strategy, planning and analysis, including Nordstrom's product development strategy, merchandising strategy, and the re-design of Nordstrom's corporate budget models.  Prior to joining Nordstrom, Kelly was a strategy consultant for the retail sector and worked in business development at Coach Leatherware.  She has an MBA and an MA in East Asian Studies from Washington University in St. Louis.  She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Marketing and French Literature from the University of Oregon.  When not working, Kelly enjoys skiing, gardening, cooking, and playing with her four children and husband.

Sarah Townsend, Co-Founder & Program Director
Sarah is a licensed mental health counselor and co-founder of Peacock Family Center.  She was formerly a Program Director for Childhaven, a therapeutic daycare for abused and neglected children in Seattle, and has worked primarily in the field of attachment and perinatal depression.  She has served on the Board and Advisory Committee of Postpartum Support International-WA State.  Sarah has post-graduate training as a play therapist and in psychodynamic psychotherapy through the Center for Object Relations (COR) in Seattle.  She graduated with High Honors in the College of Letters, a comparative language and literature program, from Wesleyan University and earned a Master’s degree in counseling psychology from Northwestern University in Chicago.  She is the mother of two girls and loves to horseback ride.

Kim Burke, Child Care Director
Kim has been teaching since 1986.  Her teaching experience includes preschool through third grade in California, Washington and Indiana, and college undergraduates at Indiana University. For ten years, Kim was director and teacher of her in-home day care and preschool, The Learning Workshop.  She holds a Master’s degree in Reading Education from California State University, Northridge and has taken doctoral level studies in language arts education and early childhood education at Indiana University.  She serves as a consultant to teachers redesigning their language arts and math curricula.  Kim is also an ontological coach trained by Accomplishment Coaching. She delights in supporting people to create the life of their dreams.  Kim has authored two picture books, The Maybe Garden and Penny Wishes.  She enjoys sewing, reading, dancing, walking her dog, and hanging out with her daughter.

Melissa Slovek Bonghi, Lactation Program Director
Melissa has assisted families for over fifteen years as a lactation consultant (accredited by La Leche League and certified by the International Board), childbirth instructor and as a labor support doula. She opened Bainbridge Lactation Services in 2007.  Melissa serves as the Area Coordinator for the volunteer La Leche League Leaders of Washington, and leads the La Leche League group on Bainbridge Island.  She attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha, earning a Bachelors of Arts in 1990.  Her family includes husband Tony, a software developer who works in Seattle, and children Elizabeth and Jasper.

Board Of Directors

Sue Anderson, Psychotherapist
Sue is a psychotherapist in private practice on Bainbridge Island.  Although she counsels on many issues, she especially loves helping parents translate their hopes, ideas, and values into the everyday moments of raising their children.  Sue received a BSN from the University of Michigan and an MA in Counseling Psychology from Antioch Seattle.  She has been working with families and children throughout her career, first as a public health nurse in Anchorage, Alaska and a Head Start Nurse in Seattle.  She taught at The Island School on Bainbridge, counseled children and families at Seattle Mental Health, and was a "Healthy Steps Practitioner" in a national research project at Group Health Cooperative.  Sue has led several PEPS (Program for Early Parent Support) groups on Bainbridge, and worked at Helpline House's former Parent Child Center.  She loves to ride her bike, has two grown children and looks forward to being a grandma.

Kerry Grant, Early Childhood Educator, Madrona School
Kerry has taught early childhood classes for the last 15 years, from parent-toddler classes to kindergarten.  A graduate of Iowa State University, she worked in child abuse prevention while raising her three young children in Iowa.  She studied Waldorf education and earned her Waldorf teaching certificate in 2000, just prior to becoming the founding kindergarten teacher at Madrona School.  Over the years she has studied sensory integration, therapeutic early childhood work, and the infant/toddler ideas of Magda Gerber and Emmi Pikler.  She currently is faculty administrator at Madrona School and loves teaching parent-child classes for 1 to 3 year olds. 

Sheila Kent, Co-Founder, original Peacock Playtime
Sheila devoted countless hours in recent years to co-founding Peacock Playtime on Bainbridge Island, an open play space for parents and children that morphed in 2009 into a core component of the new Peacock Family Center. Sheila is also the landscape designer and owner of Frog Rock Lavender Farm on Bainbridge Island.   She enjoys sharing the farm's ideal growing conditions with members of the community who wish to raise vegetables for their own consumption and share them with others.  Her many years of employment in the Seattle area include sales, training, product installation and technical assistance responsibilities with Apollo Systems, a division of United Airlines, as well as management of incentive travel and event planning for Metropolitan Travel Group.  Sheila grew up in Denver and attended Colorado State University and the University of Colorado.  She and her husband Greg have lived in France and, accompanied by their three grown children, have traveled throughout the world.  Her time and resources are now focused on family, her young grandsons, and community members of all ages.

Molly Linhardt, MD, Pediatrician, Virginia Mason Medical Center
Dr. Molly is a pediatrician for Virginia Mason Medical Center at their Bainbridge Island Clinic, which she joined in 2007. Prior to that, Molly practiced pediatrics at Group Health Cooperative in Seattle.  Her medical career started by attending medical school in Dublin, Ireland at the Royal College of Surgeons.  She then trained in pediatrics at Mary-Hitchcock Medical Center adjacent to Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.  She is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a member of the Washington State Medical Association.  Dr. Molly is committed to the physical and emotional well-being of all children and she believes that supporting families is a key component to that end.  The recent birth of her first daughter has heightened Molly’s understanding of the help that families with young children need, and reinforced her dedication to assisting them.  She is passionate about improving the community in which she works and lives through partnerships and advocacy.

Ellie Linen Low, Former Executive Director, Salish Sea Expeditions
Ellie acquired expertise in nonprofit development and administration while serving for seven years as Executive Director of Salish Sea Expeditions, an organization she helped to build that inspires in youth a passion for exploring, understanding, and respecting the marine environment through hands-on scientific inquiry on Puget Sound.  In 2005, Ellie left Salish in a strong and sustainable position to focus energy inward on herself and her growing family, and enjoys navigating complexities of life as a biological and an adoptive mother of two young girls.  Ellie holds a B.A. in Biology from Williams College and a Masters of Marine Affairs from the University of Washington. She has lived, worked or traveled on all seven continents, and spent years at sea teaching and conducting oceanographic research. Ellie is passionate about exploring everything from cultures to landscapes to books, relishes time with her large extended family, and is newly addicted to knitting.

Thomas Monk, MD, Pediatrician, The Doctors Clinic
Tom has been a pediatrician on Bainbridge Island for the past 23 years and is one of the founding physicians of the new Doctors Clinic on Bainbridge Island.  A graduate of Harvard College, he attended the University of Washington School of Medicine and completed his pediatric internship and residency at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  In addition to his medical service to the North Kitsap community, Tom has volunteered in Guatemala, Thailand, Alaska and Nicaragua, and spent countless hours at the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic in Seattle’s Central District. In his spare time, Tom is a musician and the long-time concert master of the Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra.  He enjoys time with his wife, an attorney, and pre-teen daughter who dances flamenco and plays both soccer and cello.

Paul Pradel, President and Owner, Pradel Financial Group
Paul is President and Owner of Pradel Financial Group, an independent financial services firm based in Downtown Seattle.  After working as a financial professional for over ten years, Paul determined that the approach of the large Wall Street firms was too focused on sales and products, and not on serving client needs. With that in mind, Paul decided to establish his own financial services firm; in December 2002, Pradel Financial Group was founded.  The top priority of Pradel Financial Group is to provide a truly comprehensive approach to financial planning, with a focus on sound, ethical guidance and unparalleled client service.  Paul graduated from Michigan State University.  He is married to Sina and has two daughters.  He enjoys the outdoors, reading, and spending time with his family.

Ellen Schroer, City of Seattle Financial Program Manager
Ellen works in government finance, serving as a financial program manager for the City of Seattle, and is responsible for the 100-plus million dollar operation budget for the Department of Fleets and Facilities. In addition, she has experience as a program manager and board member of nonprofit organizations working with international students. Ellen graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Whitman College with a B.A. in German Language and Literature, and earned a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Washington.  She is a former Fulbright Scholar, has traveled extensively, taught school in three countries, loves to swim, and makes time each day to read with and to her two young children. 

Robin Supplee, Midwife and Nurse Practitioner
Robin is a Certified Nurse-Midwife and Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner.  She received a BA from The University of Vermont and a BSN from Seattle University.  She earned a Master's degree from The University of Washington. She currently provides reproductive and women's health care at Planned Parenthood in East Bremerton, Washington.  Her midwifery interests lie in out-of -hospital birth and her last work experience in that realm was at Holy Family Services Birth Center in Weslaco, Texas. When not working, she most enjoys dancing in the kitchen with her school aged sons Graham and Cory and her husband Mike.

 

Advisory Committee

Julie Bennett, Labor & Delivery Nurse, Childbirth Educator
Jerilyn Brusseau, Community Advocate
Elizabeth Chambers, Attorney
John Du Wors, Attorney
Amber Du Wors, Landscape Designer
Julie Hall, Co-founder, progressivekid.com
Lydia Harrison, Founder, Parent Child Center, Educational Consultant
Sarah Lane, Co-founder, progressivekid.com
Kaye Lubach, Early Childhood & Music Specialist
Tana Materi, Attorney
Jeannie Payne, Attorney
Francie Powell, Psychotherapist
Carmine Rau, Children’s Librarian
Angie Sharp, Founder, Write Way to Learn