George Pocock Rowing Foundation

STAFF BIOS

Karla Landis, Program Director
Karla Landis joins Rainier Valley Rowing with more than 5-years of collegiate coaching experience and an aptitude for community development within the sport of rowing. Most recently reflected through her work with Lakeside Education and Enrichment Program, Karla understands the power of rowing to serve as a means for young people to embrace teamwork and build new friendships while enhancing individual ability and self-confidence. Karla is eager to strengthen rowing in the Northwest through outreach programs specifically created to broaden community access to Seattle lakes and water-sports. Karla is a former rower (‘98-‘02) and coach (’03-’09) from Western Washington University.

Carla Bezold, Development Coordinator
Carla Bezold has been involved with rowing for almost ten years as an athlete (high school, college, and club) and coach (college and masters), first in the DC area and then at the University of Michigan. She moved to Seattle to take a position with Apple Corps, a program of Solid Ground that does nutrition education in elementary schools. She’s excited for the opportunity to help young athletes discover this fantastic sport and connect with the terrific community of people around it.

Victoria Gibson, Coach
Victoria's personal rowing experience started when she joined Girls Row Boston (G-Row), an inner city rowing program for girls. She then went on to row for Community Rowing Inc (CRI), and later made her way to the west coast to be a student athlete at the University of Washington in the summer of 2003. Having graduated in 2007, Victoria is currently working at JL Racing, coaching part time, and is still an active athlete competing with Lake Union Crew (LUC) and cycling with Cafe Appassionato. Victoria’s has coached for G-Row, CRI, LUC, and now for RVR.

Dave Stalsbrotten, Coach
Dave works as a youth outreach coordinator in south Seattle, volunteering and coaching at Rainier Beach High School. He attended and rowed at Seattle Pacific University, where he also serves as an assistant coach on the men's side. He recognizes that the opportunity to learn how to row is a privilege, and he'd like to see those same opportunities be available to students in the Rainier Valley. He loves the life lessons contained in sports and enjoys helping young people as they realize their strengths, clarify their vision, and strive to achieve their goals. On a day off, you might find Dave running, riding, rowing, hiking, or climbing somewhere in the Northwest.

Esther Toso, Van Volunteer Extraordinaire
When we sent a call out to help get the RVR athletes to practice, Esther says she “thought about it for a moment and realized that every athlete who has the desire to participate in any sport should have the opportunity.” Transportation is an essential part of RVR, and one where Esther saw an opportunity to contribute. She gets “so jazzed when the kids get back in the van all excited about practice, talking about the boat being set, the next regatta and just really happy to be with each other.”

Outside of RVR, Esther works as an independent consultant helping businesses be more socially responsible and ‘green’. She has lived all over the U.S. and even in Germany for 2.5 years where she studied for her masters degree. At the age of 40, Esther started crew with Conibear (that was 2007) and now she’s “completely addicted” to this “great team spirit that is adaptable to all aspects of life.”

ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Penny Lewis, Committee Chair
Penny is a tireless leader and community volunteer for the citizens of Seattle. Her many affiliations include membership in the Central Area School Council, the Broadmoor-Washington Park Guild of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and as co-founder and captain of the Martha’s Mom’s rowing team. Penny has been a board member of the Lakeside School, Seattle General Hospital, and the US Rowing Association. Additionally, Penny has held many roles with the Pocock Foundation Board since 1986: President, Vice President, Chair of the Development Committee, and now Chair of the Outreach Committee and member of the organizing committee for Row for the Cure. Penny holds a degree in Nursing (BSN - Columbia) as well as a Certificate in Fundraising Management from the University of Washington.

Sara Lopez, Committee Member
Sara has been involved with rowing as a collegiate athlete, coach, regatta organizer, association manager, club administrator, and coach since 1980. Her involvement includes 12 years on the staff of US Rowing, serving as the Assistant Competition Manager for the Atlanta Olympic Games, and over 15 years coaching Conibear Rowing Club in Seattle. She has previously served on the US Rowing Board of Directors and the Board of Directors for the George Pocock Rowing Foundation. Sara has a background in adaptive physical education and has worked with rowing programs for athletes with developmental and physical disabilities. Sara currently works for the University of Washington as Program Administrator for the Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership masters degree program.

Dave Miller, Committee Member
A native of Detroit, Dave began his rowing career at Michigan State University in 1988. In 1992, Dave moved to the Washington, DC area to continue his training and to work with the Organization for Anacostia Rowing and Sculling (O.A.R.S), whose mission is to introduce local underserved youth to the sport. While serving as an O.A.R.S. board member, Dave remained active in the larger rowing community by coaching several high school, college, masters, and adaptive rowing programs. In his work with athletes, Dave has always focused on confronting issues of gender, race, and socioeconomic differences. As a licensed US Rowing official since 1994, Dave has officiated many Regional and National regattas including the 2004 US Olympic Trials.

Dave Anderson, Committee Member
By day, Dave is a Private Client Advisor and Senior Vice President for U.S. Trust and Bank of America Private Wealth Management. By night, at least on Wednesday’s during the summer, he is a volunteer rowing coach for a Pocock Foundation sponsored outreach program between the Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Special Populations Rowing Team for adults with Developmental and physical disabilities and Lake Union Crew. An all-time favorite of his rowers, Dave is a patient and committed coach and is looking forward to his fourth season on the water with Special Pops. Dave joins our committee bringing tons of experience in corporate relations and great ideas and support for RVR.

Jabali Stewart, Committee Member
Jabali comes to RVR after three years working with the Lakeside Education and Enrichment Program (LEEP) as a classroom teacher and administrator. LEEP is an intensive intellectual, athletic, social, and leadership program for 8th graders going into the 9th grade. As a former rower at Ohio State University, Jabali knows firsthand the value and life lessons crew can deliver and was instrumental in engaging his students in the sport during the Pocock Foundation’s summer rowing programs with their young people. Jabali brings significant experience working in the Seattle Youth Development community.

Val Voss
Valerie is an enthusiastic new addition to RVR. Her rowing career started just last year with the Conibear Rowing Club and she has been engrossed in the sport ever since. She is an entrepreneur, active in the Kimball Elementary PTSA where her son attends kindergarten and also in the Mt. Baker Neighborhood Community Council and its fundraising activities. Valerie attended Know College in Galesburg, Illinois and holds a Masters in Public Services from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. Valerie has been active in fundraising and grass roots organizational activities for over 16 years.

Tim Coyne
Tim Coyne is a long-standing Pocock Foundation volunteer, and has volunteered for the Lakeside LEEP rowing program, the TREC Orion Center program for homeless young people, and now is active with RVR. He comes to us with a BA in Business Administration from the UW (1962!) where he was also a rower for two years. He is now retired from a successful banking and finance career, and enjoys spending time with his wife; kids, and grnadchildren. Tim has been a Masters rower for 17 years, and is currently a member of the Ancient Mariners Rowing Club and the Pocock Rowing Center.

Kim Manderbach
Kim rows with Martha’s Moms out of Lake Washington Boathouse in Fremont. After rowing, she dashes to work at South Seattle Community College (SSCC) where she is Dean of Student Services, managing entry and support services for students enrolled in college transfer and professional technical programs. SSCC has a very diverse student body with over 32 languages represented and Kim finds it a very exciting place to work and go to college. Kim is dedicated to connecting young people to opportunities, and looks forward to helping RVR develop partnerships and program aspects which will help participants set goals that include higher education.

Anne Taufen Wessells
Anne is an Assistant Professor in the Urban Studies program at UW Tacoma where her teaching and research focus is on waterfront planning and urban sustainability. She has rowed competitively at the collegiate, club and international level. A former high school coach, Anne feels strongly about broadening access to the sport. She lives in Seattle with her husband Cooper and her 3 year old daughter, Clara.