SAL/ON

A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures

Category: Behind the Scenes

Welcome, Haines Whitacre, SAL’s New Donor Relations Associate!

We’re delighted to introduce you to Haines Whitacre, SAL’s new Donor Relations Associate! To help you get to know Haines, we asked her all about her work with SAL, reading habits, favorite pastimes, and her sea-swept origins below. Welcome to the SAL team. Tell us about your new role! I am the Donor Relations Associate at […]

Read More

The Best Books of 2022 (According to the SAL Staff)

In this holiday edition of SAL Staff Reads, we asked nine of our staff the most difficult and pressing question of them all: what’s the best book you read in 2022? If you’re looking for which to books to cozy up with this winter, look no further than this list!  Rebecca Hoogs, Executive Director The […]

Read More

Faces of SAL: Karen Maeda Allman

Welcome to the SAL board, Karen Maeda Allman! You probably already know Karen from her work as the Author Events Coordinator and bookseller at Elliott Bay Book Company, where she worked for over thirty-three years. Karen is now an Assistant Agent at Wales Literary Agency, and she has also worked as a nurse and a […]

Read More

Welcome, Jennifer Lobsenz, SAL’s New Youth Programs Director!

We’re delighted to introduce you to Jennifer Lobsenz, SAL’s new Youth Programs Director! You may know Jenne already from her work at the intersection of the arts and social justice in Seattle, such as Path with Art, City of Seattle’s Office for Civil Rights, where she recently worked as a Racial Justice Analyst, and  beyond. […]

Read More

Faces of SAL: Ben Rankin

It’s a delight to welcome Ben Rankin to the SAL Board!  Ben has been an owner and senior manager of industrial recycling and real estate development companies for nearly twenty years, and he’s worked on projects and businesses involving housing affordability, historic preservation, the arts, and beyond throughout his career. (His wife, Margit Rankin, is […]

Read More

Faces of SAL: Kelli Martin

We’re so excited to welcome the wonderful Kelli Martin to the SAL Board! A books editor with over two decades of experience in publishing—from Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Harlequin, Amazon Publishing, and beyond—Kelli’s expertise and eye for a meaningful story shine through in her interview with SAL below. Read on to find out what she […]

Read More

Faces of SAL: Nicole Y. Walters

We are so thrilled to welcome Nicole Y. Walters, author, singer, and songwriter extraordinaire, to the SAL Board! You might know Nicole from her books for young people, like Aisha and the Ancestors or Charis: Journey to Pandora’s Jar, or from her jazz performances around town. Below, we asked Nicole about her life, and she […]

Read More

Faces of SAL: Daphne Ming Durham

Meet Daphne Ming Durham, a new board member with SAL! Daphne is Executive Editor at MCD Books, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux. She came to FSG after more than fifteen years at Amazon.com. During her tenure there as Editorial Director in Books, her team developed and curated the Best Books programs and launched […]

Read More

Faces of SAL: Eric Gerard Parsons

Meet Eric Gerard Parsons, a new board member with SAL! Eric is the Senior Manager of Philanthropy at Community Roots Housing Foundation, where he brings his decades of experience in managing and leading complex projects in the nonprofit and government sectors on issues related to education reform, juvenile justice, health care, welfare reform, workforce development, […]

Read More

Welcome, Grace Rajendran!

Meet Grace Rajendran, SAL’s new Marketing Manager! You may already know Grace from her deep involvement with the book community in Seattle, where she most recently coordinated events at University Book Store. To help you get to know Grace and to welcome her to the team, we asked her about her background, her hobbies, her […]

Read More