19 Aug Our Tiny Trees Board is Growing! Meet our new trustees – Capri, Hollie, and Rajsi

Tiny Trees’ board of directors recently elected 3 new trustees who are committed to strengthening our organization and expanding our impact. While each brings a unique set of experiences and skills to our board, they’re all passionate about outdoor early learning, social justice and environmental stewardship, and we’re thrilled to welcome them to the Tiny Trees family.  Here are their stories:

Capri Arias (she/her/hers)

Capri is the Director of Admissions and Communications at Spruce Street School, an independent K-5 school in downtown Seattle.  She has worked in education in various roles for over ten years and was previously an outdoor educator at Islandwood. She’s passionate about the intersection between outdoor learning and diversity, equity, and inclusion and is committed to helping bring an anti-racism framework to Tiny Trees.

When asked “Why Tiny Trees?” Capri responds:

Early learning education is a vital resource for any community, and the experience Tiny Trees faculty and staff delivers to its families in the greater Seattle area is distinguished by its outdoor setting and dedication. I’m eager to help TT in its work to reconcile the unquestionable benefits of exposing young children to the outdoors early and often with the challenges that come with serving an increasingly diverse community. Addressing issues of inclusion and equity at the early education level is complicated but so worthwhile and I’m honored to get to be a part of this organization’s journey to identify ways it can best serve its families, faculty and staff, and also to help celebrate its successes.

Hollie Seiler (she/her/hers)

Hollie was born during a dark winter night in Fairbanks, Alaska. She originally took a fundraising position at KUAC in the hopes of using her broadcast degree in the newsroom but fell in love with donor development. There, she assisted in building the KUAC Kids Club, with the intent to foster an appreciation of public media through PBS programming. Since moving to Seattle and KUOW, a station without PBS, Hollie has searched for an opportunity to work with children again. She is looking forward to assisting Tiny Trees and its students in cultivating a lifelong connection with the world around us. 

When asked “Why Tiny Trees?” Hollie responds:

I believe the work of Tiny Trees is so vital and ensures children learn a life-long devotion to protecting our outdoors. As an Alaskan, I’ve always treasured outdoor spaces and I wish this kind of education was afforded to me in my youth. I look forward to an opportunity to explore Tiny Trees’ classrooms around the region and I’m honored to champion such a worthwhile organization.  

Rajsi Rana (she/her/hers)

Rajsi is a Senior PM at Oracle Cloud where she owns strategic goals to help grow its business. Prior to Oracle, she worked at Amazon. She is a mentor at Alchemist Accelerator where she helps to guide enterprise startups. She is passionate about increasing diversity in technology and recently started a coaching/mentorship program with the goal of enabling people to break into top tech companies and multiplying their impact there. Rajsi studied Computer Science and Finance at the University of Cambridge and has been living in Seattle for the past 4 years. She enjoys reading, traveling and has recently started baking!

When asked “Why Tiny Trees?” Rajsi responds:

My interest in Tiny Trees is threefold – Education, Diversity and Community. Firstly, I truly believe it is education that has helped me shatter glass ceilings. I come from a family of educators- my mom teaches in a low-income school in New Delhi, India. Good education, and access to it, is key for equity in society. Secondly, I’m a South Asian immigrant who has lived in 3 different continents – my color and gender are an important part of my identity; immigrants who look like me should know their experiences are valid and valuable. Thirdly, I’ve been lucky to call the beautiful PNW home for the past 3 years – I want to give back to the community and serving on the board of an organization that enables a happy healthy childhood feels like a wonderful way to do so!

Please welcome Capri, Hollie, and Rajsi to the Tiny Trees board! Look for another blog post coming soon introducing our new University of Washington Board Fellows, Keegan and Tiffany.

We are grateful for the service of Cat Henny, who recently ended her 3-year tenure as a Tiny Trees trustee.  We deeply appreciate Cat’s dedication, hard work, and ambassadorship for our organization.  

We are always eager to talk with community members who want to engage in our work as trustees or volunteer in other ways!  If that’s of interest, please get in touch: board@tinytrees.org.