Jess

Deputy Director, jess@feestseattle.org

Jess (she/her) believes that the only way to build an inclusive culture of abundance is with solutions from the people with the most to gain from our collective liberation. She loves growing, preparing, and sharing delicious food with wonderful people. She loves learning from truth-tellers of all ages, and nurturing the tell-it-like-it-is attitude that comes so naturally to young people. She believes that community organizing is key to shifting power from the few to the many, and to healing one another and our planet. For all of these reasons and more, she is thrilled to be a part of FEEST.

Jess was born and raised in the unceded Coast Salish territory we call Seattle. For nearly two decades, she worked in fundraising and events for community-based organizations dedicated to social, racial, and economic justice. If you are also passionate about healing our relationship with money in service of resource redistribution, ask her about the fundshifting workshops she co-facilitates with the Coalition For Anti-Racist Whites and Social Justice Fund Northwest! If you are also passionate about the interconnection of Jewish and Palestinian liberation, ask her about organizing with Jewish Voice for Peace!

Spending time outside feeds Jess’ soul, which is why you can find her backpacking, paddle boarding with her pup, on her bike, in her garden, and in search of the best swimming lakes and rivers.

Cilia

Development & Operations Director, cilia@feestseattle.org

Cilia (she/her) brings expertise in nonprofit development, fundraising strategy, and operations. With a graduate degree in Nonprofit Management and a strong focus on equity in philanthropy, she leads FEEST’s development and internal systems with care and precision. She loves FEEST’s focus on health equity, youth-led change, and radical joy. Outside of work, she finds grounding in community, desserts, and a quiet afternoon nap.

Jude

Youth Organizer, jude@feestseattle.org

Jude (they/them/theirs) cares deeply about food/land sovereignty, living fully in their dignity, being in awe of the outdoors, and being in sweet community with the people around them. They believe that all liberation happens on land and is related to food and our wellness. We are all connected in the struggle.

Before FEEST Jude was a farmer who worked in community with folks with disabilities. They deepened their understanding of Disability Justice here, and it has shaped the way they understand liberation and the world they dream of. In school, Jude studied Psychology and Comparative Ethnic studies with focus on Black Feminist theories, and Queer theory. All of these ways of knowing have given Jude language for their experience as a Black Queer nonbinary Zimbabwean immigrant. Our connection to the lands we are from and the lands we occupy shape our understanding of our conception of the world we exist in.

Jude is excited to join the FEEST team because they have had an interest in working with young people for a while. Additionally, FEEST is a place where wellness, community, and collective power is being built. Jude feels strongly that their lived experience as a farmer and community member has prepared them for working with young people to change the landscape of schools so that it serves their needs. Hopefully, as a collective, we can make school a vibrant learning center where people feel empowered to learn and grow alongside one another where their wholeness and wellness are prioritized.

When Jude is not at work you can find them going on dance walks around their neighborhood, eating seasonally to the best of their ability, thinking about the brilliance of Octavie E. Butler, spending time with loved ones, or having ice cream.

Jaimée

Executive Director, jaimee@feestseattle.org

Jaimée found their happy place at FEEST — the place where joy, community, justice, and cheese intersect! They first tasted FEEST’s irresistible “Special Sauce” at Make Food Make Fam in 2017.  Since then, they transformed from volunteer to Board Member to Executive Director. Jaimée is a Seattle transplant from Spokane, WA, who specializes in community organizing, organizational leadership and development, and participatory evaluation methods. For over 15 years, they have applied this skillset to build community and shift power, particularly with trans and queer people of color. Jaimée is passionate about cultivating creative spaces that center radical joy and healing, and fostering sustained partnerships between schools and the community at large. Jaimée describes their most salient identities as black, multiracial, adopted, queer, and gender fluid. They are also a first-generation graduate of the University of Michigan (MSW) and University of Washington (BASW) Schools of Social Work. In their personal life, Jaimée is a curious home cook, a travel enthusiast, a decent iPhone photographer, and a former athlete turned fierce recreational sports competitor.

Yuna

Youth Organizer, yuna@feestseattle.org

Yuna (she/her) is a youth organizer, educator, and data storyteller passionate about co-creating spaces where young people feel safe, affirmed, and rooted in their power. She brings experience across education and nonprofit sectors, with a focus on youth-led justice and culturally grounded practices. Guided by a commitment to accountability and abundance, Yuna supports FEEST’s organizing programs with heart, humor, and deep listening. Outside of work, she finds joy in songwriting, laughing with friends, and befriending every cat she meets.

Devan

Communications & Development Manager, devan@feestseattle.org

Devan (they/them) is a Black, Fat, Trans & Queer artist and organizer whose work lives at the intersection of storytelling, abolition, and youth-led change. Dev came up through community-based movements focused on ending the prison industrial complex, and carries forward a commitment to transformative justice, accountability, and Black liberation in all they do.

Before joining FEEST, Dev led youth-centered programs that uplifted community organizing, food access, and mental wellness. As a self-taught artist, their creative work centers joy, rest, and care for Fat, Queer, and Trans Black people. At FEEST, Dev brings a relational, strategic approach to communications and fundraising—grounded in Spirit, guided by the wisdom of their Ancestors, and always in service of student voice.

They are a future children’s book illustrator, a community cook, and a lover of naps, jokes, and soft days. Dev is always learning, always dreaming, and always rooting for young people to lead.

CiCi

Operations and Finance Manager, cici@feestseattle.org

CiCi was born and raised in South Dakota, where their deep love of food, family, politics, and community led them to pursue a career in the nonprofit sector.  CiCi joins FEEST with three years of finance and operation experience from an international nonprofit focused on school meal programs. CiCi is very excited to shift their focus to more local efforts to serve the community around them. 

They are a firm believer that it takes a village to shape a person. Dozens of people have poured into CiCi and helped them become the person they are today. CiCi is passionate about paying it forward and supporting the next generation of youth leaders. Knowledge is power, CiCi loves the way FEEST gathers around food to work towards systems change. 

When CiCi is not working in Quickbooks or dreaming up a spreadsheet, CiCi enjoys soccer, disc golf, and spending quality time with friends. CiCi is an avid breakfast connoisseur and environmentally conscious consumer. 

Hanan

Youth Organizer, hanan@feestseattle.org

Belina

Community Organizing and Training Manager, belina@feestseattle.org

Belina was raised in a home with family members who had recently arrived in the United States after experiencing living under a dictatorship, being human trafficked, and as they navigated seeking asylum in the West, which informed her understanding of the world and the structural barriers that she and her communities experience.

As a Black-Afrikan student navigating college while holding the experiences of her family and during the trials of Travyon Martin and Rekia Boyds’ murderer’s and in a period where Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, and Freddie Gray were all killed at the hands of police, Belina committed herself to building a world where her communities, both domestically and abroad, no longer experience state-sanctioned violence. While navigating grief and coming into consciousness about who she was and how her own body was interpreted in this world, Belina continued to build on her analysis during her undergraduate studies where she found herself both inspired and deeply challenged while working on important equity initiatives.

Belina worked as an organizer in the labor movement with the UAW at the University of Washington before switching gears to support more community-based work with young Black and Afrikan people in Rainier Vista. As a Youth Organizer with FEEST, Belina is excited to bring her passion and commitment for community-based organizing and imagining to her work. She also occupies space as an artist who is invested in telling stories about the continuity of her people and forging more spaces for us to feel. Belina believes there is nothing more important than using art to actualize our collectives’ deepest yearnings & imaginings.

Ammara

Youth Organizer, ammara@feestseattle.org

Ammara (she/they) is driven by deep love and care for life. A queer neurodivergent Khmer femme and child of genocide survivors raised in South King County, Ammara understands the importance of telling our own stories, building a politically activated collective consciousness, and embodying love as a practice.  

To them, love is action; love is resisting the violence of disconnection instilled by colonial-imperial systems. Love is violence prevention. Love is healing trauma and generational wounds. Love is recognizing that our struggles and freedom are intertwined. Love is feeling our feelings, honoring our wholeness, witnessing our rage and grief as sacred. Relationships are central places of radical transformation, and Ammara values them as a frontline where we can practice justice, liberation, and alignment with ourselves, each other, and the land (thank you adrienne maree brown). This commitment to love is what inspires their work to nurture a world where every life is honored as sacred, and able to thrive; where everyone’s dignity and humanity is honored in its fullness.  

They move through the world grounded in lineage, guided by indigenous ancestral wisdoms and healing justice principles, and are excited to continue cultivating ecosystems of care and building youth power with FEEST. As a space holder, a student of abolition, a witch-poet, Ammara finds joy in collective dreaming, and believes movements are most powerful when integrating wisdom from across all generations, informed and led by those most impacted, with community care at the forefront.

Outside of organizing work, you can find Ammara communing with plants and the water, making digital art at a cafe, binge-reading YA fantasy books, or spending time with their loved ones over a warm meal, tarot cards, and tea.

Heena

Technical Project Manager Intern, heena@feestseattle.org

Heena (she/her) was raised in White Center, Washington, where she has lived her whole life. As the daughter of immigrants, her identity deeply influences her perspective and the work she is passionate about. Growing up, she was surrounded by different cultural experiences that shaped her understanding of community, resilience, and the importance of empowerment.

Heena’s journey with FEEST began in 2014 when she was just 10 years old, inspired by her sister’s involvement. What started as “crashing” her first FEEST Dinner quickly grew into a deep commitment to youth organizing. By the age of 15, Heena had joined the campaign team here at FEEST, and after graduating, she played a role in the creation of Summer Stories, where she also serves as a co- facilitator for the summer program.

Now a student at the University of Washington, Heena is majoring in Informatics with a passion for making technology accessible to all. Her academic pursuits are driven by a commitment to education, health, and wellness, and she strives to uplift her peers in all aspects of her work.

In addition to her role at FEEST, Heena is the co-chair of King County Metro’s Equity Cabinet. In this position, she plays a role in advocating for equitable transportation for community.

Heena is dedicated to breaking barriers and advocating for inclusivity in every space she occupies. Outside of work and school, she loves to travel and explore the world, embracing the diversity of cultures and experiences that inform her worldview.

Hannah

Food Access Manager, hannah@feestseattle.org

Hannah (they/them) is a land steward, facilitator, and food justice organizer whose work is rooted in Black liberation, food sovereignty, and community care. With a background spanning farming, native plant restoration, and farmers market management, they bring deep knowledge of local food systems and a passion for cultivating connection through land and culture. At FEEST, Hannah supports youth-led organizing through frameworks grounded in abolition, Black feminism, and radical joy. They believe in the power of young people to lead movements that nourish both body and spirit—and are committed to creating spaces where everyone can feel safe, fed, and free.