President

Tanya McDonald

Woodinville, Washington

Tanya McDonald is known for her bright plumage and her love of birds. Since 2008, she has been an active member of Haiku Northwest, serving as the regional coordinator for the Washington State region of the Haiku Society of America in 2010, 2011, and 2013. She has also held the following officer positions for Haiku Northwest: president (2019), vice president (2017, 2018), and secretary (2015, 2016, 2020). In addition, she has served as registrar for the Seabeck Haiku Getaway and has coedited a number of Haiku Northwest and Seabeck anthologies. Over the years, she has also helped staff Haiku Northwest tables at events, has cojudged haiku contests, has taught haiku workshops, and helped coordinate haiku gatherings with other local haiku groups. Her haiku, rengay, and haibun have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. She is the founder and editor of the biannual print haiku journal, Kingfisher.

“I’m interested in serving as the president of Haiku Northwest because the haiku community, especially our local group, is very important to me, and I feel that Haiku Northwest is in a period of transition. Three out of five of our 2021 officers are stepping down from their roles at the end of this year. This autumn, our board voted to continue the application process for becoming a nonprofit organization, and while this will not change the heart of our group, there will be some changes to the administrative and organizational aspects of Haiku Northwest, including the Seabeck Haiku Getaway. Another change on the horizon is our monthly meetings. It’s my hope that we can begin meeting in person in the new year, once it’s safe to do so, but we need to figure out how to continue to meet the needs of our members who joined us on Zoom, but who cannot join us in person for various reasons. Moreover, I would like to see us grow as a group, not just in terms of membership numbers but also in terms of participation and what we do as a group. I want to facilitate dynamic, inspiring meetings, to explore and celebrate the haiku (and other forms) being written by our members and others, and to encourage and empower our members to share their love and knowledge of haiku with others. The pandemic has limited our activities, but as we move past the necessity of isolation, we have a chance to chart a new path for Haiku Northwest, one that encourages growth and innovation while honoring what I feel is the heart of Haiku Northwest: friendship and a love of haiku. Thank you.”

Vice President

Bob Redmond

Burien, Washington

Bob Redmond has seventeen years of experience with haiku, following a degree in English literature from Georgetown University. He has served as editor of Real Change newspaper and writer-in-residence for Hugo House. Winner of Snapshot Press’s 2019 echapbook contest, Bob has published widely in haiku journals. Bob’s professional career for more than thirty years has been in nonprofits, including social services and community arts. He founded an arts production company and an arts and ecology organization, the latter entering its fourteenth year. He’s done extensive consulting and served as a board member for numerous other nonprofit organizations including the national organization Certified Naturally Grown. In 2017, Seattle was named a UNESCO City of Literature under Bob’s leadership as board president. A past program director for Town Hall Seattle and senior program manager for Bumbershoot, Bob has run, since 2008, a small business focused on bees and pollinator ecology. As secretary for Haiku Northwest in 2021, Bob upgraded its communications plan and mailing list services. He made editorial expansions to the newsletter, focusing on member engagement. As vice president, Bob would primarily support the president. His goals for the organization are organizational stability and sustainability, clarified programs and events, improved community partnerships, and a more diverse membership.

Secretary

Dianne Garcia

Seattle, Washington

Dianne Garcia is a Seattle-based haiku poet who has been treasurer of Haiku Northwest and secretary for the Haiku Society of America. She is interested in serving as secretary for Haiku Northwest as it navigates its reorganization into a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization incorporated as a nonprofit in Washington State.

“I do believe that I am yet a poetry novice and value the opportunity to develop my own poetic voice within a community of other haiku poets. I have enjoyed hearing each of you as participants in the community of haiku poets that is Haiku Northwest. I believe that we should all ‘give back’ to the communities that have supported us and so I am running for position of secretary of Haiku Northwest. I worked since I was 13—in the berry and bean fields, and as a nursing aide, became a health information specialist, and returned to school in mid-life to become an attorney. I practiced in Washington State for thirty years, first as an assistant attorney general and then in-house for a large health care company. In this role I recorded minutes for boards and committees, developed and managed a large “in house” claims program (emphasizing mediation to resolve claims and recover community good will), and maintained databases. I am a trained project manager and facilitator. My familiarity with social media, Google, Microsoft Office software, and online survey tools is practical—I’m not an expert but can usually use these tools in a productive way. I’m also very familiar with the importance of organizational mission to direct project goals, tasks, and timelines.”

Treasurer

Curtis Manley (incumbent)

Bellevue, Washington

“I’ve been a member of Haiku Northwest since October 2005 and have been writing haiku since shortly before then. This has been my first year as treasurer. The nature of the position is such that only after about a year have I performed each of the various necessary duties. I’m almost there, as I finish with the Seabeck Haiku Getaway finances and get ready for filing and paying Washington State taxes. As I’ve processed payments, reimbursements, and donations, it’s become clear that Haiku Northwest’s expenses need to be managed in a more formal and deliberate way. The board needs to be kept informed about the costs of different options so decisions—both large and small—make financial sense for Haiku Northwest. If re-elected, in the coming year I’ll work with the other members of the board to establish better guidelines for how Haiku Northwest handles its money. We’ll be able to do more with what we have—and be more effective as the somewhat-more-formal nonprofit educational and arts organization we are becoming. And as HNW changes from being categorized as a small business to an official 501(c)3 organization, I look forward to helping with the necessary paperwork and financial transactions.”

Website Manager

Michael Dylan Welch (incumbent)

Sammamish, Washington

Michael Dylan Welch has been writing haiku since 1976 and has founded and led numerous haiku and other poetry organizations and events for more thirty years. He has been active with Haiku Northwest since 2002 and created the first Haiku Northwest website in 2004, seeing it through two major system migrations, most recently in the fall of 2021, which entailed a complete overhaul of the site’s structure and design. He also manages the site’s domain name and knows the site’s details and structural relationships intimately. In continuing to take responsibility for website content, which seeks to inform members and attract new members, he invites the formation of a website committee to help develop new and existing content (such as updating the member poems pages) and contribute to shaping strategic directions in service to the organization, its members, and to the Haiku Northwest mission. Michael has worked as a professional website and content developer among other roles in publishing, design, editing, and writing.