Staff
Britt Yamamoto
Executive Directoremail Britt
Britt has long found great inspiration and support from people who engage life with a passion that comes from unbridled curiosity, a sharp and critical intellect, and a rich sense of humor. In this way, it could be said that he was drawn to create iLEAP in search of more friends. As someone who has worked in and around the nonprofit sector for two decades as a board member, program manager, volunteer and director, and been entrenched in the Academy for even longer, Britt has witnessed his share of terribly important--but uninspired, ineffective and utterly humorless--initiatives. For him, iLEAP is an opportunity to be creative with the relationship between personal growth and social change and to rigorously engage the challenges of life while, at the same time, not take ourselves too seriously. Possible? iLEAP wouldn't be iLEAP if he didn't believe it to be so.
Britt's formal degrees are a veritable salad bar of academic inquiry--a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from the University of Michigan in English Literature, a Master of Science (M.S.) from the University of California at Davis in Community Development, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Geography from the University of Washington. He is a Core Faculty member in the Center for Creative Change at Antioch University Seattle as well as Clinical Faculty in the University of Washington Department of Global Health. He has extensive international experience, been a Fulbright Fellow to Japan, and the recipient of a number of awards, including the highly prestigious and ultra competitive 'Nice Papa' award from an obscure Japanese mothering magazine.
Izumi Yamamoto
email Izumi
A Japanese native with an international spirit, Izumi has lived and worked all over the world, including Argentina, Spain, India, and of course, the United States. She has worked in adult education and human capacity development for over ten years, first in international public health and most recently as an independent coach and consultant. Izumi holds a Masters of Arts (M.A.) in International Environmental Policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and is formally trained by the Coaches Training Institute in the United States. Izumi also maintains a private coaching practice, the Art of Connection: co-creating space for personal transformation.
S
tephanie Billings
Operations Manageremail Stephanie
Stephanie grew up bilingual in the United States, which fueled her curiosity in different cultures from an early age. With a passion for international travel and environmental issues Stephanie has studied abroad in Berlin, conducted rural development research in Zimbabwe, and worked on organic farms throughout Appalachia. She joined iLEAP as a volunteer in 2009, while a graduate student at Antioch University-Seattle, and was enthralled to learn about the lives and work of community leaders from around the world. She became the iLEAP Program Coordinator in 2010 and was promoted to Operations Manager in 2012, and continues to expand her knowledge of cultural differences, community work, and what it means to be at the heart of global change.
Stephanie’s formal education includes a BA in International Relations with a Minor in German and an MA from Antioch University-Seattle in the Environment and Community Program. Her hobbies include yoga, gardening, hiking, and finding beauty in the everyday.
Miho Sato
Program Associate
email Miho
Miho is a student of Kwansei Gakuin University, located in the West part of Japan. She has experience in various kinds of volunteer work which fuels her enthusiasm to learn more about social entrepreneurship. She is a graduate of Social Innovation in Seattle 2011. She came back as intern to learn more about social innovation and how communication can be the part of the tool to change the people capacity and society. Her recent goal is to “make jokes in Spanish” and she always loves singing, eating chocolates and ethnic foods.
