Board of Trustees

Send an email to the board.

Richard Watkins: President

Joined SWS Board in 2008
Richard is a Seattle native. He earned his B.A. from the University of Washington with a major in Chinese Language and Literature. He attended Seattle University Law School, passed the Washington bar in 1980, and has been a partner at several local firms. His core practice involved the representation of family-owned businesses. For the past seven years, Richard has managed a large estate that subsequently funded a private foundation that serves abused and neglected children. He serves on the board of the foundation, and is currently its President. Richard is married and has three children.

Norm Smith: Vice President

Joined SWS Board in 2008
Norm Smith is a Seattle native with a B.A. from the University of Puget Sound and an M.B.A. from Seattle University. He owns Hazel Point Company, LLC, a construction firm, and Point Monroe Company, LLC, an investment properties firm. Norm has a passion for Latin America where he and his wife lived for a year-and-a-half in Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. There, they worked in an outreach program for economically disadvantaged youth. Norm was previously on the Board of Trustees of the Agros Foundation, a rural development organization operating in Central and South America. He has three children at SWS, two in middle school and one in high school.

Chaya Keefe: Secretary

Joined SWS Board in 2009
Chaya is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis with a B.A. in French. She completed her M.A. in Education and Washington State Certification at Antioch University in Seattle. Chaya originally moved to Seattle from Long Island 15 years ago to be closer to the big green trees and beautiful mountains. She is drawn to the care for the heart, hands, and mind she sees embodied in Waldorf education as a whole. Chaya has been teaching French in a small independent school in Seattle since 2003, and enjoys spending time in nature with her husband and two children, good laughs with friends, learning languages, practicing yoga, and playing with paper.

Kate Golden

Joined SWS Board in 2009
Kate is a graduate of Kenyon College with a B.A. in Sociology. She received her teacher training at Antioch New England Graduate School and has been a Waldorf class teacher for 16 years. In addition to Waldorf  teaching, Kate is interested in handcrafts, singing and world travels. She is married to Claude Golden and has two children, both fine examples of the benefits of a Waldorf education.

Tim Bennett

Joined SWS Board in 2010
Tim was born in London, England, and emigrated to the U.S. with his parents when he was eleven years old. As a teenager he spent as much time as possible on the ski slopes. He majored in Fine Arts at the University of Washington and continued his studies of painting and sculpture at the Sun Valley Center for Arts and Humanities, where he could pursue his other passions as well. In Idaho he also met his wife-to-be, Betsy Weill, whose work as a Waldorf teacher at SWS eventually drew him into teaching. He joined the faculty in 1985, after several years as After School Care Director and Kindergarten Assistant. He still paints when he has a chance, although most of his extra time is spent being a father to his son and daughter.

Ryan Boynston

Joined SWS Board in 2010
Bio to come.