Meet Our Team
Sam Green, CPA: Co-Executive Director
Sam joined NWCDC in 2014 as a volunteer becoming a staff with the Resident Owned Community program in 2015. After several years as a marketing and acquisition specialist, Sam moved into his current position as Financial Officer. He manages grant applications, the center’s bookkeeping, and efforts to establish NWCDC as a Community Development Financial Institution. Sam is a graduate of The Evergreen State College and Western Governors University. Sam became a licensed CPA in the fall of 2023. As Co-Director, Sam heads up the housing programs (including ROC Northwest) and grants team for NWCDC as well as the NW Cooperative Fund, a revolving loan program providing support to cooperatives in the Pacific Northwest.
John A. McNamara, PhD: Co-Executive Director
John joined the Northwest Cooperative Development Center (NWCDC) in the Spring of 2014 and became Co-Executive Director in January 2023. Prior to joining NWCDC, John has 26 years of practical experience in the worker cooperative world with Union Cab of Madison. John holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration and a Masters in Management: Cooperative and Credit Unions from Saint Mary’s University (Halifax) and now teaches in the Master’s program as part-time faculty. John participated in developing the Co-op Index Tool and has taught at The Evergreen State College and Presidio Graduate School. He co-edited a collection of essays titled Co-operatives for Sustainable Communities (2015) with a chapter on Social Auditing and wrote a chapter in Humanistic Governance in Democratic Organizations (2022). John serves as Vice-Chair of the Washington State Employee Ownership Commission and Co-Chair of the Washington State Center for Employee Ownership and serves on Executive Committees of the Union-Coops Council and the Policy and Advocacy Council of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. As co-director of NWCDC, John heads the education and general cooperative development programs and the communications and networking teams for NWCDC.
Victoria O’Banion: Marketing and Acquisitions Specialist
Victoria currently serves as the Housing Cooperative Development Manager at Northwest Cooperative Development Center out of Olympia, Wash. Since March 2020 she has guided the acquisition of over a dozen cooperative purchases of manufactured home communities. This represents nearly $50M in assets and over 600 affordable and attainable homeowner opportunities preserved. Previously Victoria lead program implementation and the project management team at the national office of Rebuilding Together. Victoria is well versed in the affordable housing arena and is passionate about the preservation of affordable housing.
Grayson Cooper: Marketing and Acquisitions Specialist
Grayson joined the Northwest Cooperative Development Center in 2024 as a Marketing and Acquisition Specialist. With a background in title and escrow, as well as a Bachelor’s in Real Estate at the University of Washington, Grayson fit right in at the Northwest Cooperative Development Center. His role primarily focuses on conducting the cooperative acquisition of manufactured housing communities. A lifelong PNW local, you will often find him enjoying the outdoors in the greater Washington area.
Georgia Royer: Cooperative Development Specialist
Georgia has been working as a Cooperative Development Specialist at NWCDC since March of 2024 with resident-owned communities. She is currently working out of Bellingham, WA while she finishes her degree in Medical Anthropology at Western Washington University. Georgia’s background is as a caseworker, dealing mainly with financial assistance, eviction prevention, adult education, healthcare, and food assistance. She is well-versed in public assistance programs throughout Washington and passionate about maintaining quality affordable housing.
Diane Gasaway: Cooperative Development Specialist
Diane joined the Center in 2003 and together with the NWCDC Board of Directors has been responsible for building the Center into what it is today. Her specialty is in strategic planning, co-op education, co-op development, grant administration, and budget management for a multitude of projects. Diane has 13 years of experience in the financial services industry. She received a Master of Public Administration (with a co-op emphasis) from The Evergreen State College. She served on the board of the National Cooperative Business Association/Cooperative League: USA. After 20 years of service as the Executive Director of NWCDC, Diane stepped back to focus entirely on cooperative development both as a co-op developer and member of Dumpster Values, a worker-owned retail store in Olympia, WA.
Deborah Craig: Cooperative Development Specialist
Deborah Craig joined the NWCDC in the Spring of 2014. Deborah has over 20 years of experience in cooperative management, specializing in Human Resources in the Food Co-op and Home Care Co-op industries. She has a Master’s degree from Western Washington University. In addition to working with NWCDC, Deborah serves as a peer adviser with the Democracy at Work Network. Deborah is also part of the first cohort of Democracy at Work Institute’s Fellows. Deborah specializes in-home care/caregiver cooperatives as well as working with the ROC Northwest program.
Fred Medlicott: Cooperative Development Specialist
Fred volunteered for NWCDC as an intern in the fall of 2017 and joined the staff in June 2018. Fred finished his Bachelor’s at The Evergreen State College and earned Master in Management: Cooperatives and Credit Unions program at Saint Mary’s University through the International Centre for Cooperative Management in 2023. He oversees the Co-op Academy, supports interns at the center, supports the ROC NW program, and provides other cooperative development support as needed.
Luis Sierra: Cooperative Development Specialist
Luis joined NWCDC in 2021 and serves a cooperative development specialist for ROC Northwest. Luis brings a dozen years of experience in limited-equity housing cooperatives- as an educator and technical assistance provider for boards, and as a member, director, and treasurer of the cooperative he lived for 11 years. Luis‘s experience also includes agricultural cooperative development in fresh fruit and vegetable distribution and meat processing. Luis‘s first cooperative experience was in college as a member of the UC Berkeley’s Composting Collective.
Janett Morell: Cooperative Development Specialist
Janet joined NWCDC at the end of March 2022. She works out of Kitsap County, WA , and primarily covers the Western Washington service area. Janet moved from Arizona to WA state in 2019. Janet worked in early childhood education for 10 years. In WA Janet has worked with Kitsap Community Resources as well as Turning Pointe advocacy center working directly with youth and families. Janet is bilingual and enjoys working with diverse communities.
Rebecca Cienfuegos: Cooperative Development Specialist
Rebecca joined NWCDC in late 2021 and lives in Granger, Washington. She will be working with ROCs and other co-ops on the east side of Washington state. She graduated from Central Washington University and has worked most of her career in Early Childhood Education. Rebecca served as Center Director/Manager of Head Start for over 17 years and with the University of Washington for 3 years as Quality Recognition Specialist.
Rebecca grew up in a migrant setting moving to many states during her childhood. She was ten years old when her parents decided to buy a home in Granger and make it their forever place. She loves her small town and knowing the community. Rebecca has three wonderful daughters and two Goldendoodles.
Edgar Cruz: Cooperative Development Specialist
Edgar joined the NWCDC in April of 2024 as a Cooperative Development Specialist. He has worked for different non-profit organizations in the last 6 years. Prior to joining, he worked as a mediator for a pilot program that assisted in preventing evictions throughout King County. With his housing experience, he joined the NWCDC to continue to help those both in the English and Spanish speaking communities. He is eager to continue to provide excellent support to the communities/residents he works with but more importantly, to build an illustrious career at the organization. Edgar is a Seattle native who enjoys spending time with family, friends, and his dog Pablo.
Nora Edge: Cooperative Development Specialist
Nora joined the NWCDC in 2022 as a housing cooperative specialist with the Resident Owned Community(ROC) program. Prior to joining, Nora was the executive director, as well as a founding member, of Capital Homecare Cooperative in Olympia WA. At Capital Homecare Nora gained a working knowledge of the benefits of a democratically controlled workplace, of having workers serve as the decision-makers, and of the cooperative mission toward community care and building equity in the local economy. She is excited to continue her work with the ROC Northwest program and continue to provide support to the home care cooperative economy both locally and nationally. Nora is a graduate of the St. John’s College Great Books program, where she earned a BA in philosophy and literature.
Jadira Amaya: Cooperative Development Specialist
Jadira joined NWCDC in January of 2023 as a Housing Cooperative Specialist and Technical Assistant for ROC USA. Born in Los Angeles California, Jadira lived in Jalisco Mexico for a portion of her childhood and grew up in Salem Oregon before residing in Yakima Washington for the past 17 years. Jadira recently moved to Spokane Washington where she’ll be working with ROCs in the Eastern Washington area.
Jadira had worked in the government sector for 16 years; working for the Oregon Youth Authority/MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility, Yakima County Courthouse/District Court, and the Washington State Department Social and Health Services. Prior to joining NWCDC, Jadira operated her own clothing business for 7 years, passing it down to her daughter Jasmine, before relocating to Spokane to live with her life partner Leticia and 7-year-old son.
In her Yakima community, she was an active member of the Junior League of Yakima, and volunteered at Rod’s House, Casa Hogar, and the Madison House. She was a member of the Juvenile Court’s CAB and Truancy programs, a mentor for the YWCA middle school girl’s iMentor program, and a mentor for students at Washington Middle School.
Jadira’s personal, business, and professional background experience has provided her with the tools, knowledge, and compassion to work with diversified communities. She’s excited to be a part of the NWCDC Team.
Kate Melman: Cooperative Development Specialist
Kate joined the NWCDC staff in 2023 as a Cooperative Housing Specialist. Prior to NWCDC, she worked for 15 years to advance immigrant rights and address access barriers throughout the U.S. South. She recently moved to the Pacific Northwest after a decade below sea level in New Orleans, her spiritual home.
Kate traces her co-op roots to a worker-recovered print shop and worker-run bakery in post-2001 economic crisis Argentina. A wide range of professional and personal experiences have shaped her approach to cooperation and collaboration. Highlights include radical hospitality work with Casa Marianella in Austin, TX, immigration and family law paralegal work, and mutual aid and solidarity as a way of life in New Orleans. She’s excited to get to know and work alongside Washington communities turning shared governance into reality.
Kate grew up in Washington, DC. She earned a BA in Sociology and Latin American Studies from the University of Vermont and an MS in International Development from Tulane University. In no particular order, her lifelines include humor and laughter, second lines, music, impromptu cooking experiments and communal meals, and meandering conversations with family and friends.
Daniel Stoops: Marketing & Acquisitions (Conversions) Specialist
Daniel joined the NWCDC staff in April 2024. A Portland, OR native, he spent most of the last 20 years as an entrepreneurial owner operator of two business. A bakery and cafe with 2 locations and then a cannabis & hemp venture. In 2022, after selling the hemp company, he was drawn to mission + shared value driven work. He spent a year working on Portland’s homelessness problem, in an operations role with a nonprofit running 5 shelter sites before coming to the NWCDC. In his role, he works primarily with existing traditional owners interested in selling their businesses to their workers and transitioning to cooperative ownership and operations.
