Northwest Folklife Staff

Benjamin Hunter
Artistic Director

Benjamin Hunter is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist, composer, community activist, social entrepreneur, and educator. His work explores the intersections of music and art, community, policy, and culture. In 2016, Benjamin’s American Roots Duo with Joe Seamons took first place in the International Blues Competition. In 2018, he composed the music for the critically acclaimed production, Black Bois. With his primary instrument the violin, he is as comfortable playing classical as he is blues and jazz. City Arts Magazine wrote, “The music he plays not only spans an array of genres but a huge swath of history.”

Reese Tanimura
Managing Director

Reese is a fourth generation Japanese American who was born on the island of O’ahu and raised between Hawaii and Illinois. Her passion for music was ignited the moment she began playing the ukulele and has grown steadily through numerous instruments and genres. Reese now serves as the Managing Director of Northwest Folklife, a sublime fusion of her personal endeavors with the organizational vision of ‘Strengthening communities through arts and culture.’ Since 2008, Reese has been the Music Director of Rain City Jazz Orchestra, an 18-piece all female/non-binary Big Band ensemble. She is a founding member of the urban folkgrass group, Lavender Lucy, and plays guitar in the all-female Nirvana tribute band, Heart Shaped Boxes. Reese earned a BA in Music Education from the University of Illinois and a certificate in Non-Profit Management from the University of Washington. In 2021, she joined the Recording Academy as a professional member with a profound commitment to making our region a thriving, sustainable ecosystem for creatives and cultural workers. “My folklife is rooted the spirit of Aloha and the vibrant culture of the indigenous Hawaiian peoples that has been graciously shared with me, the wisdom passed from my family and ancestors, and the strength of the female trailblazers in blues, jazz and rock ‘n roll that have shaped my values of community, compassion and creativity.”

Sarah Kinney
Programs Manager

After spending all her money and time feeding her music obsession in her late teens and early 20s, it seemed like a natural progression for Sarah to pursue a career in the arts. Since then, she was worked across all aspects of the music industry, from management to PR to ticketing, and with a variety of national and local festivals, including Warped Tour, Volunteer Park Pride Festival, Project Pabst, and Snow Day in Denny Park. It was while working toward her MA in Cultural and Creative Industries from Kings College London that she first became passionate about finding creative ways to link culture and commerce. She began working with Northwest Folklife in 2017 while at Hearth PR, where NWFL was one of her clients. “I attended my first Folklife shortly after moving to Seattle, and quickly fell in love with the mission and culture of the organization. Our region has so many diverse cultural traditions, and at Folklife we can celebrate them all. I live my ‘folklife’ by experiencing new food and cultures through travel, and learning as much as I can about the history and traditions of the Northwest – the region my family has lived in since immigrating to the US a few generations ago.”

Bacchus
Programs Coordinator 

Bacchus's passion for visual arts and music started in childhood through experimentation with tracing the frames of animations of a CRT screen onto printer paper and dubbing audio from radio and television cassettes to form new compositions. Their current music style springs from this - they perform music sets consisting of distorted and heavily edited cassette tracks running through an effects pedal chain, blended with synth soundscapes. They have displayed their visual work at events throughout the city, including Blue Cone Studios, Cafe Red, and The Central Saloon.

As an event coordinator at Cafe Red, they founded Phonetic Aesthetic, monthly art-music fusion events where beat-makers and live painters set the tone for community members to hop onstage to join a cipher or create paintings of their own with free art supplies. Bacchus lives out their Folklife by allocating resources to bridge the gap between potential and established artists. They believe every human has the capacity - and quite possibly the need - for artistic expression but either lacks the resources to create or the initial internal realization that they can be artists. They are committed to awakening that introspective outlook in others.

Alejandra Hillon
Performer Relations Coordinator

Alejandra graduated from the University of Washington in 2023 with a BA in ethnomusicology. She is a musician who plays in multiple projects and is an experienced and versatile keyboard/piano player. Alejandra enjoys sticking close to her Colombian American roots by playing and studying cumbia music. She also enjoys working behind the scenes in the live music industry, especially at local Seattle music festivals. Alejandra has first-hand experience with the power of live music to connect communities and hopes that her work can help share this with as many people as possible.

Bonnie Fox
Vendor Sponsorship Sr. Lead

She is new to the Vendor and Sponsorship Lead Position and comes from the small business world filled with a robust entrepreneurial spirit. A former business owner of 4 small businesses, she just loves her new professional path, which is challenging, exciting, and full of new and vibrant happenings!

Married to the best guy, stepmom to two wonderful bonus girls, and mama to a four-legged dog fur baby (the best WFO co-worker!) She tries to bring more hygge into her life as she recently moved into a new home and surrounds herself and her family with plants, cozy blankets, and many candles.

Bonnie started event planning in early 1990, and it’s grown from a passion to a profession, and she still loves it! She looks forward to the relationships she will build with the Vendors and the continued long term business interactions with our Sponsors. “I live my best folklife through music! I love all genres of music, but live and in-person shows fill my bucket and bring me the most JOY!”

SeLena Little
Communications Lead

SeLena is a marketer and passionate event organizer who ran to Seattle at the end of 2023 in search of something new. Before joining the Folklife team, she fell in love with festivals at the North Carolina Folk Festival in 2021 and couldn't imagine anything more fulfilling.

After earning her BA in Arts Administration from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and during her MA in Music Business at Berklee College of Music, SeLena worked with A Collective of Excellence to put on community events that make space for Black and Brown creatives. Through these experiences, she developed a deep passion for planning music events and festivals.

Now as part of the Northwest Folklife team, SeLena leverages her diverse skills in areas like social media management, content creation, and project coordination to bring the organization's mission to life. Whether she's immersed in the pleasant chaos of event organizing or exploring new restaurants and the great outdoors, SeLena approaches each endeavor with boundless energy and a positive attitude.

Monique Courcy (she/her)

CCWD

Monique brings over 15 years of experience in arts leadership, with a focus on arts production, youth education, community engagement, and access. She holds a degree in Dance from the University of Washington and an MFA in Arts Leadership from Seattle University. Monique has held leadership roles at On the Boards and TeenTix, where she championed programs that dismantled barriers to cultural participation for youth, artists, audiences, and emerging arts leaders. She loves working with Northwest Folklife because it brings together her passions for cultural equity, joyful public celebration, and creating space for creatives to thrive.

Valerie J Ewert, CFE

Accounting & Finance Manager

Valerie J Ewert, a Seattleite with roots in Chicago has a diverse career spanning non-profit administration, accounting, audit work, professional culinary arts, and visual artistry. Her Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credential underscores her dedication to enhancing accounting processes through transparency and ethical practices. As a visual artist, she challenges gender norms with humor and reinterprets American and European archetypes.

One of her passions is mastering the art of pasta making: from experimenting with varieties of Gnocchi to making herb-laminated Fettucine with family or learning the techniques of pulling Kyrgyz Laghman. However, the perfect Ravioli persists as the ultimate unicorn. When cooking, one essential ingredient is required in each meal: Music. A dish made without music is like a bank account with no money.

Marla Roberts
Accounting Assistant

Marla is a part of the finance and accounting team as the A/P and Payroll go-to girl. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest Marla has spent her life pursuing her passion for dance. “I love how Northwest Folklife brings our community together. “When I’m not working here, I live out my folklife by attending dance performances, taking the occasional ballet class, going salsa dancing, traveling, and baking cookies.”

Michelle Searle
Volunteer & Office Coordinator   

Michelle began her journey with the Northwest Folklife team in December 2021, initially serving as an Office Assistant. Her dedication and passion quickly propelled her into the role of Volunteer Coordinator by March 2022, and she further expanded her responsibilities as Office Coordinator in January 2023. Having relocated to the Pacific Northwest during the 1990s, Michelle has amassed a wealth of experience in various domains, including bar management, show booking, production, music instruction, stage performance, community engagement, and volunteering. Grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the Northwest Folklife team, she is committed to nurturing the evolving essence of FOLK. Michelle embodies her dedication to Folklife by leveraging art as a catalyst for community engagement and fostering a profound sense of belonging in the world.