top of page
meet the board
.jpg)
Tom Monahan (he/him)
Board President
Tom is a Campaign Project Manager for Integrated Marketing with T-Mobile. He has also worked in marketing for Starbucks, Amazon Go, Woodland Park Zoo, and PCC Community Markets. He graduated from Seattle U with a BA in business administration with a focus in marketing. His connection to childhood cancer is personal. As a parent, he's experienced firsthand the challenges of a childhood cancer diagnosis, treatment and beyond. Tom has volunteered with both The Light Collective and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Tom lives in Issaquah with his wife, two children and their spoiled cats Rosie and Cooper. He loves spending time with his family, hiking the Issaquah Alps and playing drums.
JJ Kissinger, MDiv (he/him)
Founder and Executive Director
JJ moved from Colorado to Seattle in 1998 to attend Seattle Pacific University. After six years working in higher education in both Admissions and Residence Life, JJ received his MDiv from Regent College in Vancouver, BC. For nine years, JJ served as Director of an outreach program in Seattle supporting for families who have a seriously ill child. Leveraging his unique blend of joyful enthusiasm, inspired creativity, and heartfelt empathy, JJ is committed to cultivating communities of hope with kids and families who are suffering. He lives in Lake Forest Park with his wife Lisa and their two children Jane and Leo. JJ enjoys cooking, road trips, and binging a great podcast or TV series.
Julie Giesy Metzger, RN, MN (she/her)
Board Member
Julie is a pediatric nurse, author, advocate & educator for families. As the founder of Great Conversations, she has worked with teens and pre-teens and their grown-ups on topics of puberty, sexuality, and decision-making for over 30 years. Julie is the author of two books for preteens and has written health curriculum used in schools and communities across the west coast. Great Conversations is sponsored by Seattle Children’s Hospital and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital as well as several pediatric practices and has been featured in the NYTimes and on The TODAY Show. Julie and her husband Mike live in Seattle’s Wedgewood neighborhood and have three adult children—an actress, a doctor, and a teacher.
Kristin Gard (she/her)
Board Member
Kristin is a Nurse Practitioner in the Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Seattle Children's Hospital. She holds clinical experience in adult and pediatric oncology, palliative care and survivorship. She now specializes in the care of patients with solid tumors, adolescent/young adult oncology, and oncofertility. Outside of work Kristin enjoys hiking, cross country skiing, travelling, and flower gardening. Kristin and her husband Arne live in Edmonds and enjoy spending time with their 3 adventurous adult children.
Jessica Muller (she/her)
Staff: Program Coordinator
A PNW native, Jess has a passion for connections. She spent over a decade working in college Admissions before earning her role as the Director of Human Resources for Sugar Plum, a local spa chain with a focus on sustainability, diversity and inclusion. She was a TLC Board Member for a year before joining the staff in 2024. Guided by her own family being impacted by childhood cancer; she is dedicated to volunteering, fundraising, hosting toy drives and building a mountain retreat for families to heal. Jess lives in Kirkland where she spends way too much time playing video games and binging the latest and greatest tv series with her house full of boys.
Chelsey Geraghty (she/her)
Board Treasurer
Chelsey is passionate about supporting teams in developing and implementing high-value business processes and tools that enable greater impact in the world. She is a Senior Program Manager in Enterprise Business Management at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation where she leads large scale projects focused on operational effectiveness and workflow optimization. She has her master’s in organizational systems design and is trained in Lean, coaching, and change management. Chelsey is born and raised in Washington and currently lives in South Seattle with her wife and their 5-year-old daughter. They love to road trip, craft, and have very serious dance parties.
Gretchen VonHeeder-Phillips, MSW (she/her)
Board Vice President
Gretchen is a Mental Health Therapist in the Cancer and Blood Disorder Center at Seattle Children's Hospital. Gretchen has worked as a clinical social worker supporting young people and their families in multiple settings, and has loved being part of the oncology team at Seattle Children's. She holds clinical expertise in grief and loss, pediatric oncology, palliative care, and relationship violence. Gretchen lives in Des Moines with her husband, daughter, perfect dog Radar, and non-perfect dog Cheddar. As a family they love story-telling, dramatics, and dance parties.
Autumn Monahan (she/her)
Board Secretary
Autumn Monahan has served her community – in a variety of roles – at the City of Issaquah for 17 years, currently as its Administrative Services Director. She previously worked in public relations and as a print journalist. She graduated in 2002 from the University of Washington with a bachelor of arts in communications and political science. Following her own child's cancer journey, she is committed to serving other families facing the same challenges. Autumn lives in Issaquah with her husband, Tom, and two daughters. She loves photography, cooking (especially Molly Baz's recipes) and exploring Trailhead City.
Doug and Laurie Bunnell
Parent Support
Informed by their own childhood cancer journey, Doug (he/him) and Laurie (she/her) have 15 years of experience facilitating hope-oriented conversational spaces where families who have a child with cancer feel seen, loved, encouraged, and supported...without any cheesy cliches. They live in Bellingham, WA where Laurie works as a preschool teacher and Doug serves as lead pastor at First Presbyterian Church.
Brian Harrington (he/him)
Board Member
Brian grew up in North Seattle and has always found joy and personal satisfaction in serving others, especially families and children. Inspiration from working with families at Seattle Children's Hospital sparked his career in the nonprofit fundraising world, including organizations like Fred Hutch, UW, and Camp Korey. Brian is currently the Director of Resource Development for Boys & Girls Clubs of Snohomish County. In addition to working in fundraising, Brian also finds enjoyment serving others as a real estate broker, mainly helping family and friends navigate the housing market. He lives with his wife, Megan, and their three kids in Brier, WA.
bottom of page