MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Bio coming soon

Professional: President, Distinguished Specialty (an insurance program management firm) Bellevue WA
Personal: Live in Madrona, married to Nancy Chase, two grown daughters
BA Economics, University of Connecticut (the other Huskies)
Other interests include skiing, cycling, hiking.
In 2014, having just moved to Seattle, Brooks' daughter introduced him to Seattle by bringing him to Opening Day. Watching the races and striking up a conversation with an Ancient Mariner (Lenny) renewed a past passion for rowing that he had in high school and college. He subsequently enrolled in a Pocock Learn to Row class which led to joining the Mixed Masters Team. The MMT gang exhibited no evidence of the “Seattle Freeze”, in fact, quite the opposite, they have become not just teammates, but dear friends to Brooks. For the last five years, PRC has been a perfect source of socialization and exercise.
Brooks has always been involved in the communities where his family has lived and he is excited for the opportunity to give back to an organization that has been such an important part of his life in Seattle.

I first learned to scull, rowing a wherry in 1969, I learned to sweep at the University of Washington, I learned to diet becoming a lightweight after graduation in1975 and was a spare for the US Team at the World Championships in1975. I reconnected with rowing starting at Greenlake in 2002 and moved to PRC in 2006. I have been a part of the PRC Management Committee for the last 2 years. Two major disruptions occurred at the boathouse in that period. First the Covid Pandemic struck and then the George Pocock Rowing Foundation decided that the Adult Program needed to be spun off from the GPRF organization, while GPRF retained control of the junior program. I am grateful that we have been able to work with Padraic to run the boathouse in a safe manner and not have covid spread here. Responding to the GPRF mandate has been much more difficult. I think now we are on the right track with the Transition Committee set up to work through that process.

I am running again because due to various circumstances Joe Inslee was the only continuing member of the current MC. This will be the last year of the MC as it now existes, it will change as the Adults form their own group. I would like to continue to help Joe and the other MC members work with Padraic to keep the boathouse running smoothly during this transition period, while the TC works to set up the new Adult program.

I joined the Pocock Rowing Center about 25 years ago and it has been a very important part of my life since. I first rowed for Seattle Yacht Club which became Montlake Rowing Club.

Besides the physical benefits of our sport, it has given me community, friendship, confidence, competitive spirit and not least, the chance to contribute to efforts to make these benefits available to everyone who wants to get in a boat.
I retired from my position at the UW as Director of Graduate Admissions, which included assisting 300 graduate programs in recruiting and retaining underrepresented applicants and students. I feel that this experience will help PRC work through some of the issues that have been laid bare over the last year.

The events of this extraordinary year have had a profound impact on me personally. My family is biracial. I thought I understood what living here is like for my husband, sons and grandchildren but I didn’t.

There will be no magic bullets but doing nothing is no longer possible for me.

After years of renting houseboats on Portage Bay, Joe joined Pocock in 2014 to learn how to row after graduating from UW with a Master’s in Environmental and Marine Affairs. Currently a Project Manager at King County Parks, Joe manages community and partner engagement for the Eastrail, a new 42-mile trail with sections of light rail that will connect the communities of East Lake Washington to Snohomish County.
Prior to his time at King County, Joe was a Communication Specialist at NOAA, where he specialized in oil spill and hazardous waste restoration efforts. When not spending mornings at Pocock and Le Fournil, Joe and his wife Emily focus on spoiling their dog Pepper with long day hikes or time in the mountains.

Joe currently rows with the Masters Sculling Team and strongly supports Pocock’s efforts to create a more diverse and welcoming boathouse for all community members.

As a recreational rower, parent of a former junior rower and a “local” of 30 years, the PRC boathouse ranks incredibly high on my list of community treasures. There are not many other places where you can challenge yourself, work so hard with others, be equally supported by them and experience a connection to our city, its waterways and history quite like you can rowing out of this place. As a neighborhood business owner and co-founder of J.A.S. Design Build, I know the inherent value and importance of places like PRC and what they mean to this place and those who live, work and thrive here. I am very pleased to be a member of the Management Committee and to join with the rest of the committee as well as the membership at large work hard and thoughtfully steward our boathouse to ensure that it is healthy, welcoming and accessible to all.

Kim Zabelle here. I’d like to serve on the PRC Management Committee in this final year of its existence as the PRC Adult Rowers transition to an independent entity. I think there are going to be many opportunities to build our community strong in this coming year so that we can move forward as a solid club of diverse and inclusive members to achieve, in the words of George Pocock, “Rhythm, Harmony, and Balance”. Having an eye for operational detail, programming needs, spirit building, and general group focused excellence is going to be key to our future success. I will strive to be that person on your Management Committee who helps bridge us from our distinguished past into a promising future. Go Pocock.

A little about me: I’m a native of Seattle and have been in, on, and around boats of all shapes and sizes my entire life. However, it wasn’t until I took a PRC Learn to Row class in 2012 that I became immersed in a passion for the finest of all boats. I’ve been an avid and active sculler ever since and have been grateful for all of the ways I’ve been able to participate in rowing activities at PRC from classes to teams to fun activities like ham & eggers, holiday rows and sushi races. When I’m not rowing, I play the violin. I’ve been a member of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra since 1991 and am one of the region’s most sought after Artist Teachers. I joined the faculty at the Seattle Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2019 to develop a new music program. I’ve also been featured in numerous movie and video sound tracks over the past 30 years. Here’s a recent video with 95 year old Mel Brooks for the upcoming documentary, The Automat (pardon the long ad at the beginning): https://deadline.com/video/the-automat-mel-brooks-sings-music-video-documentary/

At the advice of her parents, Meg began rowing at Buckingham Browne & Nichols in Cambridge, MA. She went on to row at Connecticut College, where she was a recipient of the Anita DeFrantz Award for excellence in athletics. Although her favorite medal is from the Head of the Charles, Meg has competed (and coached) nationally and internationally for many years and has had some of the best experiences of her life due to rowing and the people she has met through the sport (Meg met her husband Peter next to an erg at the Pocock Rowing Center).


She rows with the PRC Competitive Women's Team and is the President of LuxuryRealEstate.com, the #1 website dedicated to high-end residential property.

Re began rowing during her years at Smith College where she earned a BA in Architecture and Urban Studies, as well as a 2nd place medal from The Head of the Charles. She attended law school at the University of Connecticut and after a few years of practice, she quit, and traveled about ultimately making her way to Seattle in 1996.

When her daughter Cadence was in sixth grade, Cadence announced she wanted to row, thus beginning Re’s return to the rowing community. Cadence rows with the Pocock Junior Team. When not parenting, Re practices law with an outstanding team of attorneys, paralegals and staff at Ogden Murphy Wallace. She is a member of the Healthcare and Litigation departments focusing on insurance and healthcare regulatory issues. Re also enjoys spending time with her husband biking, hiking, skiing and really anything that gets her outdoors.

On the water: Stephanie walked on to her college rowing team at Union College in upstate NY and fell in love with the sport of rowing. After graduation, Steph then took a detour south to Austin, TX where she rowed with the Austin Rowing Club and ate a lot of tacos. Upon landing in Seattle, Steph joined the Women's team at Pocock. She enjoys that she can always find a group of competitive-minded people no matter what boathouse she walks into around the country.

Off the water: Steph came to Seattle in 2010 to pursue a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Washington, and since 2016 has been at the Allen Institute for Brain Science doing various "brain stuff." Steph brings her nerdiness to most everything, especially organizational spreadsheets. In her free time, Steph enjoys cycling, hiking, and generally taking in the beauty of the PNW.

A Seattle native, T took up rowing as an adult after moving back to Seattle permanently following graduate school in 2011. Rowing's combination of focused teamwork, physical rigor, and intense competition provided the former college football player the competitive outlet he was looking for and he has been competing at regattas ever since. After serving as the captain of the Men's Nationally Competitive Team at Lake Union Crew from 2015-2016, T joined PRC in 2016 and has served as a captain for the PRC Men since joining the boathouse.

Professionally, T serves as a Principal on the Corporate Business Development team at Amazon, negotiating and structuring complex transactions for the company such as acquisitions, licenses, and product partnerships. Prior to Amazon, T served as a Director at Paul Allen's holding company, Vulcan, running strategy for the Innovation Lab and managing sports technology for Vulcan's sports holdings.

T earned a BA in Economics and Government from Claremont McKenna College, and an MBA from Duke University. T's wife Beth is also a member of PRC and enjoys sculling and joining the PRC Men in their weekly erg sessions.

The sport of rowing, and especially the community of rowers, was an important part of my life in college and grad school and continues to be as a masters rower. I learned to row on Monterey Bay in 1993 as part of the UC Santa Cruz Yacht Club and continued in graduate school with Union Bay Rowing Club, the club sport of UW (PhD, Chemistry, 2000). While at UBRC, I served as co-captain of the club and earned my USRA coaching credential. Later, I rowed with LWRC and SYC before taking a break and ultimately moving away.

In my professional life, I manage all aspects of a four-person financial planning and wealth management firm. In addition to portfolio construction & analysis and client relations, I’m responsible for business operations, HR, compliance, IT, &c... basically everything. I returned to rowing in 2019 and was immediately impressed by the community feel of Pocock. At PRC I’ve rowed independently and as part of MMT. I’ve benefited tremendously from the sport of rowing and from my association with Pocock, particularly since the beginning of the pandemic, and I value the many opportunities Pocock provides to contribute to our community of rowers. I would like to continue to contribute as part of the Management Committee; I appreciate your consideration.