About Us

 Mission

Connecting arts and culture organizations with the information and resources needed to improve accessibility for people of all abilities

Vision

All people with disabilities are an integral part of King County’s arts and culture arena

The People Behind The Scenes

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©Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/Charina Pitzel

ELIZABETH RALSTON (she/her)
Founder, Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium

Elizabeth Ralston (she/her) is a consultant working at the intersection of community health, nonprofits and accessibility. She has over 25 years of experience working with nonprofits, government agencies, and academic institutions. She has a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan and a certificate of Nonprofit Management from the University of Washington. Her expertise is in maximizing organizations’ success through program development, strategic communications, and event planning, all with an eye on accessibility.

Elizabeth’s creation of the Consortium emerged from deep listening to the cultural community and people with disabilities about the gaps in accessibility. She brings a unique perspective to her work on accessibility, through the lens of her public health training as well as lived experience as a person with a disability.

As a deaf woman who uses cochlear implants to hear, Elizabeth faces accessibility challenges every single day. Her hearing loss never stopped her from achieving her life goals. As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi, Africa, she saw first-hand the powerful impact a person can have on others’ lives. She has devoted her life to public service ever since.

Lily Rybarczyk (she/her)
Program Coordinator

Lily Rybarczyk (she/her) is a communications and marketing professional with experience in events and public relations. She began her career coordinating behavior change marketing and events campaigns at a social cause agency in Seattle before making the transition to the nonprofit world. She first became interested in cultural accessibility at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, where she worked to support and incorporate accessible initiatives into the marketing strategy. At the Trust, she supported an Autism-friendly performance of Wicked, marketed sensory-friendly shows in partnership with the education team, and improved website accessibility. Since leaving the Trust, she has continued to explore the intersection of culture and sustainability, incorporating access into her roles wherever possible, including writing the Cultural Access newsletter for the Kennedy Center Office of VSA and Accessibility. 

Tanja has short blonde hair and smiles for the camera, standing next to a blue textile art piece.

KATIE BORGIA (she/her)
User Experience Designer, Think Company

Katie is a user experience designer at Think Company, a UX design consultancy. She previously volunteered as a design team lead for HuskyADAPT, a student organization at the University of Washington that promotes building accessible design solutions with community co-designers. She is passionate about creating accessible digital and physical design experiences.

HEIDI BROWN (she/her)
Director, Product Design and User Research, Classy.org

Heidi Brown, is a human centered design practitioner and leader with over 25 years of experience who builds teams who have empathy and collaborate to elevate design and experience for end users. Heidi works in the digital space and she and her team builds experiences for nonprofits to fundraise and for donors to engage, at Classy. This work includes accessibility, and making sure we design for all humans. Heidi believes to do this means we need to build alongside folks with disabilities so we can really understand the problem in order for us to be great solution providers.

MONIQUE COURCY (she/her)
Executive Director, TeenTix

Monique is the Executive Director of TeenTix, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization working to promote accessibility and inclusion of youth in the arts and cultural sector by empowering teens to take an active role as audience members, critics, influencers, advocates, patrons, and leaders. Monique came to Seattle in 2005 as an aspiring young artist from Central Washington, and after earning a BA in Dance at the University of Washington, an MFA in Arts Leadership at Seattle University, and spending six years working at On the Boards, has found joy and excitement in creating space, pathways, and community for young people interested in all genres of arts and culture. She is thrilled to be a part of SCAC, to better advocate for people of all ages with disabilities in the creative community.

ALICIA DIAMOND (she/her)
Communications Specialist, Urban ArtWorks

Alicia Diamond, a digital media maven, storyteller, and content creator, brings a unique blend of community collaboration, strategic storytelling, and creative prowess to her work. After earning her degree in Photojournalism from Columbia College, Chicago, Alicia moved to the vibrant city of Brooklyn, New York, where she learned the profound impact of storytelling within empowered communities. Now based in Seattle, Alicia's diverse portfolio spans nationally recognized grassroots organizations, small businesses, and artists. As a Communication Specialist at Urban ArtWorks, Alicia continues to weave her passion for communication and creativity into Seattle's artistic and community landscape. Urban ArtWorks envisions a world where all people have access to the transformative power of creating public art. Alicia’s favorite things are using emerging technologies and traditional processes to amplify stories of courage, culture, and community. With a history of collaboration with the Chief Seattle Club, Native Works, and the Yarrow Project, Alicia is dedicated to bringing authentic voices to the forefront to usher in positive change in communities and inspire collective action.

Lily graduated from Franklin University Switzerland with a degree in Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies, which allowed her to examine culture, space, and place on an international level. 

SCAC Committee
Committee Members: artists, people with disabilities, arts administrators and staff, family members of people with disabilities, and staff from other nonprofits.

Danie, who is Black, looks straight at the camera. Their tightly coiled hair is in a bun on top of their head, they wear large, plastic hexagonal framed glasses and a pink cowl around their neck.
Katie is a white woman with long brown hair in a ponytail wearing a black and white plaid dress standing in front of a gray background.
Photo is black and white, Heidi is a white woman with shoulder length light red hair, glasses and is smiling. She is wearing a jacket and standing in front of a plain white wall.
Older woman with long, graying brown hair wearing glasses and an orange blouse on a green background.
A woman with shoulder length auburn hair, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and beige button-up shirt smiles at the camera.
Alicia, with long, light brown hair, looks at camera with slight smile. She wears an orange tank top and a black cardigan with embroidered flowers. One hand holds a glass necklace at her chest.

BEAN FAIRBANKS (she/her)
Path to Art Ambassador and Disability Advocate

Bean Fairbanks is a visual artist living with MS. Her artwork has graced journal covers, art shows and gifts, locally and internationally. She brings her firsthand experience of navigating the Seattle art scene with a wheelchair and service dog.. She knows the challenges and isolation that often arise in negotiating such access. A long-term disability advocate, Bean is especially passionate about increasing accessibility in Seattle’s art schools. Continued learning mitigates cognitive decline, but disabilities increase with age. She brings her experience as an artist, and over 10 years of non-profit administration, to SCAC advisory board.

Holly is a white, femme person with long, wavy brown hair. They are wearing a cream, long sleeve button down shirt. She is smiling while kneeling down to pet two white and brown goats on a farm. There is grass and a white fence behind them

DANIE ALLINICE (she/they)
Manager of Volunteer Programs, Seattle Art Museum

Danie is visual artist with a research-based studio practice working as an art museum administrator with a focus on volunteer service. Working with over eight years of non-profit management experience and 25 years of volunteer experience supporting civic initiatives, arts access and education, Danie has cultivated a keen interest in expanding retention considerations to meet the needs and concerns of those donating service in our area communities, and fostering environments which support personal growth and social impact through the arts.

HOLLY THOMPSON (she/they)
Administrative Manager, Resident & Fellow Physician Union Northwest

Holly is an arts and nonprofit administrator from Detroit, Michigan. Her background is primarily in programming, events, and exhibitions in art museums and other cultural organizations, supporting and working with adult patrons and/or artists with disabilities. They have recently been increasingly involved in the labor movement, as the Administrative Manager at a local union representing healthcare workers. She continues to advocate for equity, access, and abolition in every realm of her work, and is excited to increase accessibility to the arts in the Seattle area.

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ALEXANDER JONES (he/him)
Learning Accessibility Specialist, Learning & Innovation, Woodland Park Zoo

Alexander Jones was hired at the end of 2020 as the Learning Accessibility Specialist, a position funded by an Institute for Museum and Library Sciences grant to carry out the Guest Inclusion Program. The Guest Inclusion Program is focused on creating inclusive programming across the zoo based on the principles of Universal Design for Learning. Alexander joined the zoo from The Outdoors for All Foundation, where he created immersive programs for participants. He is passionate about accessibility and how it intersects with engaging individuals in a learning environment.

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Marlee has shoulder length, curly brown hair, and wears a black t-shirt, smiling in front of a wood-printed wall.

TANJA BAUMANN (she/they)
Director of Communications & Public Relations, Henry Art Gallery

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Tiffany (she/her), a half Japanese woman in her mid 40s stands outside smiling. She has shoulder length brown hair and is wearing a dark pink v-neck shirt

ELLEN MILLIGAN (she/her)
Program Manager & Board Liaison, ArtsFund

Ellen is an arts management professional originally from Dayton, Ohio. For the last five years she has worked at ArtsFund, a nonprofit that supports the arts in Washington state through leadership, advocacy, and grantmaking. She is passionate about increasing access and building justice in the arts and culture sector.

SARAH SIDMAN (she/her)

Sarah Sidman is a Seattle-based consultant with a focus on advancing the role of arts in community through strategic initiatives, partnerships, programming, research, and advocacy. She was a core member of the executive leadership team for ArtsFund, one of the top five United Arts Funds in the country, from 2013-2022. Previously, she was Founder and Principal of a NYC-based multi-disciplinary consulting and design business with a national and international network of artists and cultural institutions. With more than 20 years multidisciplinary experience in the arts and nonprofit sectors, she has an extensive background centered on engaging diverse communities with the arts.

TIFFANY SPARKS-KEENEY (she/her)

Dr. Tiffany Sparks-Keeney’s (she/her) passion is expanding organizations’ visions of accessibility to encompass the full range of human diversity. Through her consulting practice, Inclusive Arts OT (inclusiveartsot.org) Tiffany helps organizations consider the broad spectrum of barriers to arts participation and develop and implement practices, programs and performances that welcome people of all abilities and identities. She considers her work to be the perfect synthesis of her education (B.S.-Dance in Theater, MOT- Occupational Therapy, EdD- Educational Leadership), her work experience in those areas, her lived experience as a biracial, neurodiverse person with a disability, and her passion for social justice and equity.

MARLEE SQUIRES (she/her)
Development Associate, Seattle Children’s Theater

Dr. Tiffany Sparks-Keeney’s (she/her) passion is expanding organizations’ visions of accessibility to encompass the full range of human diversity. Through her consulting practice, Inclusive Arts OT (inclusiveartsot.org) Tiffany helps organizations consider the broad spectrum of barriers to arts participation and develop and implement practices, programs and performances that welcome people of all abilities and identities. She considers her work to be the perfect synthesis of her education (B.S.-Dance in Theater, MOT- Occupational Therapy, EdD- Educational Leadership), her work experience in those areas, her lived experience as a biracial, neurodiverse person with a disability, and her passion for social justice and equity.