Our Board Members
- Richard M. Humphreys - D.A.D.S. President
- Mr. Humphreys is an Attorney-Arbitrator-Mediator since 1993 and an expert in Labor Relations, Employment Law, and Alternate Dispute Resolution. He is a member of the Curriculum Committee of Leadership Tomorrow, Seattle and past Chairman of the Committee and Board Member. He was Co-Chair of the United Negro College Fund yearly campaign in Cleveland, Ohio, where he was also a member of the Board of Harambee, a black adoption agency. In Seattle, he was a founding member of the Tabor 100, a group of African American business owners developed to make community contributions. He has served on the Board of D.A.D.S since 2005. In his young life, Mr. Humphreys was raised without a father and therefore understands the acute danger of the absence of fathers in children’s lives.
- Mark To - D.A.D.S. Vice President
- Mr. To is a shareholder since 1997 with Washington Partners, Inc., a Seattle based real estate consulting firm. His community involvement has focused on helping low-income families and children end the cycle of poverty. His community experience stems back to an internship with the Union Gospel Mission’s Rainier Valley youth center in 1994. Following that experience, he was employed by the University of Washington’s Ethnic Outreach Program to help implement a program to increase college enrollment among underrepresented minorities in the Seattle Public School District. In addition to sitting on the Board of D.A.D.S. since 2004, Mr. To is actively involved with local non-profits such as Vision House, Urban Impact, and Seattle Urban Academy.
- Vaughnetta J. Barton, MSW - D.A.D.S. Secretary
- Ms. Barton is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Early Learning. Prior to joining the Foundation, she worked as Philanthropy Northwest’s Advancement Director, and has held senior leadership positions in mentoring, welfare-to-work, and banking. Ms. Barton has served on the Board of D.A.D.S. since July 2003 and is a member of Social Justice Fund Northwest. She is also an alumna of Leadership Tomorrow and a former American Marshall Fellow of the German Marshall Fund.
- Michael Schirmer - D.A.D.S. Treasurer
- Mr. Schirmer is an accounting manager with IntelePeer, Inc., a California-based high speed internet telecommunications service provider. His background also includes public accounting; construction, and general contracting; workers compensation administration; and Head Start/Early Head Start non-profit accounting with First A.M.E. Child & Family Center, where he worked with Marvin Charles, co-founders of D.A.D.S. Mr. Schirmer is a Seattle native and is married with four grown children. All four of his boys attended Seattle schools and graduated from Garfield High School. He has served as a member of the D.A.D.S. Board and as Treasurer since fall of 2004.
- Wendy Carlton, Ph.D.
- Dr. Carlton has worked with children and families in volunteer and professional capacities for more than thirty years. She has had careers in secondary education, financial planning, community development, and long-term health care. She is a licensed mental-health counselor, a grant writer, and story-teller. Dr. Carlton has sat on the Board of D.A.D.S. since September 2002. She raised two children as a single mother.
- Terome and Ronda Fulmore
- Mr. and Mrs. Fulmore are Co-Founders and Executive and Operations Directors for the Communities of Western Washington African American Healthy Marriage Initiative. They both joined the Board of Directors for D.A.D.S. as family advocates in January 2008. Mr. Fulmore is an Ordained Deacon, and Mrs. Fulmore is a Minister of the Gospel. They have two children living in the home, Jasmin and Isaiah.
- LaRon M. Burris
- Mr. Burris is a Minister of Truevine Missionary Baptist Church and is committed to strengthening families in the community. He came to the Board of D.A.D.S. in January 2008. LaRon also facilitates a 20 week Fatherhood class Titled: “Bringing the Father Back”