TINFA is a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization registered in Washington State.  It was created in 2001 with the desire to help bridge the digital divide. 

Current board members are:

Emma Le Dû
Emma is the Exec. Director of TINFA. She has previously held positions at the Grameen Foundation  as Senior Technical Program Manager. She has been in Information Technology for over 15 years, at Microsoft and Amazon.com in various positions in International and Program Management. Emma has spent two years in Lao P.D.R, as a computer consultant to the European Union and UNDP. She holds an Engineering degree in Robotics and Electronics (ESIGELEC in Rouen France) and a Master of Public Administration from the Kennedy School (Harvard University) with a focus on Leadership and International Development. Emma is TINFA's co-founder.

Mike Madden

Mike is retired and lives in the Loyal Heights neighborhood of Seattle, just north of Ballard. He attended Western Washington University and completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Education, majoring in History and French. Mike taught at Meadowdale Junior High School for five years before joining Safeco Life Insurance Company, now known as Symetra Life Insurance. Mike retired from Symetra as Vice President and head of the Individual Product Line after a rewarding thirty-three year career there. Mike believes in volunteer service, having served several years as President of the Northwest Regional Board of Dollars for Scholars. He currently volunteers with University Sunrise Rotary Club, with the Seattle Bureau of Fearless Ideas tutoring organization and is President of the Board of Bright Future Dollars for Scholars.  

Kelly Schactler

Kelly is a project and program management consultant and owner of a business that focuses on project management education for individuals and nonprofits.  An alum of University of Washington (BA Marketing Management) and University of Alaska, Anchorage (MS Engineering Project Management), she is passionate about sharing project management tools and concepts to enable organizations to excel in project delivery. As a volunteer, Kelly has served in various roles including: executive director of a small Alaskan grassroots commercial fishing organization, board member for a homeless shelter in Kodiak, Alaska, and project management mentor for several Seattle nonprofits. She is excited to explore  the possibilities and opportunities that await TINFA.  Kelly likes to hike Pacific Northwest trails, explore listening to new music and musicians, and stays curious about the world through travel, reading, and cooking. Having been drawn to Latin American countries and people through various experiences throughout my lifetime, partnering and linking arms with TINFA at this time in my life seems like the right thing to do; to help facilitate technology and learning in remote and underserved areas. 

Eli Sheldon

Eli has volunteered with children ever since he was a child himself in Massachusetts, and after a four-year stint at Microsoft, he jumped into the world of education full-time in 2015. Embedded in several Seattle-area public schools, Eli created a computational thinking program that brings problem solving skills rooted in computer science to other disciplines. This CT program features lessons like using decomposition to analyze criminal justice reform or racial bias in traffic stops, using pattern recognition to study earthquake in real-time or to improve a kickball team, and using abstraction to create 3D Greek monuments or body-system-inspired amusement parks. Eli recently taught high school computer science in South Seattle and is now a curriculum developer at TechSmart, a local K12 computer science organization. Eli is excited to bring his passion for educational equity and his experience in partnering with teachers to create powerful learning experiences to TINFA.

Zoe Stein

Zoe is a recent Seattle transplant working as a Program Manger in Microsoft Azure. She is an Indiana native but moved to Atlanta to complete her undergrad in Industrial Engineering at Georgia Tech, then to Seattle following graduation in Dec 2018. The West Coast has her heart because she constantly craves adventure- running, biking, climbing mountains, and always open to something new! On a nerdier note, there’s nothing she loves more than being challenged with an ambiguous, complex business or data problem. She’s extremely fortunate to have access to ample resources that enable her to take on these challenges through continuous learning and growth, and wants for everyone who desires to have access to this same opportunity. She deeply believes in TINFA’s mission of bridging the digital divide and has seen the amazing project success and empowerment while working on video content with Emma. She has immense energy around the positive impact TINFA is making and cannot wait to join this passionate group of individuals to support the organization in any way possible!

Amy Brightman

Amy’s professional background has been focused on learning and training for over 25 years, primarily in the technology space. Initially a teacher in the Seattle Public Schools, she now works as a project manager in field readiness and enablement as a consultant to Customer Success organization at Microsoft. She has developed curriculum for K-12 students and produced educational software for students, including a comprehensive, research based 4-year reading curriculum for grades K-3. Since 2002, she has been creating workplace training for adults: as an instructional designer, project manager, and program manager. Working with TINFA allows her the opportunity to leverage her interest in using technology as an educational tool in a very meaningful way. She volunteers with the First Tee of Seattle—a golf and leadership skill building program for youth, community events and fundraisers for the Ballard Elks, and as a vestry clerk for her church. In the past she has served on the Board of the Rainforest Alliance Network, the LPGA Amateur Seattle Chapter, and as a committee chair for Share Our Strength’s annual Taste of the Nation fundraising event. She has a BA in Psychology from Kenyon College and an MA in Education from Antioch University.

Board Emeritus

Margarita Medina
Margarita grew up in Colombia, S.A. She holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota and a M.S. in Software Engineering from Seattle University. After working in the software industry for over 11 years for companies such as Unisys and Microsoft, Margarita became a United Nations Volunteer working for a UNDP project and a Computer Consultant for Save The Children in Lao P.D.R. She currently works for the Technology Department at the Seattle Public Schools. Margarita is TINFA's co-founder.

Interested in serving on a TINFA committee or on the board?

Check out our board expectations and contact us!