Jane's Fund is designed to reflect Jane Russell's lifelong commitment to community development and philanthropy, particularly in the place she called home – Tacoma/Pierce County. Jane's Fund consists of Jane's Sustaining Grants, which does not accept unsolicited proposals, and Jane's Fellowship Program.

Jane's Fellowship Program

Class 4 Jane's Fellows: Back Row From Left - Holly Hendrick, Diago Hunter, Derrick Keys, John Wesley Levi III, Peter Williams, Lawanda "Denice" Randle. Front Row From Left - Nora Leider, Kathy Martin, Marco Garcia, Rachel Johnson.

Jane's style of leadership was understated, humble and quiet. In that tradition, in 2004 the foundation launched Jane's Fellowship Program to support grassroots leaders in Tacoma and Pierce County. Each class of fellows participates in a two-year leadership experience before becoming part of the graduate network. The current class of fellows, Class 4, started the program in October 2011 and will graduate in September 2013.

Class 4 Jane's Fellow Biographies

Marco Garcia
Marco is a graduate of Whitworth College in Spokane, where he attended as an Act 6 scholar - an academic and leadership initiative for urban youth in the Northwest. He is a community leader that seeks the betterment of his city by mentoring and community organizing.   His passion is motivating immigrant youth, primarily Latinos, to pursue academic excellence. He volunteers for Proyecto MoLE’s after school program, tutoring students at First Creek Middle School on Tacoma’s East Side and also volunteers with OneAmerica, a Seattle-based immigrant rights organization that advocates for immigrant communities across the state.   In his spare time he enjoys reading Spanish literature and practices photography as a creative hobby.

Holly Hendrick
Holly moved to Washington to attend college, and graduated from the University of Puget Sound in December 1997 with a BA in Psychology.   In 2010, she started a year-round, local food co-op, Fresh Food Revolution Cooperative, that has become a treasured resource in her rural community.   Holly dedicates her time and resources to this community marketplace where consumers can purchase healthy food while strengthening the local economy and supporting small-scale growers. Holly’s passion for sustainable and local food on the Key Peninsula is evident in her involvement in several organizations; Fresh Food Revolution Co-op, the Tahoma Food Policy Coalition, and the Washington State Farmers Market Association; Holly was honored with Pierce Conservation District's "2011 Commercial Farmer Award." Holly and her partner of 14 years, Denise, have lived on the Key Peninsula since 2003. In their spare time they host and attend historical costuming events. Holly also enjoys photography and playing Farmville.

Diago Hunter
Diago has worked with youth from all over Tacoma for the past 15 years, giving back through the organization he founded, Tacoma Shine Youth Athletics, and volunteering in monthly community sweeps.   At Tacoma Shine, he coaches a team of basketball players, all of whom attend different schools in Tacoma. Through basketball he has managed to bring together students from “rival schools” in peaceful unions of friendship, teamwork and sportsmanship. He enjoys mentoring and teaching youth through sports. He was inspired by growing up in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood and seeing negative influences affecting his and many other families. After attending college in California on a football scholarship, he returned to Tacoma determined to make an impact. Diago's slogan is “Let’s Get It.”

Rachel Johnson
Rachel is in her tenth year as a secondary educator in Pierce County. Currently, she works with the Puyallup School District as a teacher, On-time Graduation Specialist, and facilitator of professional learning. Rachel is passionate about equity in education, with a particular interest in instructional and assessment practices. She is dedicated to advocating for underrepresented youth and to finding new and creative ways to meet the needs of diverse learners. With the aim of restoring hope in learning to teachers, students, and families, she and a colleague formed a small consultancy, White Stone Consultants. Her greatest joy is casting a vision for young people and standing beside them as they reclaim the truth of who they are, as learners and as "a part of a wondrous whole."

Derrick Keys
Derrick has served the community for the past 15 years by working with many disadvantaged populations in education, community mental health, and corrections.   He currently works for the Department of Corrections Headquarters as a Psychology Associate for the Offender Re-entry Community Safety Program.   His grassroots passion is serving incarcerated youth by offering them support through a faith-based network to provide mentoring through college and/or into a meaningful career path.   He lives in Tacoma, is married and has a daughter. His talents include: singing and cake decorating. Derrick enjoys writing as a hobby.  

Nora Leider
Nora is a member of the Tacoma Catholic worker, an intentional community which serves and lives with the homeless and mentally ill population on Tacoma’s Hilltop. There, she walks with individuals through a transitional housing program and works on community organizing for affordable housing.   She is also active with downtown residents and religious leaders who are advocating for economic justice in Tacoma’s core. Her vision is to foster the growth of "transformative community" in the city.   Nora lives in Tacoma with her husband and two daughters and enjoys gardening and doing art with her daughters.  

Kathy Martin
Kathy recently went back to school to earn her associate’s degree in health care. She has been an active volunteer in the Larchmont and Upper Pacific neighborhood associations for a number of years. She currently works as a community organizer for Safe Streets, after volunteering for the organization for five years. After her teenage daughter was propositioned by a man in their neighborhood, she organized a community “Just Yell Fire” training which teaches anti-date rape techniques for teens, also known as the “Dating Bill of Rights.” Kathy is passionate about the work she does and hopes to make her community safer for the young ladies. She enjoys doing crafts and horseback riding. 

Lawanda “Denice” Randle
As an Act Six Leadership and Scholarship Initiative recipient, Denice graduated from Whitworth University in 2007 with a BA in English/Language Arts. She went on to obtain a Masters Degree in Education- with Teaching Cert from Pacific Lutheran University in 2008. Currently working for Making a Difference in Community (MDC), Denice is a devoted TRIO-Upward Bound teacher and Program Coordinator at Henry Foss High School. This outreach service program allows her to assist first-generation, high-need students with reliable strategies to aid them in graduating from high school and excelling as leaders on college and university campuses. For Denice, there is no greater role than serving as a teacher and grassroots leader to the outstanding youth in the classrooms and communities across Pierce County. Denice is passionate about social equality, education and racial reconciliation.  

John Wesley Levi III
John works for Communities in Schools as the director of the after-school program at Sheridan Elementary on Tacoma’s East Side.   He is passionate about making a career out of community jobs, and believes that “human capital is the greatest economic stimulus.” John works to relate with all of the children at Sheridan and is proud to be a role model for them. He enjoys learning, writing short stories, poetry and listening to people’s life experiences and going into nature to admire life's beauty, peace and serenity. John’s hobbies include drumming and debate. He lives with his wife and two children in East Tacoma.  

Peter Williams
Peter is a transplant from California and came to the Tacoma area several years ago. With the help of friends who were already working here, he purposefully set out to make a difference in the Parkland community after feeling the call to work with at-risk youth.   He currently works with Upward Bound/College Bound, an organization that serves low-income and first generation students to help them get to college, as a teacher/counselor at Washington High School in the Franklin Pierce School District. Since his arrival, the program has grown from nine to nearly fifty five students. Peter also works with Youth for Christ’s Campus Life program in Parkland. He lives in Parkland with his wife and three kids, where they just bought a house. Peter is involved in his church, loves biking, baseball, and basketball.

Jane's Fellowship Program Graduates

The fellows in the first three classes demonstrated exceptional creativity, courage and commitment in serving diverse needs in Tacoma and Pierce County. The fellows who have completed the program continue to work together as a network of Jane's Fellowship Program Graduates. The foundation looks forward to the continuing impact the graduate group will have in Tacoma/Pierce County.

For application information, please click here. To learn more about Jane's Fund or Jane's Fellowship Program, please contact Program Manager Susan Dobkins at .