About Us

Zsa Zsa organized the first homeless march in Eugene, Oregon. “I had $1800 in my pocket and two jobs but no one would rent to me. I was living in a Pinto with 3 kids.” She worked with the head of the NAACP to bring attention to local racial and economic injustice and was appointed to the Springfield (OR) Human Rights Commission where she served for a 4-year term.

After experiencing too many years of homelessness, Zsa Zsa moved into Camp Second Chance in South Seattle where she quickly became a respected leader and board member. She was trusted to mediate conflicts and counsel campers. She describes her role as “Creating a community where people felt safe and at least liked, if not loved, although love is best. And I listened because everything matters.” Zsa Zsa also used her considerable administrative skills to set up the camp’s first bookkeeping system and database.

Zsa Zsa has since moved into permanent housing and continues to advocate for people experiencing homelessness. She began as a consumer advocate for the Community Advisory Group (CAG) of the Seattle/King County’s Health Care for the Homeless Network (HCHN) and was voted onto the Executive Committee. Zsa Zsa currently serves as Vice Chair where she develops agendas for the executive board, determines training needs and facilitates meetings, in addition to her outreach work on the streets.

Building community isn’t just a strong value for Zsa Zsa, it’s part of her DNA. Her grandmother’s family was one of the first Black families in Eugene. Prior to moving into town, they lived in a tent city along the Willamette River. At that time Black people were not allowed to live within the city limits. In the 1960s, Zsa Zsa’s grandmother Mattie Reynolds ran for Eugene City Council and now has a city park named after her, honoring her commitment to social justice. As Zsa Zsa says, “This is where my sense of empowerment comes from.” Zsa Zsa graduated with honors from Sanford-Brown College in 2009.

“We were oppressed and depressed, but we had one another to raise each other up”

—Mattie Reynolds, Zsa Zsa’s grandmother

Susannah, currently a fundraising consultant, has over 15 years of fundraising and partnership investment experience. She has led fundraising campaigns for environmental justice and land conservation efforts, including working closely with donors and tribal councils to secure over 4,000 acres in Kitsap County at the Port Gamble Forest.

Prior to fundraising, Susannah spent a decade running large-scale art fairs and events for a commercial art and design college.

Susannah is committed to doing work that advances a more sustainable world and more equitable society. She is passionate about the intersectionality of economic justice, land conservation, the right to housing, food sovereignty and Native land rights.

Susannah also serves on the Board of Directors for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe Foundation.

Denise Henrikson is a community builder and cultural animator. Her creativity and persistence has helped launch many enduring cultural happenings in the region. Her faith in humanity remains strong.

She helped organize the first twenty Fremont Summer Solstice Parades and helped build the Fremont Troll. She taught the lantern workshops that launched what is now the annual Luminata Lantern Festival at Green Lake.

Denise initiated the Village Project, an elementary school program where students applied academic lessons around creating classroom businesses, including worker-owned cooperatives. Local business owners mentored the classrooms’ start-ups. The program ran for 25 years..

Denise’s success in building joyful community coalitions led to a career in workforce development for the US Department of Labor & Job Corps. She coached multi-stakeholder partnerships for education and training programs throughout the country, using asset-based assessments and appreciative inquiry to connect people to their passion, strengthen programs, and inform policy.

In 2007, she founded Arts A Glow, an annual lantern festival, in collaboration with the city of Burien. In 2015, she led the Salmon Is Life performance troupe to Paris for the COP21 climate talks. It was there that she had a revelation into the interconnection of climate change, food sovereignty and attainable housing.

The seed of ecoTHRIVE grew from Susan Russell, an artist and Real Change vendor. She had a vision of making art with people experiencing homelessness. Susan and Denise went on to host over 40 art pop-ups at homeless encampments and public spaces throughout King County. They asked “What do you need to thrive?” Listening to hundreds of people tell of heartbreak and resilience was life-changing. Susan and Denise were inspired to convene the ecoTHRIVE team with a mission to create affordable, beautiful villages where people have the time and security to thrive.

In the spring of 2019, Denise approached the city of Burien with a proposal. She needed zoning flexibility to build a small cottage village. The City passed the Affordable Housing Demonstration Program in November 2019 which created a pathway for the ecoTHRIVE project and other missing middle housing.
Denise holds a Master’s Degree in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College and a BFA in Textiles/Crafts from Virginia Commonwealth University. She knows that we are all made of stardust.

With Bachelor’s degrees in political science and interior design, and 20+ years as a copyeditor and project manager, Katie Hogan (she/her) brings a unique and varied background to her role as Project Manager & Interior Designer at Schemata Workshop. Katie is passionate about affordable housing and creating beautiful, equitable spaces that are welcoming and inclusive. Katie is an invaluable member of our Built Environment Circle, which she joined shortly after volunteering at ecoTHRIVE’s booth at the 2021 Seattle Design Festival. She is the lead facilitator for that circle’s meetings, has contributed detailed research on design guidelines and the application of biophilic design in the village, and has used her background in interior design to help us refine our unit and common house designs, among countless other contributions.

Kimberly Leeper, a Seattleite since 1995, is a garden educator, plant and wildlife enthusiast, and regenerative landscape consultant who specializes in food forests, Pacific NW native plants, and beneficial wildlife habitats.

She has a background in school psychology; teaching and learning with children and adults in schools and the forest; community organizing for collaborative emergency preparedness; volunteering with community gardens and plant-related endeavors – Beacon Food Forest for the past 10 years and leading natural landscaping companies for 18 years – currently – Working With Nature. These days Kimberly focuses on consulting, coaching projects, and instructing classes. She loves inspiring people to think more holistically about their landscapes, and create an oasis with lots of foraging opportunities close to home!

Susan is a Real Change vendor who experienced 7+ years of homelessness in Seattle/ King County. She is a requested keynote speaker advocating for human rights, and was awarded the 2018 Real Change Change Agent Award for her work bringing people together through Art, Compassion, Love and Action. Currently, Susan serves as the Program Coordinator for the Phinney Neighborhood Association’s Hot Meals program where she leads a team of volunteers who feed people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity.

In 2016 she co-founded Love Wins Love, to bring people together—homeless and housed—to make art and share stories and ideas for reimagining housing. The conversations generated through Love Wins Love planted the seeds from which EcoTHRIVE Housing has grown. Susan is passionate about creating affordable housing solutions and rebuilding the community as a whole.