Board Chair

Ellen is the Founder and former Executive Director of a nonprofit F-factor, est. 2008. Ellen successfully led the merger of F-factor and Ruby Room in 2016, bringing together two organizations with the same mission to Empower Youth Through Fashion.

Ellen provides leadership to the organization that has built a community of support reaching hundreds of youth every year. In founding the F-factor, she is the visionary behind what is now Ruby Room’s signature Fashion Workshop program, RubyRox Box care packages and the Holiday Giving program. Joining forces with Ruby Room, she led the expansion of programs to include provisions of he/him formal attire, a quinceañera dress program, and a cosmetics bar for clients.

Ellen is passionate about providing service to others, especially children. Having lived the experience of foster children in her immediate and extended family, she is humbled by the tenacious spirit of children who face such adversity.

In 2019, Ellen was awarded The Mother Ryther Home Award by Ryther Child Center in Seattle for meeting the needs and given inspiration to children in foster care. In 2023, 425 Magazine recognized Ellen as Citizen of the Year. Again in 2023, Seattle’s NWSL the OL Reign and Starbucks named Ellen a “Legend” for her extraordinary contributions to the PNW community.

Treasurer

Damaris grew up in Henderson, Nevada, and was raised by a single mom. She attended college at the University of Nevada, Reno, started her career in public accounting shortly after graduation, and obtained her Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification in 2011. In 2012, she moved to Seattle to pursue managerial roles for publicly traded companies in the fields of accounting and finance. In 2020 she graduated again from the University of Nevada, Reno with her Master of Business Administration (MBA).

For the last several years she has worked at a fast-paced publicly held biotech company in Seattle as a Senior Manager in Finance. She co-leads the membership engagement pillar of the Women’s Employee Resource Group and works on outreach within the community.

Damaris joined the Ruby Room Board of Directors as Treasurer in 2022. In this role, Damaris will bring forth her advanced understanding of policies, practices, trends, and information that impact the organization and plan for each step of the Ruby Room’s future endeavors.

Damaris enjoys spending time with her family and dogs, tasting at wineries, experimenting with fashion trends, and working out.

Director

Jan Trasen was invited to join the Ruby Room board of directors in 2020, after serving on the board of NCL, an experience she enjoys with her younger of two daughters.

Jan is an attorney at the Washington Appellate Project, where she and her colleagues represent needy individuals across our state. She and her family moved here in 2008 after she served as a public defender at the Legal Aid Society in New York for 10 years. She is also a member of the Cardozo Society and has served on the board of Lawyers Helping Hungry Children.

Jan enjoys hanging out with her daughters, her dog, and volunteering at the Ruby Room.

Director

Becca Johnson is an Image Stylist, Body Confidence Coach, Model, and Speaker. The founder and owner of Becca Jae Styling, she has over 16 years in the fashion and wellness industries and a bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design & Merchandising.

Becca has found her purpose in empowering, uplifting, and loving others by helping them see their uniqueness and authentically express that through their style and wardrobe! Throughout the years, Becca has volunteered for several non profits including her family's passion project The Soule Foundation and former board member of Seattle’s Alopecia Support Group.

Becca enjoys spending time outside in nature preferably in the sun, is a music enthusiast and can often be found dancing (even if just in her chair), & adventure!

DIRECTOR

Monalisa has 13+ years of experience as a product leader across consumer and enterprise product management, management consulting, business development, people management and entrepreneurship. Monalisa brings together strategic thinking and product designing expertise to develop products, coaching budding product managers and startup founders in and outside of work.

Monalisa received her MBA, Strategy and Finance, from Duke University after earning a bachelor of Fashion Technology, Apparel Manufacturing & Information Technology from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi. Monalisa is passionate about fashion and business and looks forward to using her expertise to advance the mission of the Ruby Room and serve her local community.

DIRECTOR

Rebecca Reese, a global public relations professional with 15 years of experience, currently manages corporate communications for Microsoft. While most of her experience has been in technology, she’s always had a passion for fashion as well helping her local community.

At the Ruby Room, Rebecca focuses on communications and marketing focused on growing awareness for the organization. In her free time, Rebecca enjoys reading, podcasts, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.

Director

Zhenia became an ardent supporter of the Ruby Room in 2009 after seeing the impact an event had on a young girl. Growing up in the Soviet Union, Zhenia was in an environment where resources and options were limited. Moving to the US enabled her to find her artistic expression through fashion. There are many young people in King County similarly constrained by financial resources and a limited ability to express themselves as they dream.

In high school and college, Zhenia pursued various internships and extracurricular experiences in fashion before choosing a career at Microsoft.

At Ruby Room, Zhenia is Director of Business Development, focused on growing the non-profit's reach. Her goal is to delight many more Ruby Room clients by helping to make their dreams come true.