Amy Wasser
Interim Executive Director
Amy (She/Her) joins the Bus as a 20+ year non-profit professional. She served as the interim executive director for University Beyond Bars, from May 2017 – May 2018 and spent 18 years at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle as their Vice President for Planning and Community Services. Her foci are in strategic planning and implementation, fundraising, leadership development, and building high performing teams. Amy has spent the majority of her career in the areas of health and human services and education. She enjoys digging into operations and programming challenges, analyzing complex situations to determine root causes, and developing real-world solutions to successfully address problems using a unified team approach which includes professional staff and organizational volunteer leaders, all working towards the same objectives. Amy has a master’s degree in social work, with a concentration in community organization, is recently remarried, and has three children ages 18-23 and enjoys baking, hot yoga, and traveling in her spare time. You can reach Amy by email at amy[at]washingtonbus[dot]org.
Annie Hout
Development Director
Annie (She/Her/Hers) was born and raised in Tacoma, WA. She is passionate about the transformative impact of philanthropy. Annie joins the Bus from Seattle University where she worked with donors and volunteers since 2012 and recently earned a master’s in nonprofit leadership. She currently serves on the board of the Nonprofit Assistance Center, which supports marginalized communities through organizational capacity building, leadership development, and systems change. Away from the office, you can find her enjoying friends, family and food, preferably all at the same time. You can reach Annie by email at annie[at]washingtonbus[dot]org.
Emma Scalzo
King County Engagement Manager
Emma (She/Hers) is a recent grad of Western Washington University (WWU) where she majored in Political Science and Sociology. She first became involved with grassroots organizing as a field manager on a campaign to “Save the Honeybees.” Along with Bridget, she continued those efforts by registering voters, organizing GOTV, and lobbying at WWU. Outside of organizing, Emma enjoys watching movies and listening to podcasts. Send recommendations her way! You can reach Emma by email at emma[at]washingtonbus[dot]org.
Taemin Um
Program Director
Taemin (He/Him/His) oversees all programming to ensure the Washington Bus is making positive political and social impacts within the community. Taemin started working on political campaigns in 2014 and has since supported candidates on local, state, and federal levels. He also spent two years as the Legislative Aide to a State House Member. Most recently, Taemin worked to empower volunteers into action with the Washington State Democrats. Taemin grew up in Bellevue, Washington and went to school across the mountains at Eastern Washington University. In his free time, you can see Taemin cheering for the Seattle Mariners hoping this is the year they go to the playoffs. You can reach Taemin by email at taemin[at]washingtonbus[dot]org.
Will Kittel
Leadership Development Coordinator
Will (she/her) started at the Bus in summer of 2016 as an intern after graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in English and Education. Will then came back in summer of 2017 as a fellow and worked on the Washington Voting Justice campaign. After teaching in South King County for two years, Will is back at the Bus as the Leadership Development Coordinator. When not at the Bus, Will enjoys reading new books, listening to Beyoncé, and learning new languages. You can reach Will by email at will[at]washingtonbus[dot]org.
Vote Bot
Official Mascot
Vote Bot is a sophisticated democracy robot sent back in time to change the future for one lucky state. And that lucky winner just so happens to be our very own Evergreen State, Washington. They came to us to break down barriers to voting and take names. Vote Bot comes from a place where voter registration is automatic for all eligible voters, turnout for the most local of elections is always 100%, where there’s a voting drop box in every home, and a young person heading out to get civically involved on every street!
Vote Bot isn’t only the hero we have, but the one we deserve. Helping us engage young people in politics and building the next generation of young leaders in Washington is hard wired into Vote Bot, and with them on board the Bus we’ll keep winning year after year!