King County Staff

Our Staff

We have developed a culture of collaboration and learning at Trillium. You may have a primary point of contact, but behind the scenes, our teams work together to combine strengths and provide quality services. Each member of the team brings a diverse personal and professional background that we hope meets the needs of the businesses and clients we serve.

Janice Berk Nelson

Program Manager

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Janice Nelson has been with Trillium since 1995. She holds a BA degree in Speech Communications from Florida Atlantic University. She has been active in many community organizations including Soroptimist International of Auburn. She was the president of Soroptimist in the 2016-17 club year and has served on the board in many capacities over the years. She served for over 16 years on the Auburn School District Board of Directors and served for four years on the Auburn Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors/Executive Committee (one year). Janice has been successful with her own unique style of job development, which starts with getting to know as many people as possible in her community. Janice holds the Employment Professional Certificate.

Call:253-735-1553Write:Janice@trillium.org

Michelle Suarez

Dee Wilkins

Leah Denniston

Assistant Program Manager

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Leah has been supporting individuals with disabilities since 2009. She believes that each person has the ability to have a career that they are passionate about and is dedicated to ensuring that individuals have equal access to opportunities within their community.

While studying at Western Washington University, Leah worked as a residential care provider in Bellingham, Washington. After graduation, she moved to Seattle and had the opportunity to learn systematic approaches and person-centered support as a job coach for another employment vendor. These experiences led Leah to a position as an Employment Consultant at Trillium in 2013. After years of dedicated service to the Federal Way Transition program, Leah was promoted to Assistant Program manager in 2019 with a focus on working with students in Transition Services. She is able to pull from her years of experience to support the King County School to Work team to foster strong partnerships with stakeholders and provide exceptional service to students and families as they exit the program with a paid position. Leah also holds the Employment Professional Certificate and has provided training for PNW APSE and the Community Summit.

Leah received her bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Western Washington University along with studying American Sign Language and Psychology.

Call:253-735-1553Write:Leah@trillium.org

Liesa Spring

Assistant Program Manager

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Liesa is motivated by seeing Trillium’s clients achieve their full potential. She believes that everyone has the capacity to work and that it is her job to dismantle the barriers that separate someone from contributing their true gifts.

Liesa has assisted clients living in King County to achieve their employment goals since 2014. In 2020, Liesa moved into an assistant program manager role which enables her to activate the next generation of employment consultants to provide the highest quality of service to Trillium’s clients. Liesa holds the Employment Professional Certificate and has provided training with the Employment Professional Certificate Program through Highline College, PNW APSE (Association of People Supporting Employment), and Community Summit.

Liesa holds an associate degree in both Environmental Horticulture and Social and Human Services from Lake Washington Institute of Technology.

Call:253-735-1553Write:Liesa@trillium.org

Jacob Eskew

Diane Marunda

Casey Serquinia

Senior Employment Consultant

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Casey joined Trillium after working 6 years in the Kent School District’s Transition program. Through this experience she helped prepare young adults for careers, developed community-based internship opportunities, developed job skills, and prepared students for life after school. Casey realized that everyone could learn a job skill and that most people want to work to be a part of their community, which brought her to work in supported employment. Additionally, Casey has been a Special Olympics coach since 1985 through the Auburn Parks Department. Casey specializes in job development in unique industries. Her strengths are in leveraging community relationship, informal networks, and approaching independent businesses to develop carved positions. Casey has great talent when it comes to discovering a job seeker’s strengths; she can identify and translate information into marketable skills. Casey holds the Employment Professional Certificate.

Call:253-735-1553Write:Casey@trillium.org

Russ Crown

Olivia Pomata

Dina Friah

Senior Employment Consultant

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Dina was born in Kuwait and migrated here with her family when she was eight years old. She has been living in Washington State for the past several years. Her dad signed her up for the Boys & Girls Club and got her involved in the community early on. At the age of 14, she accepted a job with them to read to the kids. After eight years working for the Boys & Girls Club, she decided to start a non-profit after school program at Campbell Hill Elementary. This path led her to Trillium. She is excited to start a new chapter and thankful to be a part of a community that makes a difference in people’s lives every day. In her free time, she enjoys hiking with friends, watching the sunset or sunrise, and participating in outdoor activities.

Call:253-735-1553Write:dina.friah@trillium.org

Hesamuddin Sami

Senior Employment Consultant

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Hesamuddin Sami was born and raised in Afghanistan and moved to the US in 2014 with his family. He worked back in Afghanistan for almost 12 years with different humanitarian organizations such as International Rescue Committee, USAID project and United Nations in the position of Admin/ Finance, Training officer, and supply chain.

He graduated from Green River College with an Associate Degree in accounting. After Hesamuddin graduated from college he worked as an accountant with a construction company in Kent, WA. Hesamuddin loves to play volleyball, hiking and travel. He has also worked as a volunteer with a community based non-profit organization in Kent since 2018.

Call:253-735-1553Write:Hesamuddin.Sami@trillium.orgLanguage(s):Pashto and Dari (speaks)