MISSION
The Whatcom Peace & Justice Center promotes lasting peace, social justice, and a culture of nonviolence at home and worldwide. We accomplish this through partnerships, education, and direct action.
VISION
The Whatcom Peace & Justice Center works to create a voice for peace and social justice in Whatcom County through partnerships with local community and religious organizations, direct action, public witness, and education on alternatives to violence and war. We call on our government and society to disavow policies of violence and seek a culture of peace.
HISTORYThe idea for the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center (WPJC) came about in early 2002 among participants of the Bellingham Peace Vigil, the nation’s longest-running weekly peace vigil (1967-present). WPJC began under the sponsorship of the Bellingham Quakers and received its own non-profit status in February 2005.
The center was formed not only to address U.S. aggression against the people of Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq, but to establish an organization fostering nonviolence as a way of life and as a tool of domestic and foreign policy. |
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STAFF & BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Our Executive Director collaborates closely with our working Board of Directors and volunteers.
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FIONA MARTINEZCommunications Intern
Fiona Martinez is a poet and student from Boise, Idaho, of Mexican and Irish descent. She is currently studying Creative Writing at Western Washington University, with minors in Spanish and Education & Social Justice. As a proud leader and member of Honors Students of Color, she advocates for creating a safe and inclusive space for BIPOC students within a predominantly white institution. Fiona is devoting her time at WPJC to growing community relationships, expanding her knowledge of peace and abolitionist efforts, and engaging in transformative work beyond the university. She believes in creativity as an act of resistance and seeks to harness the power of her poetry as a tool for activism.
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JOSH CERRETTISecretary
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Josh Cerretti is an organizer and educator who has lived on Coast Salish territory since 2014. He is a co-founder of the prison abolition organization Imagine No Kages and works as an Assistant Professor of History and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Western Washington University. Prior to moving to the Pacific Northwest, Josh earned his PhD in Global Gender Studies in Buffalo, NY where he also worked in LGBTQ health. His writing has appeared in Radical History Review, Gender and History, WIN: The War Resisters League Journal, The Feminist Wire, and Peace and Conflict Monitor.
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Kat David was born and raised on the Kitsap Peninsula and moved to Bellingham in 2012 to attend Western Washington University. With a Masters of Science from WWU in Mental Health Counseling, Kat has been practicing counseling for over 6 years. She is passionate about supporting healing in oppressed communities, understanding ancestral and racialized trauma, and studying different systems of healing. She also loves spending time with her cat, creating, singing karaoke and reading graphic novels.
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I grew up in Pistoia, Italy. My father and all his family were Italian. My mother’s family was primarily composed of Irish immigrants to the United States. Lucky to have dual citizenship, I moved to the United States in 1999 to go to college. Since 2009, I have been teaching (and learning) mathematics at Northwest Indian College, a college chartered by the Lummi Tribe. I have served on the board of the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center since 2010. My primary cultural commitment is my dedication to study the Afro-Brasilian artform Capoeira Angola, under the guidance of my teacher, Mestre Silvio Aleixo dos Reis, of the International Capoeira Foundation, who I have been learning from since 2008.
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EVE SMASON-MARCUSBoard of Directors |
BETH GIRMABoard of Directors |
YOAV LITVINTreasurer
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Eve Smason-Marcus [they/them] was born and raised in Seattle’s Northend Jewish community. They moved to Bellingham in 2008 to attend Western Washington University, where they graduated with a Bachelors of Music in Vocal Performance. They have lived in Bellingham for the last 14 years as a renter, musician, organizer, teacher, service industry worker, baklava baker, and avid card player. Over the years they have been involved with the Whatcom Human Rights Taskforce, Whatcom Youth Pride, Birchwood Food Desert Fighters, People First Bellingham, Bellingham Unity Committee, and other local groups. They believe in building community power as a sustainable movement through radical self-love, community accountability, transformative justice, mutual aid, art, and dreaming into reality, a world without policing and prisons.
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Beth Girma (she/they) was raised between the Pacific Northwest and across the world in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, where most of their family resides. Beth moved up to Bellingham in 2018 and is studying Law, Diversity & Justice, and pursuing a minor in Education & Social Justice at Western Washington University (WWU). Beth has been working in direct service and youth advocacy in shelters, schools, jails, and other programs. In addition to her advocacy work, Beth is a teaching artist at Make Shift Art Space as their Education Director. Beth is passionate about implementing revolutionary and abolitionist thoughts & practices into art curriculums and believes in the importance of creativity as an outlet for the trauma and oppression that marginalized people face, especially those incarcerated in jails and prisons. This is why most of her organizing work focuses on building support systems for unhoused & incarcerated folks. In her downtime, Beth enjoys practicing her creative skills by writing, doing graphic design/illustration, reading, and watching lots of movies!
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Yoav Litvin is a doctor of psychology, a photographer and writer. In his work, he investigates the intersections of science, the arts and politics and aims to promote creative and radical causes with a focus on the natural environment, urban culture, social movements and peoples.
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HARMONY DEVANEYBoard of Directors
Harmony is an Iñupiaq Alaskan Native artist and advocate. They were born and raised in Bellingham and now attend Western Washington University studying American Cultural Studies with an emphasis in American Indian Studies and minoring in Education and Social Justice. From a very young age Harmony always knew they wanted to help people.
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KEY VOLUNTEERS
Volunteers power the work of the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center
MARTINA BOYDVolunteer
As a German immigrant, I learned early of the injustices perpetrated by the Hitler regime. I knew my passion would be to help, never harm, and make a difference. I have spent 45 years caring for all peoples as a registered nurse. In my retirement, I continue to serve by volunteering, which encompasses not only the WPJC but Lydia Place, the Friday peace vigil and NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Health). I enjoy spending time with my wonderful, loving family, hiking the trails around Bellingham and good friends.
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KEARA RYANWWU, Climate Leadership Fellow
Keara Ryan (she/her) is a senior at Western Washington University pursuing a major in Sociology, a double minor in Political Science and Holocuast & Genocide Studies, and the Climate Leadership Certificate. She has served as the ASWWU Director of the Office of Civic Engagement and Student Trustee. Recently, she has been elected as the Associated Students President at WWU. Keara hopes to use her time at WPJC to gain hands-on experience community building and organizing around social justice, peace, and the intersections of both of these with the environment. Being raised in Snoqualmie, WA by a single-mother Keara’s family experienced yearly flooding that impacted her childhood. These experiences and her interdisciplinary education have been foundational in fueling her passion for environmental justice.
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JANET MARINOVolunteer
Raised in the Pacific Northwest, Janet holds a B.A. in political science from Western Washington University and has over 18 years of experience in nonprofit management and operations. She is currently Program Director at a regional environmental nonprofit. She can be found volunteering for the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center, at the Subdued Stringband Jamboree, and for various campaigns throughout Whatcom County. In her spare time you can find her making music with friends, working in the garden, drawing, or coordinating some sort of delicious gathering.
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