Our Board
HPIC is a volunteer-driven non-profit. All Board members are unpaid neighbors working to ensure the continued viability of HPIC for the good of our neighborhood.
Board meetings are on the 2nd Wednesday of every month at 6:30 pm.
2026 board members
President: Amy Durgin | Board Member Since 2024
Amy joined the Highland Park community in June of 2023. While exploring the trails at Westcrest Park she saw a sign for volunteering with the HPIC and immediately reached out. Shortly after, she helped coordinate and set up the Trick Or Trees Halloween pet costume contest and free tree give-away. She also started joining the Thursday night gatherings at the Highland Park Corner Store. Neighbors were welcoming and friendly and she quickly started to see familiar faces between HPIC and the Corner Store gatherings. The community feel was immediate and she knew she wanted to get involved even more. Listening to HPIC members reminisce about the memories and relationships they’ve built through the community has been something truly special. While still a new member of the community, Amy is excited to build relationships and to support the continued growth of the HPIC. Apart from the club, Amy is a leadership coach and change management specialist. She enjoys spending time with her dog, Brock, working on her new home, and swimming or bicycling as much as possible.
Vice president: Alex Wheeler | Board Member Since 2024
Alex has lived in Highland Park since 2020. He joined the HPIC board with more than 13 years of nonprofit experience, both as an employee and volunteer. Originally from the Great Plains of Nebraska, Alex tries to embody the well known midwestern friendliness, and is thrilled at the community around HPIC. These days he likes to hike in the summer and cook in the winter. If you see him walking through the neighborhood with his Doberman Pinscher, Lincoln, be sure to say hello!
Treasurer: Rachel Chernin | Board Member Since 2024
Rachel has lived in Highland Park since 2006. She has loved the HP spirit and the strong connections people feel to this neighborhood. Rachel’s background is working in Finance and Operations with a local LGBTQ+ nonprofit, GSBA. She is excited to work with this team to help rebuild the HPIC home. She and her family look forward to meeting even more neighbors at future community activities.
Trustee: Kay Kirkpatrick | Board Member Since 2008
Stewardship Focus: Garden maintenance and oversight, general building maintenance, Signage and Membership committee lead, Giant Garage sale organizer, Highland Park Uncorked and other HPIC event decoration lead.
Bio: Kay has lived in Highland Park since 1999. After years of walking by HPIC she started attending membership meetings there and came to that “ah-hah moment” realizing our neighborhood had inherited a free clubhouse. Not something you see every day in these times in the big city. All we had to do was take some responsibility for it, and enjoy it like those before us. The activities and connections she has made there have become one of her favorite things about Highland Park. Kay has an art studio practice in the neighborhood and does public art installations around the region, as well as working as a librarian for The Seattle Public Library.
Trustee: Billy Stauffer | Board Member Since 2014
Bio: Billy and his wife, Carolyn Stauffer, have lived in Highland Park since the spring of 2005. They are busy raising three young boys (Franklin 9, Wiley 7, and Sidney 5) and look forward to Corner Bar EVERY SINGLE MONTH! Billy has been very active in Highland park ever since moving into the neighborhood. He and his wife were captivated by the energy of the neighborhood and moved to action when the city of Seattle threatened to build a jail at the bottom of our little hill. It was during an HPAC meeting in 2010 when Billy became so incensed at the notion of this happening he was quoted saying, “he’d chain himself to a bulldozer before he let a jail get built anywhere near his Highland Park home.” (WSB article here)
Since then he’s calmed down, but the 4 years after that meeting Billy and Carolyn became co-chairs of HPAC (until 2016) and led several other initiatives that hit home just as hard (homelessness, strange humming sounds, and Highland Park elementary, to name a few), too many exciting meetings to describe here. Billy and Carolyn were glad to have handed the reigns off to fresh energetic leaders while focusing on their family. Billy is an architect and a general contractor. In 2014, he was asked to join the HPIC board as a trustee and has been working together with the other members to reprogram and remodel the club to better suit its members.
Trustee: Galen Van Horn | Board Member Since 2024
Galen has loved living in Highland Park since 2021. He grew up cooking alongside his mother, who taught him how to bring people together over food. He worked as a professional baker for nearly 10 years, pursuing a passion for creative recipes and the “magic” (science) of fermentation. He’s led seed-to-table culinary education programs for middle-school students and worked in social sector consulting, supporting change management and strategic planning. He currently manages the Washington State Local Food System Infrastructure grant, investing in local food supply chain capacity for our vibrant small farm and food business entrepreneurs. He’s a twin dad, an avid gardener, a board game nerd, and an amateur trumpet player.
Trustee: Nick Montrond | Board Member Since 2024
Nick moved to Highland Park in 2019, drawn intentionally to the neighborhood because of friends who spoke highly of it, the allure of cool, locally-owned businesses, and the diversity. When he’s not on an adventure in the neighborhood with his partner and toddler, you’re likely to find him baking an ambitious number of cookies or enjoying a few games of bowling. Recently, Nick’s commitment to the community led him to take a step further by joining the HPIC board. As a new member, he is excited to bring weird ideas and energy to the table. Nick looks forward to learning from the experienced board members and to serve the community he has grown to love.
Trustee: Silva Ianeva | Board Member Since 2024
Silva moved to Highland Park in 2009 and started volunteering at HPIC soon after as she was excited to meet new people, participate in the club activities and help in organizing events for the local community. In 2024 she joined the HPIC board to work with the other members in rebuilding the club, so it can resume the events and activities beloved by the community, and add new ones which the new modern club would be able to offer. Silva also enjoys dancing and walks in nature.
Trustee: Emily Schauer | Board Member Since 2024
Emily has lived in the neighborhood since 2016. She first experienced HPIC through the Corner Bar and holiday markets and was immediately drawn to the community that HPIC cultivates. Emily joined the Board in 2024 to support marketing and communications efforts, ensuring that HPIC is strongly connected to that community. For over a decade Emily has led communications for businesses going through moments of inflection. She grew up in the Pacific Northwest and returned here with her partner after their Peace Corps service. In her free time, Emily loves to try new creative outlets, go on public transit adventures with her two young kids, tend her garden, and generally be outside with friends.
Trustee: Tina Skilton | Board Member Since 2026
Tina grew up in West Seattle and has lived in Highland Park since 1993, which means she got to experience the old building! She’s enjoyed so many aspects of the vibrant community here in Highland Park: being involved in the PTA at Highland Park Elementary, taking part in book clubs, socializing with neighbors over the fence during COVID, supporting free summer meals at Highland Park Playground, walking her dog at Westcrest, and of course attending the great events put on by HPIC over the years. She works for the City of Seattle supporting child nutrition programs and brings a community resiliency lens to the HPIC board. She’s excited to get to know even more wonderful neighbors, support a variety of fun activities, foster inclusivity and giving back, and to just have a good time being a part of community.
Trustee: Kyle Huber | Board Member Since 2026
Kyle moved to Highland Park in May 2025 hoping to build deeper community connections in my new neighborhood. When he discovered HPIC that September at a First Friday event just five blocks from his house, he knew he’d found the right place to get involved. Kyle is inspired by what the current board is working to accomplish during this rebuilding phase. There’s something exciting about being part of an organization at this particular moment – so much history behind it, and so much still ahead. Professionally, Kyle works as a Senior IT Business Analyst for the WA State Department of Natural Resources and holds an MBA from UW with strong grounding in finance and operations. While he has experience with software systems and data analysis, Kyle excited to take on different roles wherever the board needs support most. Beyond the technical work, Kyle is passionate about what HPIC represents: a century-old organization that brings neighbors together. Whether through gardening, home renovation projects, music, or gathering people around food, Kyle loves creating and nurturing community – and board service feels like a natural extension of those values