Advisory Board

Sally Aiken

Physician, Forensic Pathologist/Medical Examiner

• BS, Bacteriology and Public Health, Washington State University
• MD, University of Washington

Sally Aiken graduated from WSU in 1978 and attended medical school at the University of Washington, receiving her medical doctorate degree in 1982. She is board-certified in Clinical and Anatomic Pathology and in Forensic Pathology.

Sally worked in San Joaquin County California for nine years, before returning to Spokane in 2000 where she served as chief medical examiner during many of her years at the Spokane County Medical Examiners Office. The office became one of the approximately one-hundred fully accredited medical examiner offices in the United States during her early tenure in Spokane. The Spokane office expanded into a state-of-the-art facility in 2020. She retired from full-time employment in 2021.

Sally was president of the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) in 2020 and has served on and chaired multiple NAME committees. She’s received frequent NAME awards, including the STAR award. She is near the end of her term as a member of the Forensic Sciences Standards Board, an initiative of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (the Organization of Scientific Area Committees).

Sally has been married for nearly 50 years to a fellow WSU alum, and they have three children and four grandchildren. As a daughter of a physical education teacher, Sally enjoys running, cycling, skiing, swimming, and hiking.

Jen Berg

Manager of Global Public Policy, Starbucks Coffee Company

• BA, Political Science and Philosophy, Washington State University

Jen Berg is an experienced government affairs and political and development professional. In her current role at Starbucks, she manages global public policy.

Prior to joining Starbucks in 2019, as a political consultant, she advised non-profits, political organizations, and candidates on event strategy, planning and execution as well as fundraising. She was a senior member of the williamsworks consulting team focusing on projects related to civic engagement and voting and recovery in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.

Jen served as the Pacific Northwest Finance Director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign covering Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, and Northern California. During her time with Hillary For America, she led fundraising efforts in the region as well as orchestrated events and special projects, including large-scale “Get Out the Vote” political events in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, and a national voter protection hotline program in New York City.

Prior to her time with the Clinton Campaign, she served a number of elected officials, including Senator Patty Murray in her official US Senate office assisting with strategy and outreach; Senator Kay Hagan in North Carolina for her 2014 reelection campaign; and Washington State Governor Jay Inslee on his first gubernatorial election in 2012.

A native of Washington, Jen holds a BA in political science and philosophy from Washington State University.

Jason Berry

Vice President of Impact and Innovation, Junior Achievement of Washington

• BA, History, Whitman College
• MA, Kinesiology, San Jose State University

Jason Berry has devoted more than 20 years to nonprofit leadership, with a career rooted in advancing community well-being and economic opportunity. He served as executive director of the Auburn Valley YMCA for 12 years before joining Junior Achievement of Washington—the largest nonprofit in the state and nation focused on financial literacy, career readiness, and entrepreneurship. As vice president of Impact and Innovation, Jason oversees programming, drives programmatic innovation and strategic partnerships, and leads data and evaluation efforts across Washington and northern Idaho.

Throughout his career, Jason has been deeply engaged in human services, public policy, and education. He chaired the City of Auburn’s Human Services Committee and contributed to strategic planning initiatives for the Auburn School District and Green River College. He currently serves on the Washington Economic Justice Alliance Advisory Committee and volunteers as a youth basketball coach.

Born and raised in Pullman, WSU has played an important role in Jason’s life. He is a proud community college product, attending Wenatchee Valley College before earning a bachelor’s degree in history from Whitman College and a master’s in kinesiology from San Jose State University. Outside of work, Jason and his family enjoy traveling, food, playing sports, and cheering on their favorite teams — especially the Cougs.

Jim Hanna

Director, Datacenter Community Development
Microsoft

• BS, Environmental Science, Washington State University

In mid-2016, Jim Hanna joined Microsoft as the company’s first director of datacenter sustainability, providing strategic environmental direction in the fields of land-use, green building, energy and water to the company’s growing cloud computing platform. Today, he leads the company’s focus on urban planning and community prosperity in its datacenter communities around the world.

Previously, Jim served ten years as global director of environmental impact for Starbucks, where he led the company’s overall sustainability function and contributed to enterprise-wide initiatives that supported green building, energy conservation, international procurement, recycling and waste reduction efforts, in addition to serving as Starbucks external voice and policy advocate for its sustainability vision and platform.

Prior to Starbucks, Jim served as director of environmental affairs for Xanterra Parks & Resorts at Yellowstone National Park. In the position, he oversaw Xanterra’s many progressive environmental initiatives in its operations as the primary concessionaire in the park, including an ISO 14001-certified Environmental Management System. Before escaping to Yellowstone, he worked as director of operations for Teris Environmental in Los Angeles, managing the company’s seven regional offices in North America.

A native of Olympia, Washington, Jim earned a BS in environmental sciences from Washington State University and is a U.S. Green Building Council LEED-accredited professional. He serves on the boards of the Washington Environmental Council and Yellowstone Park Foundation.

Serign Marong

Physician, Author

• BS, Biology, Washington State University
• MD, University of Washington

A family medicine physician, Serign Marong graduated with honors with his bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in Spanish in 2002. He went on to earn his medical degree from the University of Washington School of Medicine in 2010 and is certified through the American Board of Family Medicine.

Serign has been honored with many awards and scholarships over the years, including the prestigious WSU President’s Award for Leadership, as well as being listed in the Golden Key National Honor Society and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

Dr. Marong was a student athlete throughout high school and college, having played football, basketball, track, and golf. He went on to play college football as a linebacker for Washington State University from 1997-2001 and was a 3-time PAC-10 All-Academic student athlete. In his free time, Serign enjoys sports, spending time with his big blended family and friends, and traveling when able.

Patricia McInturff, Chair

• BA, Sociology, Washington State University
• Master’s in Public Administration, University of Puget Sound

Patricia received her BA from WSU and a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Puget Sound. She grew up in Skagit County and spent her professional career in Seattle, primarily in local government and public health. She held many positions with Public Health-Seattle & King County including Director of Regional Services where she was responsible for epidemiology and the infectious/communicable disease programs including HIV/AIDS during the first ten years of the epidemic. She spent a sabbatical as a Visiting Scholar at the Centers for Disease and Prevention and finished her career as the Director of the City of Seattle’s Human Services Department. During her public health career, she held an appointment as Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Washington, Department of Health Services, School of Public Health and Community Medicine. After retiring, Patricia did volunteer work related to STI/HIV and consulting for the federal government evaluating HIV/AIDS programs in southern Africa.

She and her husband, Hunter Handsfield, a retired Professor of Medicine at the UW, split their time between their Seattle home and their second home in Hawaii. She is a lifelong supporter of Harborview Medical Center, where she served as a Trustee for many years. She is an avid traveler and biker. She serves on several nonprofit boards and remains active in local politics.

Stephanie Schweitzer

• BA, Economics, Washington State University
• Certificate, Stanford University Executive Program
• MA, Interior Design (May 2027 expected), Washington State University

Stephanie Schweitzer graduated with a bachelor’s of arts in economics from Washington State University in 2000. A Pullman native, she went on to lead the marketing and communications organization at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories as its chief marketing officer. She is currently a full-time graduate student in interior design at WSU and hopes to work in residential design—especially within the area of “aging in place”—upon graduation. Stephanie is a member of the Pullman Education Foundation Board of Directors and supports philanthropic causes related to immigrant rights, animal welfare, and education. She lives in Pullman with her husband and young son.

Shoresh Shafei

Data Analyst, Microsoft

• BS, Physics, University of Tehran
• MS, Physics, Washington State University
• PhD, Physics, Washington State University

Shoresh Shafei, a Kudish Iranian, received his Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of Tehran. He continued his academic journey at Washington State University (WSU), where he earned both his master’s and PhD under the mentorship of Professor Mark Kuzyk and co-advisor Professor Rick Lytel.

A distinguished scholar, Shafei is the author of six published papers and the recipient of numerous accolades, including a 2012 scholarship from the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE) and the WSU President’s Leadership and Service Award. Following his doctoral studies, he completed a three-year postdoctoral research position at Duke University with David Beratan.

Transitioning to the private sector, Shafei has built a successful career as a data scientist at leading technology and media companies, including Google, HBO, and Microsoft, where he currently serves. In addition to his corporate work, he is teaching a course in marketing analytics at the University of Washington and advising startups on their data strategies.

Tiffany West

• BA, Communications, Washington State University

Tiffany earned her bachelor’s degree in communications from the Edward R. Murrow College of Communications in 1995, specializing in broadcast journalism.

Tiffany’s professional experience is in public relations and marketing, where she’s helped organizations of all sizes—from non-profits to global brands—build awareness and achieve growth. She began her career at the Better Business Bureau of Oregon and Western Washington, where she served as a frequent contributor on the KCPQ morning news and for other local print and broadcast media, educating consumers on how to make informed choices and spot questionable business practices.

Across her 20+ year career, Tiffany has led go-to-market strategies, product launch strategies, and awareness campaigns for a range of notable brands, including Vivendi Universal, Hallmark, Disney Interactive, NCR, GE Healthcare, Microsoft, The Experience Music Project (EMP), WhitePages.com, and several regional healthcare staffing technology companies. Tiffany has also guided communication strategies through mergers and acquisitions, supported efforts to secure venture capital funding, and coached C-suite executives on how to effectively speak with the media.

Originally from the Puget Sound area of Western Washington, Tiffany and her husband Jeff, also a 1995 Washington State grad (BA Business), made a move to Scottsdale in 2025 with their 16-year-old pug Lily to enjoy retirement and the more than 300 days of sunshine the desert offers each year.

Tiffany and Jeff love to travel. Together they’ve explored nearly a dozen countries and are always looking forward to the next adventure. Tiffany’s loyalty to WSU runs deep, and she’s always quick to share her Coug pride and passion for the university with everyone she meets.