OUR TEAM

Pronouns: He/him

Mysonne is committed to practicing advocacy alongside his communities and peers. He maintains a sociological lens, viewing all spaces as an opportunity to develop longstanding equity within surrounding institutions, and is currently seeking a role to catalyze this growth among marginalized populations. He earned his B.A. in Global Development Studies from Seattle Pacific University, and continues to use these experiences to propel his desire for change.

Pronouns: She/her

Tigist is a passionate and driven advocate for marginalized individuals and aims to contribute her time to serve underprivileged youth in any capacity. Being raised in Tukwila, WA she has had the privilege of growing up in one of the most diverse communities in our nation. She proudly graduated from Foster High School in 2011 where she went on to attend Washington State University to attain her B.S in Psychology, minoring in Childhood Development. She loved her experience so much she went back to WSU to attain her MBA and will be graduating spring of 2021.

She has a two-year-old son whom she accredits her endless source of motivation, too. In her spare time, you can find her behind her phone frantically trying to capture every memorable moment with her phone. Photography has naturally become a part of her favorite new hobbies because of her son Ilyas. In addition to savoring moments, she is also a self-acclaimed foodie, relishing in anything edible. She also enjoys long hikes and rainy Sunday evenings.

Elizabeth is Los Angeles born and Renton raised. She graduated from Renton High School in 2015 and went on to earn her B.A. in psychology with a minor in sociology at Scripps College. She is now pursuing her MAED in School Counseling at Seattle University. Elizabeth was moved to return to Summer Search as an alumni board member out of her gratitude for all that the Summer Search Seattle team has done to help cultivate her into the leader she is today. Elizabeth credits her experience as a Summer Searcher for fostering her passion and commitment to supporting low income, first-generation students of color like herself. It is in becoming a secondary school counselor that she hopes she will be able to continue facilitating the growth and success of many more students to come.

In her spare time, Elizabeth can be found enjoying a good video game with family and friends, binging true crime podcasts, practicing her Japanese, catching up on This Is Us, and cuddling with her Pomeranian Eskimo Snowball.

Preferred Pronouns: She/Her/Hers.

Bao-Chau is a Summer Search Seattle Alumna (Ingraham High School Class of 2011) dedicated to challenging inequity, championing social change, and celebrating diversity. She received her B.A. from Cornell College (Class of 2015) with a concentration in Mathematics and Economics. She is currently a Finance Associate at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Outside of work, you can find her mixing up a mean home craft cocktail, and caring for her plant collection and two fur children.

As a proud Summer Search alum, Joel thanks Summer Search for all the support in helping him overcome the many obstacles of a first-generation college graduate. Now being a mentor in the program, it is a welcome home back to the program and he is very excited to give back to a new class of Summer Searchers.
Joel graduated from the City College of New York with a BS in Psychology and Business Administration. He hopes his experience with Summer Search can be a testimony and a helping hand in the growth and successes of other Summer Search Students.
Prior to working for Summer Search, Joel worked at The Fellowship Initiative, a college-prep and career readiness program sponsored by JPMorgan Chase that focuses on young men of color. Outside of being a mentor, Joel is practicing his Brazilian Portuguese and Italian and always staying up to date in political and business news.