Julia is a nationally-recognized speaker and social justice advocate, who is dedicated to engaging, educating, and empowering the poor in the developing world.  In 1998, she traded a successful law career to help people in the most impoverished regions of the world.  As a volunteer international legal and business advisor, she has worked with dozens of international non-profits to amend discriminatory laws, procure microloans, establish hospitals and businesses, and negotiate political challenges.  Since 2002, Julia has focused on educating girls in Afghanistan, where she founded “Journey with an Afghan School.”

Julia regularly speaks around the country, writes about her experiences, and meets with political decision-makers.  She is a powerful voice for those otherwise not heard.  Last year she was featured in BRAVA magazine and she was a recipient of A Fund for Women’s Fabulous Firsts Award for “Women who Led the Way.”  In 2007, she was a presenter at the Aspen Institute’s Ideas Festival.  She was the recipient of the Smith College Rally Day Award in 2006.  And in 2004, she received the Thomas C. Wales Foundation Award for courageous civic engagement, leadership and passionate citizenship, and she also was honored on the Hallmark Channel.

Prior to working overseas, Julia was a partner with Ryan, Swanson & Cleveland in Seattle and was part of the Firm’s nationally-recognized business immigration practice, which represented a number of Fortune 500 companies.  Further, she was Chair of the Washington State Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and was given a national award by AILA for her service to young lawyers in 1998.  She is a past participant of Seattle’s Leadership Tomorrow, and she has served as pro bono legal counsel, a fundraiser and advocate for more than a dozen non-profits in the Pacific Northwest. She graduated from Northwestern University School of Law in 1987 and Smith College in 1983.

Michael Johnson – Vice President 

Mike was an executive for 32 years with Exxon Mobil Corporation, one of the largest companies in the world with over $25 billion in revenues and over 50,000 employees.  Traveling and living around the globe, Mike has developed and overseen multi-million dollar oil and gas projects, and managed dozens of multinational teams. 

Mike also has been an active volunteer. He previously served 10 years as President of the Kingwood (Texas) Volunteer Fire Department, and he chaired his company's Houston-Area United Way Campaign. In 2003, he moved with his wife to Crested Butte, Colorado, where he has continued serving on a number of boards. On such board is Adaptive Sports Center, which enhances the lives of people with disabilities by promoting and providing successful outdoor adventure activities and experiential education.  He assumed the position of Board President in 2008. Further, Mike serves on the Crested Butte Union Congregational Church Council.

Mike started supporting "Journey with an Afghan School" several years ago. In addition to raising funds to build and supply two schools in Afghanistan, he has engaged his entire community in building bridges of understanding between Afghans and Americans. In the fall of 2008, he traveled to Afghanistan with a team from Crested Butte to attend the dedication of a new school for 1,500 girls.

Catherine Gelband – Treasurer and Secretary

Catherine’s interest in educational issues began when she served as an assistant director of undergraduate admissions at Yale College.  During her tenure, she met with thousands of high school students and deepened her commitment to access to quality secondary education for all students.  Catherine attended Northwestern University School of Law after which she became a corporate lawyer at a large Seattle law firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions.  In 1990, Catherine joined the founding board of Pacific Crest School, a Montessori middle school in Seattle. She has served as the chairman of the board of directors of Pacific Crest since 1992 leading the school through its expansion to a pre-K through middle school program. Her role with the school has included serving for ten years as its Assistant Director in charge of finance, human resources and admissions.  In 2008, Catherine scaled back her duties and now serves as Admissions Director.  Catherine is also a Board Member and Vice President of the Girl Scouts of Western Washington. 

Carolyn Glah – Board Member

Over the years, Carolyn has built up an extensive career in the direct marketing arena.  She has provided leadership and direction for both corporations and not-for-profit boards.  Carolyn was Vice President of the Direct Marketing Group for US Bank Corporation in Minneapolis and a Director of Personal Card Marketing for American Express in New York.  In these leadership positions, she created business teams, launched new programs, developed annual and strategic plans, managed complex projects and managed and trained staff.

In 1998, Carolyn retired as a corporate marketing executive.  She traded in her pumps for running shoes to better keep up with her two daughters.  Today, Carolyn is happily involved with her family as a family manager and community activist.  She is currently Vice President of the Aspen Youth Center Board, Vice President of Sedgwick Street Fund, member of the Aspen Chapel Board of Trustees (which serves people of multiple faiths in the community), member of the Aspen Middle School Parent Council.  She volunteers her time within the community especially for the Aspen Middle School, Aspen School District, and Aspen Youth Center.  Carolyn has also been a Eur Au Pair Community Coordinator, Eco Education board member and Voyager Outward Bound School Trustee.

Carolyn received her MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in 1996 and earned a BA degree in Psychology from Northwestern in 1981. For the past few years, she has served as “Journey with an Afghan School’s” “lead” in the Aspen community, helping to link families and students to their sister school in Afghanistan.

Angeline Grooms Proctor – Board Member 

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Angi grew up in a family with a heart for social justice.  Her father, Federal District Judge Hobart Grooms, was a key player in the desegregation movement, desegregating all public facilities, including schools, in Alabama.  Later, in an at-large election in a city of 400,000, Angi was the second woman and youngest person ever elected to the Birmingham City Council, where she served two terms.  Among other appointments, she also served as Chair of the Citizen’s Advisory Board that spear-headed the development of a new community school system for adult education.  In addition, she started “Today in Birmingham,” a public service TV interview program that ran for 12 years.

Moreover, Angi is a businesswoman.  She owned a commercial business which, at that time was the largest independent interior design business in Alabama: Southeastern Interior Concepts.  She also sat on the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee.

A recipient of scholarships from The Miss Alabama and Miss America Pageants, which helped pay for college, Angi received a Bachelor of Interior Design from Auburn University’s School of Architecture.  While Miss Alabama, Angi was selected for the first Miss America-USO Tour in South Vietnam, where she and five other women entertained 80,000 troops and visited 18 hospitals.  Subsequently, she was appointed by the Secretary of Defense to the Defense Advisory Committee for Women in the Armed Services.

Angi has collected money and supplies to help “Journey with an Afghan School” build a school for over 1,000 girls in Afghanistan, and she has nurtured a strong relationship between her California community and the Afghans.