About Us
Meet Our Board
Rashad Morris
Board Chair
Rashad Morris is a Program Officer with the Bullitt Foundation in Seattle where he works with nonprofits in the areas of climate, toxics, urban sustainability, and renewable energy. He is deeply committed to integrating social justice with environmental sustainability and economic development.
Rashad holds a Juris Doctor from the UC Berkeley School of Law and a Bachelors in Business Administration from Loyola Marymount University.
Ken Takahashi
Vice Chair
Ken Takahashi is the Vice President of Community Engagement for JPMorgan Chase & Co., serving the Pacific Northwest region. In this position, Ken provides grants to nonprofits that support small business growth and affordable housing development, and he works closely with low-income communities in advancing their wealth building strategies.
Ken has over 20 years of economic development experience. Prior to joining JPMorgan Chase, Ken worked for the City of Seattle – Office of Economic Development as the Director of Commercial Affordability and also as a real estate attorney in the private sector. Ken holds a Juris Doctor from Washington University School of Law and Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Rochester.
Virginia Calvin
Virginia Calvin is an entrepreneur who owned a children’s apparel design and manufacturing company for 13 years in Seattle, WA. Originally outsourcing the product manufacture to Hong Kong and British Columbia, she eventually shifted production to her family-owned factory in Seattle. She joined the Board of Directors of Evergreen in 1996 and has always
found it fascinating to see what other small businesses are doing, what goals and opportunities they perceive, and how they make their financial decisions.
In 2001 she sold her business to a New Jersey firm and has since worked as a residential real estate broker for Windermere Real Estate. Virginia is bilingual in Spanish and English, with a BA from University of Colorado and an MA from the University of Michigan. She lives in South Seattle.
Tina Houston
Tina Houston is the Principal of Houston Consulting & Associates (HCA). She has 17 years’ experience working in the private and public sectors. Prior to forming HCA, she led the implementation of the Northwest’s, first-of-its-kind Financial Empowerment Center, providing free financial counseling and education services to low-income populations.
Tina has a strong commitment to economic justice and workforce development and continues to partner with nonprofit organizations such as Seattle Goodwill Industries and Shift Community Resources to improve the financial capabilities of low-income families in King and Pierce Counties.
She has served on numerous committees to improve the economic equity of women, immigrant and minority populations in the Northwest. Tina holds Financial Counseling certifications from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Cities for Financial Empowerment (CFE) and Central New Mexico Community College (CNE). She holds a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts and Master of Business Administration.
Thomas Kuljam
Thomas Kuljam is a graduate of Washington State University, and he currently serves as the Director of Veterans Incubator for Better Entrepreneurship (VIBE) and teaches for the University of Washington – Tacoma. As a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force and a successful entrepreneur, Thomas joins Evergreen Business Capital’s Board of Directors with
25 years of commercial banking experience, including SBA lending, commercial lending, portfolio management, and marketing and business development.
Thomas’ entrepreneurial aspirations have also led to the startup of multiple businesses around the Puget Sound Region, including a business consulting firm working for Los Angeles County, and the City of Tacoma and has helped many local businesses make an impact in their community. Thomas also devotes a great deal of time and energy to other local boards and organizations, including the Pierce County Veterans Advisory Board, YMCA, and International Community Health Services.
Karen McIver
Karen McIver has 30 years of commercial banking experience focused on lending and risk. She currently is a Senior Vice President at Columbia Bank in Tacoma, Washington. At Columbia she has responsibility for Credit Analytics, Construction Loan Administration, Appraisal and Environmental Services, and is the credit administrator for the Home Builder Finance Division.
Prior to joining Columbia she was a Senior Vice President at Key Bank with responsibility for credit risk management of Home Builder Finance, Community Development Lending and Income Property Real Estate. She also served as a corporate ethics officer. Karen holds an MBA from Seattle Pacific University and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Saint Mary where she has served as a Board Trustee.
Stacy Tomuro
Stacy Tomuro is a Senior Vice President and Director of Mainland Commercial Real Estate Lending for First Hawaiian Bank’s Commercial Real Estate Division. Previously he was with First National Bank Alaska, Corporate Lending Division in Anchorage, Alaska, having been with FNBA since 2001.
Stacy has over 30 years of banking experience focused on commercial lending, portfolio and risk management, and asset growth. He is a graduate of Pacific Coast Banking School and the University of Washington. In addition, he has served on several other boards, organizations, and committees including the United Way of Anchorage for many years and the Alaska Loan Advisory Committee for EBC since it was formed in 2014.
Tara Vagen
Tara Vagen, a Management Information Systems graduate from the University of Tampa, has a career spanning software consulting and leadership roles at Price Waterhouse, IBM, WRQ, WAMU/JPMorgan, and more. She joins the Evergreen Business Capital board after developing her expertise in system implementations, and building successful teams, and delivering projects for major clients. Tara founded Indimar Consulting and has built a team that is dedicated to leveraging technology for businesses, offering competitive resources, and fostering a growth-oriented work environment for employees.
