About US

CoolMom is a nonprofit organization based in Seattle that unites Moms to take action on Climate Change through education, lifestyle change and advocacy.  

Mission, Vision & Programs

The mission of CoolMom is to inspire and unite moms to take action on climate change through education, lifestyle change, and advocacy to build healthy communities.  

CoolMom's vision is to inspire moms, families and communities to practice sustainable living in how they live, learn, work and play. CoolMom unites moms to build a better future for our children.   We promote stewardship of the natural environment and seek to instill a conservation ethic in future generations.

CoolMom programs create sustainable communities, one neighborhood at a time, through our local community-based groups. Local groups share ideas, get educated, and have fun taking action on climate change together!

When sleeping women wake, mountains move.  ~ Chinese proverb 

 

Staff

Terri Glaberson, Executive Director

Terri@coolmom.org

Terri Glaberson is the Executive Director of CoolMom.  She transitioned from volunteer coordinator of the CoolMom’s West Seattle community group to Executive Director of CoolMom in March 2009. She has worked over 10 years in the nonprofit sector and has held a leadership role for most of those ten years.  Prior to joining CoolMom, Terri spent most of her professional career in the mental health field and was the former VP of Behavioral Rehabilitation Services at Ruth Dykeman Children’s Center. She has extensive experience partnering with local organizations, individuals and groups and she is an organized leader with substantial skills in fiscal and program development. Her passion for the environment has been part of her life since childhood—She grew up working on the family horse farm, which led to a Bachelor’s degree in Biology. She also has pursued her love of nature through gardening, photography, camping, hiking, running and cycling. Her inspiration--her daughter, Sydney. Her daughter’s birth in 2005 made her reconsider her priorities. Almost every aspect of Terri's life is measured against how it can better her daughter’s life. Climate change will impact her daughter’s life and part of Terri’s mission is to do everything she can to make sure her daughter’s future is safe, healthy and fulfilling. Terri holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work. She lives with her husband and daughter in Seattle, WA.

Board of Directors

Kristy Royce, Board President & Co-Founder

Kristy Royce, one of CoolMom’s founders, hosted a party in 2007 that was the seed to what has become CoolMom. Royce invited friends to view the film, “An Inconvenient Truth.” The conversation among the mothers present led to the launch of CoolMom.  Having an atmospheric scientist as a stepfather, Kristy was well acquainted with the climate issue.  As a mother of two daughters, she saw an urgent need to unite mothers to address the climate crisis and to advocate for future generations. The untouched, primal beauty of the world's remote places sparked a passion for environmentalism when working as staff on tourist expeditions to Antarctica, the Arctic, and the Amazon.  Kristy had the pleasure of living and working with the Amazonian Indians, the Machiguenga, in an effort to establish an eco lodge to help protect the great Amazonian rainforest.  She is a business owner and founder, with husband Ashton, of ExpeditionTrips.com.  She lives in Seattle, WA with her family and believes living an eco-friendly life is the most important thing we can do for our kids. Kristy’s role within CoolMom includes, having a seat on the Board of Directors, marketing and outreach, and being an active participant in the West Seattle group.

Brian Reidy, Board Vice President

Brian Reidy is a Senior Consultant in Towers Perrin’s Seattle Executive Compensation and Rewards unit. Brian has advised management teams at companies around the world ranging from Global Fortune 10 organizations to start-ups. He provides consulting services to clients on human resources strategy, development of high performance work environments, total rewards, mergers and acquisitions, broad-based incentives, employee compensation, pay delivery, performance management, and employee engagement. Brian has twenty-two years of experience in strategy, business development and consulting, including more than seven years at the c-level in the energy technology sector. He founded three businesses, has taken a company public as the CEO, turned around a fourth and served as the Chief Marketing Officer of another. His expertise includes business strategy, company funding and formation, energy efficiency technology, renewable energy, smart grid technology and resource optimization. Brian has extensive experience with the media and has been featured on the BBC, CNN and local television networks. Brian currently serves on the Executive Board of Junior Achievement of Washington and on the Board of Coolmom.org. He received an M.B.A. at the University of Colorado with concentrations in finance & information technology, a B.S. in marketing & advertising from Indiana University, a Certificate in Financial Markets from New York University and a C.C.P. from World at Work.
 

Joanna Grist, Board Treasurer

Joanna Grist has served as Executive Director of a non-profit advocacy group called the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition since 2000.  Prior to this position she worked on growth management and endangered species issues for King County Executive Ron Sims.  Prior to that she worked for Futurewise where she served as Field Director.  Ms. Grist holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Washington.  She lives on Seattle's Phinney Ridge with her husband and two little boys.

Jemae Hoffman, Board Secretary

Jemae is the Seattle Dept. of Transportation’s lead on Sustainable Transportation and Climate Change.  Prior to her current position, Jemae managed the City of Seattle’s Mobility Management and Plan Implementation teams.  These teams develop policy and implement plans for Parking and Transportation Demand Management, and Freight, Transit, Bicycle and Pedestrian Mobility. Her work includes coordinating efforts with other transportation, economic, land use and community development staff. Jemae has over 13 years of experience in transportation policy and over 18 years of experience in managing programs and contracts.  Before coming to her job at the City, she was Executive Director of the Transportation Choices Coalition, a statewide non-profit advocacy group. Jemae created and managed several innovative trip reduction projects including “Way to Go, Seattle!” (where families received an economic incentive to give up their extra car). Jemae brings a special combination of skills in project management, public education and program evaluation to the projects she works on.  Before her career in transportation, she was a consultant specializing in business recycling, building with resource efficient construction materials; and studying the structure and effectiveness of energy conservation programs.  She also served as a management and marketing consultant for three years. In this role, she evaluated the feasibility of new product market introductions and studied their market structure and distribution channels. Jemae has also been very active with Seattle civic issues as a volunteer in numerous campaigns.  She is a graduate of Cornell University.

Kirsten McCaa, Board Member & Co-Founder 

Kirsten is one of the Co-Founders of CoolMom.  Kirsten is an active participant and founder of the first CoolMom Group, in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle.  She has strong personal ties to climate science community and her husband is an atmospheric scientist and former climate modeler.  She is a proud mother of two.  Prenatal yoga teacher, environmentalist and former project manager for foreign language software and websites. Kirsten is bilingual, fluent in Swedish and English and proficient in Spanish and German. .  She can often be seen walking her kids to school.  Kirsten lives in Seattle, WA with her husband, Jim McCaa, and their two small children.   

Our History

CoolMom was founded in 2007 by two long-time friends, Kirsten McCaa and Kristy Royce.  With atmospheric scientists in both of their families, they were well acquainted with the climate issue.  As mothers, they saw an urgent need to unite mothers to address the climate crisis and to advocate for future generations.  The organization traces it's beginnings to a party, when Royce invited friends to view the film, An Inconvenient Truth.  The conversation that ensued among the mothers present led to the launch of CoolMom.