LOUISA BEAL, GENERAL MANAGER
Louisa Beal, Executive Director
For over half a century, Louisa has been trying to escape Tacoma. She tried Sitka, Portland, and Pullman, but the roots run deep and she was always pulled back. She became involved with Radio Tacoma to find out why anyone would move here on purpose.
Marilyn Kimmerling, President &
Marilyn Kimmerling, Board President
Outreach Coordinator
Marilyn Kimmerling was born in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C. in 1948 and attended Walter Johnson High School. After graduating high school in 1966, she attended East Carolina College where she majored in English, Balkan History and Spanish. Next Marilyn attended George Washington University, where she majored in Art. Marilyn then took a break, and travelled out to the West Coast, first to San Francisco and finally settled in Tacoma in 1971, where she lived at Salmon Beach, married, and had two sons. After her divorce, and with two small boys, Marilyn needed to be able to support her children so she went back to school and attended Green River Community College, where she received her A.A.S. and became a Certified Occupational Therapist. Using that degree, Marilyn decided to use her love of people, psychology and creativity and worked as a Mental Health Counselor for Comprehensive Mental Health Center of Tacoma/Pierce County for over 25 years as a Child and Family counselor. At that point , with her children grown and launched, Marilyn retired in 2012 to give back to the community she loves. She says “if you’re lucky enough to live a long life, you have the opportunity to do many useful and interesting things.” With her wide range of experiences and interests Marilyn decided to enroll at Evergreen College Tacoma Campus, where she received a B.A. with a focus on community organizing and political science. Currently Marilyn volunteers extensively in the community which she loves. She is Chair of South Sound Jobs with Justice, co-founder of Tacoma Jewish Voice for Peace, a member of United for peace of Pierce County, a founding member of The Tacoma Raging Grannies, and an active member of Tacoma Direct Action as well as a regular attender and speaker at Tacoma City Council public comment meetings. In May of 2020, Marilyn was selected as The 2020 Greater Tacoma Peace Prize Laureate.
Pam Beal, Secretary
Pam Beal, Board Secretary
Pamela Beal was born in Tacoma, attended Wilson High School, Concordia Lutheran College, and Reed College. She received her Ph. D. in English (dissertation on William Blake and Enlightenment philosophy) from SUNY Buffalo and subsequently became the director of the SUNY Buffalo Regional Community Policing Center where she worked with the police and the community to problem solve low level neighborhood crime and disorder issues. In 2007 she returned to Tacoma, married Mark Knight, a dear friend from youth group days at St. Mark’s Lutheran, and they now live in Fircrest, WA. She teaches English at Tacoma Community College, leads the worship and music team at Christ the Servant Lutheran, and is the Board secretary and volunteer coordinator for Radio Tacoma. She loves teaching about the psychology of possibility and the rhetoric of learning to see things from another’s perspective, and she is currently reading up on quantum mechanics. Her motto is “Impossible things are happening everyday!”
Malakay Betor, Member At Large
Malakay Betor joined Radio Tacoma in 2018 and currently serves as a board member and our station manager. She also is our program scheduler and webmaster. She grew up in upstate NY and earned a BA from the State University Of NY at Albany where she met her husband Alan Hopko (our current treasurer). She has volunteered with several local political campaigns and currently works with the Hilltop Library Planning Committee hoping to expand library services to underserved areas of Tacoma.
Alan Hopko, Treasurer
Kerri Griffis, Member At Large
Caryn Robertson, Member At Large
