Meet Our New Team Members

Jared Stewart, External Engagement Manager engagement@togethercenter.org

Jared joined Together Center in March of 2024. He is thrilled to be part of a team that embodies a holistic approach to human services and promotes housing stability in King County.

You have to deliver a 15 minute TED talk with zero preparation. What’s the topic?

A beginner’s guide to backpacking and hiking. I’d take this opportunity to share my passion for the great outdoors and hope to make these wild spaces more accessible in the process.

Lisa Lustgarten Payne, Resource Navigation Coordinator and Facilities Assistant lisa@togethercenter.org

Lisa joined Together Center in November of 2022, helping the team navigate the final months before the new campus opened the following year. Lisa is inspired to be a part of an organization aimed at helping both community members and other change-focused non-profits.

You have to deliver a 15 minute TED talk with zero preparation. What’s the topic?

The joys of befriending and spending time with senior citizens. I would love to encourage others to engage with older folks who oftentimes suffer the most from loneliness and boredom. I’ve grown tremendously from these experiences and relationships.

Skylar Hansen, Operations & Events Coordinator skylar@togethercenter.org

Skylar joined Together Center in January 2024. With a background in theater and more than 15 years bringing people together through unique and engaging events, her goal is to educate and guide customers to enhance the value of their events across the entire event life cycle.

Tell me about the last time you tried something new and what you learned from the process.

In 2023, I signed up for pottery classes at a community studio and tried making pottery on a wheel for the first time. It has continued to be a passion of mine ever since. Making pottery has offered lessons that I’ve applied to various facets of my life, from embracing failures when the clay collapses on the wheel or when my glazing experiment didn’t go as planned, or problem solving through defects as I shaped the clay and finding a balance between maintaining control and letting go. Through my successes and failures, working with clay has taught me patience, to enjoy the process, have compassion for myself when things don’t go exactly right, and to keep going in the face of difficulties.