Our Board of Directors

Rick Wray, Co-Founder & Board Chair

Rick has 25+ years of diverse education experience, serving both K-12 students and teachers in Washington State and Utah. Rick began his education career in Salt Lake City as a co-founder and Executive Director of Higher Ground Learning (HGL),  a tutoring and mentoring center focused on reaching students through personalized learning models. While at Higher Ground, Rick realized the dynamic instructional nature of the media arts and digital storytelling. In 1999, Rick passed on the reins of HGL and founded Utah’s only not-for-profit youth media center, Spy Hop Productions. In 2010 after serving over 10,000 Utah youth with innovative audio, video and interactive programming as Spy Hop Productions’ Executive Director, Rick Wray stepped down to launch SHIFT Workshops in Washington State, a teacher-training organization focused on integrating filmmaking and digital storytelling into classroom instruction. Rick served as the Executive Director of SHIFT through 2015, and after training over 3,000 educators, the organization merged with the Utah Film Center where Rick served as both their Director of Education and lead education programs consultant. Currently, Rick is a co-owner and manager of the two Mercantile CoWorking spaces located in downtown Wenatchee.

Rick’s education work and the organizations he has founded have been recognized both locally and nationally, receiving awards such as the 2003 Salt Lake City Mayor’s Service to the Arts Award, a finalist for the 2010 Ernst and Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year award, and Spy Hop Productions’ receipt of the National Arts & Humanities Youth Program Award in 2015 by First Lady Michelle Obama.

Josh Castro, Board Member & Treasurer

Josh has lived in Wenatchee since 2003, graduating from WHS and WVC with an AA in 2007. He later graduated from University of Phoenix Online, earning his BS-IT degree in Telecommunications while working as a Certified Nursing Assistant night shifts. He has worked in the Information Systems department at Cashmere Valley Bank since being hired in 2012.

Josh has spent a life drawn to technology and has always been fascinated by computers. He was born at the beginning of the Internet age and has been able to witness the beginning of an age of artificial intelligence. He’s been fortunate to be able to work in the field that’s held his interest all of his life.

His interest and curiosity in tech drives him to not only fix problems when they come up but motivates him to better understand whole processes. Often times when taking a wider look at a system, it brings more clarity as to why a process is done a certain way and reveals areas that can be improved upon. One of the most valuable lessons he’s learned through his experience working at Cashmere Valley Bank, is that technology should be in place to help people do their job faster, more accurately and more securely.

If a piece of tech gets in the way of those things, it is worth considering a change.

Blake Baldwin, Board Member & Secretary

For over a decade, Blake has worked as a public policy professional in Washington State with roles in external affairs and outreach, economic development, and legislative policy. Born and raised in Cashmere, Washington, he began his career in public service as the Legislative Assistant to Senator Brad Hawkins, a lawmaker from Washington’s 12th legislative district. His rural public policy experience led to an appointment as Central & Eastern Washington Regional Representative in the Office of Governor Jay Inslee, later going onto to serve as the governor’s statewide Director of Outreach.

In 2019, Blake returned to the Wenatchee Valley as Director of Economic Development for Chelan County where he worked to enhance and manage economic vitality and growth in North Central Washington.

In addition to public policy, Blake brings extensive experience from the nonprofit sector. Previously, he served as the Director of Operations for NCW Tech Alliance, currently serves as a founding board member of the Kyrgyz-Washington Sister Region Organization, and is actively involved with the steering committee for Rural People’s Voice.

After studying music composition at Cornish College of the Arts, Blake earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences at Washington State University. He currently resides in Wenatchee with his wife, Katie, and their son, Emmett.

Flora Fernandez, Board Member

Flora Fernandez was born in Colima, Mexico and raised in the United States since the age of one. She has worked as a National Certified Medical Assistant (NCMA) at Columbia Valley Community Health (CVCH) for eight years. She received her associates degree from Wenatchee Valley College and received her NCMA certificate in Los Angeles, California. She has deep passion and respect for her current job at CVCH and believes she makes a difference in someone's life every day. She strongly believes that when you work as a team you are able to make a difference.

When not making a difference in the workplace, she is a single parent of four children, ages 29, 19, 13 and 8, and a proud grandmother of two beautiful boys. Additionally, Flora is an active member of Parque Padrinos in South Wenatchee and volunteers at Columbia Elementary and Orchard Middle Schools. Passionate about education and the well-being of young people in her community, she focuses her volunteer time serving Latino youth. She knows that our future depends on the youth and wants to make sure she’s contributing to make a difference.