Staff — Seattle Sports Commission

Beth has organized large-scale, special events for 35 years as both a producer and consultant in the events, sports and live entertainment industry.
Her career includes leadership roles in iconic event production, including the Special Olympics 2018 national competition, as well as Seafair and Bumbershoot.
During her tenure at Seafair Beth was instrumental in bringing the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon to Seattle (2009), resurrected the City’s Fourth of July fireworks show (2013), produced the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl Victory Parade (2014), and Seattle Sounder’s MLS Championship Cup March and Rally (2016; 2019).
Passionate about building community through live interactions and shared cultural celebrations, Beth has been recognized as a Puget Sound Business Journal Woman of Influence, Seattle Reign FC Community Legend, Smart Meeting Magazine Planner of the Year 2018, and Washington Festivals and Events Association 2019 Hall of Fame.
She serves on the boards of Seattle Police Foundation, Washington Festivals and Events Association, Seattle 4 Rotary and Circlewood.

Karen grew up in Seattle and returned to her hometown after graduating from Western Washington University. She has had a long career in finance and accounting in both corporate and non-profit organizations. Her background includes six years at Genie Industries as the Credit Manager watching it grow from a small manufacturing company to a large international organization. After staying home for over a decade to raise her two children, she returned to the work in other local companies including Cinnabon, and Pallino Pastaria, a restaurant chain with 8 locations in Seattle and the eastside.
But she found her passion in non-profit accounting. Karen joined the Seafair Organization in 2010 as the Director of Finance and after six years, left to join the 2018 Special Olympics USA Games. There she assisted in managing an $18M budget that returned over $1M in profits to Special Olympics.
After the transition from the 2018 USA games she joined the Circus. Literally. Karen took her next position as the Controller at Teatro Zinzanni, a unique dinner theater in Woodinville, WA. Karen joined the Seattle Sports Commission in a part time capacity in April of 2019 working again with Beth to produce large-scale, high quality events.

Mara comes to the Seattle Sports Commission as a consultant from MetaMora Productions. With almost 15 years in the television production and events industry, Mara’s credits include Fox’s MasterChef, NBC’s Million Second Quiz, ABC’s The Bachelor and CBS Radio.
Prior to moving to Seattle, Mara worked for production company EndemolShine North America, where she was the Manager of Production and Development.
As a steering committee member of sustainability coalition The Wave NW, Mara’s passion for sustainability and environmental justice is woven into her work.
Upon moving to Seattle in 2018, Mara assumed the role of Marketing Manager of the Seattle Sports Commission, developing and executing the creative for both the organization and events such as the Women’s Leadership Breakfast, Sports Star of the Year Awards Show, Region Ready, and led the ocean health messaging and global activations for the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.
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With a Masters in Sports Administration and Leadership from Seattle University, Eva has spent her entire career within the Washington sports and events community.
Working with Special Olympics Washington for nearly seven years, Eva transitioned to the local Special Olympics USA Games team to host the 2018 Games in Seattle. As the Director of Venues and Logistics for the 2018 Games, Eva oversaw an expansive operations task list, which included preparations for over 4,000 athletes and coaches, and required tens of thousands of volunteers.
Now with the Seattle Sports Commission, Eva handles the planning and execution of all signature events and collaborates with community partners on additional opportunities.
Contact Eva