Team Members

John Coyne
President
John Coyne comes to Pink Boat Regatta not only as a sailor, but an accomplished technology professional. John’s 25+ year career has seen him developing solutions for technology titans such as Amazon and Microsoft, as well as other Fortune 500 organizations.
In addition to being our board President, John is our leader for all “on the water” activities related to Pink Boat Regatta, which includes coordination with the respective Yacht Clubs, Race Committees, scoring, and such.
John is passionate about finding a cure for breast cancer, as he’s seen it impact several friends and family members. John is a cancer survivor himself, and is here to help raise money and awareness to help science finally put an end to this horrible disease.

Stephanie Arnold
Vice President
Stephanie is an adventure seeker that loves the outdoors. She started sailing 20+ years ago while living in Southampton, England. Stephanie also loves hiking and running, with three marathons accomplished. Stephanie first got involved in Pink Boat Regatta by helping to create and launch the first Tacoma Pink Boat Regatta. She’s become a passionate supporter of Pink Boat Regatta as it is an effective way to help raise awareness and funds that help people fight and beat breast cancer with new treatments and hopefully leads to preventing breast cancer completely.

Celina Scott
Secretary
Celina is new to sailing thanks to her husband talking her into giving it a chance. Turns out that she loves everything about it and enjoys the peacefulness of sailing. This is her second year with Pink Boat Regatta and first year on the Board as Secretary. Past involvement with Relay for Life has provided her campaigning experience and a passion for the cause. She fights this fight for breast cancer survivors, fighters and ones who have earned their wings. While every single cancer is ugly, breast cancer hits close to home as she has experienced her own scare. Early detection and monitoring are a crucial part of stopping this cancer. It is imperative that fund raising for research doesn’t stop until we find the cure. Celina was born and raised in Tacoma, WA and enjoys spending time with her husband and son.

Kristi Coyne
Treasurer
Kristi Coyne has recently joined the Pink Boat Regatta crew as the Board Treasurer. Kristi has extensive experience working with non-profits, including her own animal rescue.
Kristi’s background is in mental health care, and she earned her Master of Arts Degree in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University. She is originally from Southern California, and is a happy transplant here in the Pacific Northwest!

Stephanie Campbell
Board Member
Stephanie has been sailing and racing pretty much her whole life. It’s a big part of who she is and something she loves a lot! When the Pink Boat Regatta came to the Pacific Northwest, Stephanie jumped in right away and joined the first teams that really campaigned hard to raise funds for this important cause. She has been part of Pink Boat all along, and is honored to be officially part of it this year. Stephanie has friends who are survivors, friends who are current fighters, and sadly has lost friends to breast cancer. She is excited to make this a great year and have some fun while doing this important work!

Jake Firman
Jake is a committed father of two beautiful kiddos, and husband to his beautiful wife, Angela. He is the
Director of Software Development for DSST Public Schools, a network of open enrollment public charter schools serving mostly low-income students in the Denver area. He grew up in Covington, WA, attended Gonzaga University to study marketing and economics, where he met his amazing wife, Angela. Jake is a former teacher, and long-time baseball coach, spanning every age range from tee-ball to high school. He’s a huge Mariners fan, want-to-be woodworker, and avid casual sailor.

Angela Firman
Angela is an avid reader, a closet-cross-stitcher, and a fervent writer. She was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer at 33 and then Stage IV metastatic breast cancer at 37. She was a teacher and school leader for 11 years and is now devoted to amplifying voices that have been historically suppressed in the world of publishing. In addition to copyediting the beautiful WILDFIRE magazine, she is an associate editor for Yellow Arrow Publishing, and her creative nonfiction writing has been published in several literary publications. Angela lives in Tacoma, Washington, with her husband, Jake, and their two hilarious, sometimes demanding, roommates aged six and nine.

Jaime Fitch
Board Member
Jaime is an Assistant Director at the University of Washington School of Medicine, where she works with the Curriculum team. With over 10 years of experience in medical education and 20+ years in education, she strives to help students succeed. Jaime’s interest in education started back in college when she was a ski instructor. From there, she went on to travel around from Fiji and New Zealand to Singapore where she settled in Thailand for about 5 years where she became a scuba instructor and worked as an educator. She also learned to sail and competed in her first regatta on a Hobie cat in the Andaman Sea! Nowadays, you can find Jaime back in the Pacific Northwest, tinkering away on her own project boat at Shilshole Bay Marina. She’s a dedicated family person and also enjoys spending time with her friends.

Tim Garchow
Board Member
Tim has been living in the Puget Sound area for the past 25+ years, sailing and racing on a number of boats in the PHRF fleet, most notably are Wildthing (Owner, Ed Jacobs), and Gardyloo (Owner, Eric Nelson). Prior to moving to Washington Tim lived in Southern California, sailing, racing, and instructing on Hobie Cats and other dinghies. Currently he lives in Gig Harbor aboard his Beneteau 46, Odin. In his professional life, Tim has spent time as a teacher, principal, superintendent, and now is the head of the State agency that supports all school board members in Washington. He also sits on the board of directors for several non-profits and is a member of Corinthian Yacht Club Tacoma.

Lizzy Grimm
Board Member
Lizzy loves sailing and the wonderful community around it. She has lived in the PNW for almost here entire life and appreciates the incredible beauty we have here. She previously worked in HR but crash gybed her career and now works her dream job as a sailmaker at Ballard Sails. Lizzy races actively in the Puget sound and beyond having just completed legs 7&8 of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race from Seattle to Panama to Bermuda to New York to Northern Ireland and finishing in London in 2022. She also co-owns a Catalina 27 named Happy Place with her mom Elly that can often be seen out at Duck Dodge on Lake Union. When not sailing she hangs out with her family and plays in the mountains.
Fighting cancer is a very important cause and Lizzy loves that the Pink Boat Regatta seeks to raise tons of money for research while having fun doing so.

Abbey Norris
Board Member
Abbey has been a professional fundraiser for 15+ years, working at various non-profit organizations in Seattle. She has raised more than $150M to advance research. patient care, educational priorities and health equity initiatives across several institutions. Currently, as Executive Director, Philanthropic Gifts at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, Abbey leads a team of major gift officers in raising philanthropic support for innovative research and compassionate care to prevent and eliminate cancer and infectious diseases.
Abbey is a past Board President of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Advancement Northwest Chapter (2020), and served on their board since 2011. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University, and a master’s degree in arts administration and a certificate in nonprofit management from the University of Oregon.
Abbey grew up sailing with her family on lakes in Montana, and later cruising the Puget Sound. She spent the better part of the last 20 years sailboat racing in the PNW, and now co-owns a King 40 (“HYDRA”) moored on Lake Union.