WSRA Leadership

Interested in joining our board? Learn more here.

Executive Officers

Joel Kohlstedt, President | Waste Management

Joel is a Recycling Education Project Manager for Waste Management. He manages recycling education campaigns throughout Washington State focused on increasing recycling and decreasing contamination through innovative programs and projects. He is passionate about conducting research and creating data-driven campaigns, producing out-of-the-box strategies to engage residents, and optimizing program performance. Joel has worked in the recycling industry for over six years, supporting cities throughout the Puget Sound and Oregon in increasing recycling through business and multifamily outreach, community presentations and local recycling campaigns. Joel is a graduate of the University of Washington with a major in Environmental Studies. He combines his passion for education and sustainability by creating educational programming that will ultimately help to reduce our environmental impact. Joel enjoys the outdoors, biking, snowboarding and camping.

Hannah Scholes, Vice President | King County, Solid Waste Division

Hannah is a Policy Analyst for the King County Solid Waste Division. She supports policy and projects related to product stewardship, recycling, and circular economy. She is passionate about environmental justice and ensuring programs and policies benefit all community members. Prior to her work at King County she managed education and outreach for Waste Management and served as an environmental technician for Peace Corps Paraguay. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Systems from the University of California, San Diego, and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Washington. In her free time, you’ll find Hannah outside hiking, biking, skiing or just goofing off at the park with her dog.

Kris Major, Secretary | City of Spokane, Solid Waste Department

Kris Major is the Education Coordinator for the City of Spokane’s Solid Waste Department.  She has worked over 25 years as an informal educator for both public and non-profit organizations in Idaho and Washington states.  As an Education Coordinator for Spokane, she works with all ages and audiences teaching about waste reduction, recycling, re-use, and composting. She coordinates the Master Composter/Recycler program and its volunteers who conduct community outreach on waste reduction throughout the county. In 2016, The Washington State Recycling Association honored Kris by naming her its Individual Recycler of the Year. She has been a WSRA member since 2010 and has not missed a conference since starting her job with the city that year.

Carla Johnson, Assist. Secretary | Municipal Contract Administrator Republic Services

Carla Johnson is the Municipal Contract Administrator with Republic Services where she has worked since 2014. In her role, she works closely with city and county staff on waste diversion programs and provides community recycling outreach to a variety of audiences.  With a background in marketing and communication, Carla has helped design outreach campaigns and recycling education.  She has completed the Master Recyclers and Composting program and Certificates for public speaking thru Toastmasters.  Her previous experience was with One Redmond (the Redmond Chamber of Commerce) and international relocation real estate services.  In her free time, Carla stays active teaching skiing, snowmobiling, and camping with her family and two dogs.

Rick Vahl, Treasurer| LeMay, Inc / Waste Connections

Rick Vahl has worked alongside great teams at Waste Connections since 2012. His experience started in Alaska but then opportunities in California took him back to the “lower 48”. With a variety of Hauling and Transfer Station experience he was able to join the management team of LeMay, Pierce County Refuse in 2019. Working as a team to provide the safest and most customer focused services possible is what drives him to continuously improve. While balancing his career, he spends time with his lovely wife Melody and their 2 daughters Emerald (8) and Eden (5). Born and raised in Portland, OR makes the PNW feel like home where one of their family mottos comes to life – “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear”.

Cyndi Holloway, Assist. Treasurer | Waste Connections

Cyndi has lived in Vancouver, WA for the past 28 years. She is married to Marty, a retired Commander for the Vancouver City Police Department. They have three children, Chad (27), Taylor (22) and Hayden (21). Cyndi holds a Bachelor of Science in Business degree from the University of Washington. Her background is in event planning and hospitality sales, before joining Waste Connections she was the Executive Director for the Heathman Lodge in Vancouver and prior to the Heathman, she sold Las Vegas experience for Caesars Entertainment for over 8 years. Cyndi’s passions include Community, Friends/Family and Travel, but she is also very committed to improving her golf game.

Board Members

Michelle Mulrony | WA Department of Ecology

Michelle Mulrony is the Central Region Grants and Planning Specialist with the Washington Department of Ecology in the Solid Waste Division. Her duties include supporting local governments with technical support and guidance with their Solid & Hazardous Waste Management Plans as well as managing the Solid Waste Grants they receive ensuring local governments get the funding support they need. Previous to this position Michelle was the Recycling Coordinator in the Solid Waste Department with Klickitat County, Washington for 4 years after moving to Washington from Colorado. In Colorado Michelle worked in the Outdoor Recreation field while obtaining her Bachelor of Science in Outdoor Recreation Management from Northern Arizona University. Her passion for the outdoors led her to the field of Solid Waste and she enjoys outreach and education especially within waste reduction and recycling. Outside of work, Michelle enjoys spending time with her husband and kids on their hobby farm, kayaking on the local rivers, fishing, and camping.

Preston Peck | City of Tacoma, Solid Waste Division

Preston Peck is the Recycle Reset Project Lead at City of Tacoma’s Solid Waste Management Division and was responsible for conducting citywide community engagement to determine the future of the residential curbside recycling program in the wake of China’s National Sword Policy. Preston also leads the division’s policy efforts by identifying local, state, and federal policies’ impacts on municipal haulers and through representing the City of Tacoma on the Northwest Product Stewardship Council’s Steering Committee and in the U.S. Plastics Pact. Originally from Alabama, Preston has called Washington his home since 2018 and loves the numerous outdoor activities the state has to offer like skiing, backpacking, and swimming. When not at work, he can usually be found cooking, attempting to garden or play guitar, or literally herding he and his wife’s two cats, Franky and Daisy.

Karen Hultgren | Pierce County Planning & Public Works

Karen is a Solid Waste Recycling Analyst in the Sustainable Resources Division of Pierce County Planning and Public Works. She has worked in the recycling industry since 2009 on residential, municipal and school-based recycling, waste reduction and composting programs in both Colorado and Washington and has worked for Pierce County since 2016. Karen holds a Bachelor of Arts from American University and an M.B.A. from the University of Colorado Boulder – Leeds School of Business. She lives in Tacoma with her husband, daughter and two rescue dogs. Originally from New Mexico, Karen is continuously amazed by the verdancy of the PNW and is often found outside on adventures with her family enjoying the spectacular combination of mountains and water. In the past few years Karen has also developed a bit of an obsession with spotting orcas in the waters around Tacoma.

Carolyn Bowie | Washington State Department of Ecology

Carolyn Bowie (she/her) serves as the Waste Reduction and Recycling Specialist for Western Washington at the Washington State Department of Ecology where she leads the implementation for the Statewide Single-use Plastic Bag Ban and Single-use Serviceware law. Before joining Ecology in 2021, Carolyn conducted education and outreach to communities and businesses across King County about waste reduction and sustainability at both the City of Bellevue and Full Circle Environmental. As a lifelong environmentalist, Carolyn previously worked as an ecologist in the high deserts of California, Nevada and alpine meadows of Mount Rainier. After getting a Masters in Public Administration from University of Washington, she pivoted from working in the field to the office to tackle upstream environmental challenges in how we responsibly reduce and manage our waste. Outside of work, Carolyn tries to maximize time outdoors in her garden and explore new trails in the Cascade Mountains; one of her greatest life achievements to date is backpacking the entirety of the Appalachian Trail, 2,102 miles, in 2018.

Logan Harvey | Recology

Logan Harvey is a long term environmental activist and avid promoter of waste diversion and at home sustainable practices. Prior to a move up to the Pacific North West where he serves as Recology King County’s Government Relations Manager, Logan worked for Recology Sonoma Marin as a Waste Zero specialist and served 2 terms as Mayor of the City of Sonoma where he used is position to raise the local minimum wage, develop and affordable housing trust fund, and ban the sale of Styrofoam in the city.

Interested in Joining Our Board?

A packet of information about serving on the WSRA board is HERE. Please reach out to WSRA Staff at recycle@wsra.net if you have questions or want more information.