Alisha “Ali” Saucedo is an educator, mentor, and systems leader who serves as Ignite’s Director of Systems Integration. She first discovered her calling as a student mentor in high school and later interned with Ignite throughout college, where she experienced firsthand how structured roles, relationships, and guidance can change a student’s trajectory.
Ali earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Saint Martin’s University, where she was an Act Six Scholar and student-athlete, and completed her Master’s in Educational Leadership and Program Administrator Certification at Seattle University.
In her current role, Ali supports the integration of mentoring, leadership, and future-ready outcomes across K–12 systems — helping districts translate belonging, responsibility, and student voice into instructional routines, course structures, and postsecondary preparation. She blends curriculum, implementation, and educator support to strengthen coherence across classrooms, advisory, and High School and Beyond (HSB) planning.
Ali believes no young person should move through school without someone who believes in them, advocates for their growth, and helps them see what’s possible.

Carlos Salinas is a Seattle-based creative director, photographer, and filmmaker, currently studying at the University of Washington. With six years of experience in photography and a growing focus on filmmaking and cinematography, Carlos brings a strong visual storytelling lens to everything he creates.

As a Marketing Support Intern with IGNITE, he supports outreach and engagement through content creation, event coverage, and creative assets that help amplify the organization’s work across schools and communities. Outside of IGNITE, Carlos contributes creatively to multiple UW student organizations and music collectives. His work spans music videos, short films, and visual content for student organizations and local businesses.
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David Oliver is a product strategist and systems architect who helps build the structures that make movements scale. With more than two decades of experience in product development, innovation, and operational architecture—with time at Microsoft—David specializes in designing digital platforms and tools that support human-centered learning and leadership.
At Ignite, David is helping build the organization’s digital delivery system, translating 25+ years of on-the-ground youth mentoring and leadership work into scalable platforms for schools, districts, CTE programs, High School and Beyond planning, and global partners. His work focuses on integrating technology with research and practice in a way that preserves Ignite’s relational core while expanding access for students and educators.
David joined Ignite during a pivotal transition for the organization and plays an active role in product development, systems design, and platform strategy as Ignite prepares for broader adoption and scale.

Janilla “Nini” Augofie is a former Ignite mentee and first-generation college graduate whose leadership journey reflects the developmental power of near-peer mentoring. She leads with authenticity, equity, and belonging — helping young people step into leadership while staying true to who they are.
Nini brings a lived understanding of responsibility and community. As a mother and the oldest of eleven, she knows what it means to care, organize, advocate, and show up for others — skills that continue to shape how she works with young people.
A collaborator and creative, Nini believes mentoring is identity work, and that leadership grows through relationship, perseverance, and purpose. Her path from mentee to coach and now speaker for Ignite helped influence the organization’s belief that young people can lead when they are trusted with meaningful roles — and that leadership pathways can begin earlier than most systems imagine.

Kris Menon is the co-founder of Ignite and has spent more than twenty-five years helping schools build cultures where students can lead, belong, and contribute. Her work centers on the belief that leadership is not reserved for a select few—any student can learn to lead when they are trusted with meaningful roles and supported along the way.
Kris helped develop the systems, pathways, and partnerships that allowed Ignite’s mentoring programs to take root in middle and high schools across the country. She has worked directly with districts, principals, and teachers to support youth-led transitions, advisory courses, mentor training, and culture-building initiatives. Many of these partnerships have continued for a decade or longer, becoming part of a school’s fabric rather than a short-term initiative.
She has seen thousands of students learn to mentor, speak up, and step into leadership long before anyone would have named them “leaders.”
Before entering education, Kris worked in competitive business environments where she learned to listen, coach, and enroll others in possibility. Those skills shaped how she approached districts: not as customers, but as collaborators.
Today, Kris continues to guide Ignite’s development, mentor its growing team, and support school and nonprofit partners who are working to expand youth leadership. She remains committed to creating environments where young people discover what they are capable of when they are trusted to lead.

Sven “Sveno” Olson brings more than 25 years of global leadership, military service, and youth development experience to Ignite. With a Master’s in Public Policy and International Affairs and a 27-year military career culminating as a Major in the Army National Guard, Sven was repeatedly called to serve internationally while continuing to train and coach with Ignite.
During those federal assignments, Sven played roles ranging from Foreign Affairs Officer (U.S. State Department) to Bilateral Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. After each deployment, he returned to Ignite, where he has spent more than two decades teaching, motivating, and coaching students, educators, and district teams in leadership, character, and mentoring.
Known for his energy and resilience, Sven brings courage, purpose, and conviction to every training environment.
Today, Sven continues his international humanitarian work as Founder and Director of the Rebuild the World Foundation while serving as a Lead Coach and Speaker requested by schools for both staff and students.