Board of Directors
Curran Connelly, President
Curran first heard of Books to Prisoners as an undergrad at UW and began volunteering in 2021. They fell in love with both the work and the community that gathered around it and couldn’t resist coming back week after week. Curran served as the Program Coordinator for the first half of 2023 and had such a good time that they asked to join the Board, where they assist in general decision making and the occasional hosting of shifts. Curran is currently beginning Law School at Seattle U, after which they hope to become a public defender.
Michelle Dillon, Vice President
After gaining an encyclopedic knowledge of the authors of thrillers and publishers of urban novels through her work as the program coordinator at Books to Prisoners, Michelle is proud to continue working with such a meaningful organization from afar, continuing to help with our planning and social media despite relocating outside Seattle. She is a master of library and information science (according to the University of Washington), has an open love for graphic novels and graphic memoirs, and makes a party trick of the thickness of her glasses.
Kris Fulsaas, Secretary
Kris started volunteering with Books To Prisoners in 1989 when she read that inmates at King County Jail had no books to read and the TV was on 24/7—which sounded like her personal vision of hell. Sending free books to U.S. prisoners is one of the most satisfying projects she has worked on. Kris has helped Books To Prisoners move at least 7 times and is grateful that BTP found our forever home. Kris loves the books aspect of Books To Prisoners—picking up large-scale book donations, sorting donated books, shelving books, and finding obscure books for prisoner requests.
Pat Walker, Treasurer
Marnie Annin
Marnie learned about Books To Prisoners from her first-born, who sent her a link and said “Mom, this looks like something you’d enjoy”. She started volunteering right away. Marnie retired from a career in technology and records management followed by a second career in animal rescue. She can’t imagine life without books and without the opportunity to learn, so sending books to incarcerated individuals is a perfect niche for her. She now hosts weekend shifts for Books To Prisoners, and loves finding the perfect selections to satisfy individuals’ requests.
Richard Bond
Richard discovered BTP in 2019, after finding a copy of “Dear Books to Prisoners: Letters from the Incarcerated” in a neighborhood bookshop. A local charity that supported books and reading was simply too much to resist, so he immediately joined up. He quickly found that while the work is its own reward, spending time with the organization’s staff and volunteers is an absolute delight. When not answering letters Richard enjoys spending time with his two teenage sons, playing with computers, and reading incessantly.
Andy Chan, Phd
Andy has been at BTP since 1994. Andy is motivated by the demonstrable, immediate and long-lasting impact that BTP can have on incarcerated people. Andy is a first-generation immigrant of Asian heritage. In addition to decades of sorting incoming letters, managing communications and staying on top of prison book restrictions, Andy has been a long-time member of the BTP Board.
Clinton Chin
Clinton was born and raised in Seattle and is an avid book lover who believes in the transformative power of literacy. Like many, the events of the pandemic sparked a deeper desire to make a meaningful impact. Encouraged by a dear friend who recognized his passion for books, Clinton began volunteering with Books to Prisoners in the summer of 2024.
Reading letters from incarcerated individuals—sharing how Books to Prisoners rekindled their sense of humanity and motivated them to grow—deepened his commitment to ensuring books reach those who don’t have easy access to them.
An avid fan of pop culture, Clinton gravitates toward science fiction, fantasy, and horror—especially stories of redemption (no surprise there).
Doug Hathaway
Doug was introduced to anti-carceral activism in high school, when he participated in the National Moratorium on Prison Construction with the Unitarian-Universalist Service Committee in 1974. He began volunteering with Books to Prisoners in 2016, seeking a way to support adult learners acquiring skills and knowledge they’d missed as schoolchildren. He draws inspiration from the principle that defines BtP and the national movement of prison book programs it helped foster, that incarcerated people have the right to pilot their own intellectual development by choosing what they read.