Our Leadership Team:
Amy Quilter, Founder, President
Amy's career began as a pharmacist in Upstate New York. After a move overseas, another move back to the states to Athens, GA, and another to Seattle in 2016, she stopped practicing and spent most of her time taking care of her three busy boys, making friends and creating a home in new places. In 2019, with her boys more independent she began working with local nonprofit that gave free tennis lessons, a sport she was very passionate about. When the pandemic hit soon after, she poured herself into that small program, which like many programs shifted into offering all kinds of support over that time. She realized that the mentorship was what she enjoyed most about coaching.
That experience and enthusiasm, her insights as a parent and from relocating, her willingness to learn, along with help she received from professionals in fields like philanthropy, coaching, education, and business gave her the tools that she needed to start Rally Club Seattle!
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Amy is thrilled to be working with others as passionate as she is! Team Rally Club Seattle is always thinking of ways to improve upon the model and Amy would love to hear from you!
Conny Flores, Program Coordinator
Originally from San Francisco, I moved to Seattle for work in 2017 and later returned to school for a Bachelors Degree in Industrial Design which also allowed me to start my own business as a personal chef.
I’m passionate about sourdough, community building, designing outdoor gear, backpacking, foraging and sewing. I love building community and sharing food, stories, and creative tools.
Rally Club calls to me due to my first hand experience with mentorship. In middle school I attended a KIPP charter school which deepened my understanding of the lasting impact that mentorship and community engagement can have on young people. Some of my most treasured memories from the after school program there are from volunteer-led programs, like a hip-hop history class, lacrosse coaching, and pottery sessions. That experience shaped my interests and inspired me to help create an environment for youth to flourish. I am so excited to be a part of Rally Club!
Amy Knobbs, Co-Founder
Working with kids makes Amy happy. She likes talking with them, helping them understand something better and listening to how they understand the world. Having volunteered almost daily for 6 years at her children’s elementary school and in various roles at the PTA, the covid shutdown made it clear how much she missed in-person interactions with students.
When the opportunity arose to help start Rally Club Seattle, she was thrilled. With 2 children in middle school, she was excited to be able to work with that age group. Middle schoolers are poised for enormous personal growth: their ideas are less rigid than high schoolers but their ability to reason is far better than elementary students.
Throughout her past, Amy has enjoyed projects that require patience, persistence, and optimism for success. In addition to volunteering at the elementary school, Amy volunteered teaching ESL and worked as a database developer. These projects were gratifying, but Rally Club Seattle surpasses them all.
Andrea Duys, Co-Founder, Treasurer
Andrea moved to Seattle from New Hampshire in 2013 to conduct psychology research at University of Washington. Her area of focus was how stress impacts the development of youth between ages 8-18. Through her work, she spent significant time supporting the youth and families she worked with, evolving into a mentorship role. She loved getting to know people from all kinds of backgrounds and walks of life. Currently she works at Amazon as a Program Manager in recruiting and career development.
When Andrea heard the idea for Rally Club she was immediately inspired. She is passionate about how mentorship improves outcomes for at-risk youth, as well as how rich of an experience it can be for a mentor. As a co-founder she has used her research experience to shape and improve programming and her human resources experience to recruit, train, and retain the best volunteers, the key to a quality mentorship program!
Andrea volunteers weekly as a mentor and enjoys helping the kids achieve their academic goals as well as navigate the social-emotional challenges of middle school life. She is very popular with the kids, known for getting the best snacks and her skills at listening and validating!
Our story
The vision
Rally Club Seattle began in 2022 as a grassroots-formed, group mentorship program for underserved teens and tweens in Northeast Seattle. Founders noted not only a lack of programming targeting this population, but also a lack of participation in existing offerings.
A need for connection
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At a time when 40% of teens report feeling persistently sad and hopeless (CDC, 2024), and society is increasingly disconnected, connection and community are needed more than ever.
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Unique, inclusive communities
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Volunteer mentors create a fun, welcoming, and inclusive environment where time spent socializing, sharing meals, and participating in youth-driven activities, encourages connection and natural social-emotional learning. Since inception, more than 30 volunteers have directly engaged with youth for over 1000 hours, among four locations--each as unique as its participants!