Board
Jim Bamberger
Jim Bamberger joined the Center for Justice’s board in 2004. He graduated first in his class at
Gonzaga University School of Law in 1980 and has spent his subsequent career working in civil legal aid as an attorney, program director, and state and national legal aid consultant. From 1996 until recently, Jim was the statewide coordinator for Columbia Legal Services, which provides legal assistance to low-income and special-needs people and organizations in Washington. He was appointed by the Washington State Supreme Court to serve as director of the state’s newly created Office of Civil Legal Aid in 2005. Jim also currently serves on the Gonzaga University School of Law Board of Advisors and on the board of Washington Attorneys Assisting Community Organizations (WAACO). He co-authored the Washington State Plan for Civil Legal Services; the plan is recognized as a national model.
Peter Grubb
Peter Grubb is one of the Northwest’s most renowned outfitters. The son of a biology and botany teacher, he developed an understanding of the wonder and 
fragility of the earth at an early age. He grew up camping and traveling and views the world as home. He studied the “Great Books” at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland and began working as a whitewater rafting guide on one-day trips in West Virginia. To fulfill his ambition of guiding longer trips with more time to connect with people and nature, he came in Idaho in 1979 to work on the Salmon and Selway rivers. That fall he founded ROW Adventures and continues to lead the company along with his partner and wife Betsy Bowen. ROW Adventures runs a variety of trips locally and around the world. The company also operates the River Dance Lodge located on the Clearwater River in central Idaho.
Peter strongly believes in the value of outfitted trips as a means to build a conservation ethic and a passion for advocacy among people who might not otherwise experience nature’s wild places. He’s also been involved with a variety of environmental organizations his entire career and also serves on the board of directors for Idaho Rivers United. He is excited about the foundation of the Spokane Riverkeeper. He has passions for travel, reading and history. He lives in Coeur d’Alene with his wife Betsy and two children.
Charlene Hunt
Charlene Hunt was Boise Cascade Corporation’s head of technology for 12 years shortly before
her introduction to the Center for Justice. Born in South Burnaby, British Columbia, she was an active volunteer in Christian youth work as a young person, taking teenagers to Mexico to paint orphanages and creating programs for Alaskan youth. Charlene graduated Summa Cum Laude from Eastern Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in sociology before she began working in the world of sales. Now a top sales person at Pitney Bowes, Inc. in Spokane, Charlene is very involved in her daughter’s local school district and engaged in outreach to various community support groups for struggling addicts. Charlene says her life is epitomized by the words framed in the Center’s entryway: “When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
Lewis Russell “Rusty” Nelson, Vice President
Rusty Nelson, whose greatest fulfillment has come through working for social change, is the
Center for Justice board’s Vice President. He grew up in Georgia, Florida, and Arkansas, and got a degree in English and an ROTC commission in the Army at Presbyterian College in South Carolina. While serving in Vietnam, Rusty earned citations that included the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster and V Device for valor. As a civilian, Rusty taught high school English before launching a career in radio. He worked as a disc jockey, news reporter, sports play-by-play announcer, operations manager, and commercial producer for stations in Georgia, Minnesota, and Washington. Rusty has received human rights awards from the mayor of Spokane, the Spokane County Democratic Central Committee, and the Pacific District Conference of the Mennonite Church.
He has also been a board member for Thin Air Radio and the Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, and has served Shalom Church in leadership positions. In 1971, traveling in Croatia, he met Nancy who became his partner at the Peace and Justice Action League (PJALS) of Spokane and in life. They were married within four months of meeting and, from 1988 to 2009, served as co-directors for PJALS. Rusty and Nancy have two children and two grandchildren.
Rhosetta Rhodes
Rhosetta Rhodes is a native of Pensacola, Florida and has lived in Spokane for 17 years. She
currently serves as the Director of Service-Learning and Community Engagement, and the Center for Conflict Transformation at Whitworth University. She graduated from Whitworth University in 1998 with a degree in Organizational Management. Rhosetta received her mediation certification from the Justice Center of Atlanta in 1998, and a certification in Transformative Mediation in 2000. For the past six years, she has collaborated with numerous agencies and organizations to improve the quality of life for Spokane’s citizens and to work towards sustainable communities.
Jim Sheehan, President
Jim Sheehan, Executive Director and President of the board, founded the Center for Justice in
1999. After graduating from Gonzaga Law School and spending more than 20 years as a public defender in Eastern and Western Washington, he received a windfall inheritance and wanted to put it to work for the greater good. Jim renovated the rundown Saranac Hotel, recreating it as the Community Building, a safe, welcoming, and affordable home for area nonprofit offices in Spokane’s downtown. And he founded the Center — a nonprofit law firm dedicated to protecting human rights, preserving the Earth, and holding the government accountable to the principles of democracy. Since Jim established the Center, it has served its numerous clients at low or no cost.
The son of a house painter and a housewife, Jim grew up near the University of Washington. He graduated from college in California and served two years in the army. It was during his service at Fort Brag that he witnessed overt racism for the first time. After his discharge from the army in 1969, Jim enrolled in law school where, between playing basketball and spending time with friends, he was able to squeeze in time for studying. Jim also serves on the board of the New Priorities Foundation.
Laurie Sheehan O’Neil
Loly Sheehan O’Neil, a Center for Justice board member since 1999, resides on the west side of Washington state and enjoys traveling. And that’s fortunate for the Center, because that means she is willing to make the cross-state trips necessary to attend our board meetings. Born in 1942, Loly has lived her whole life in the greater Seattle area and she graduated from Blanchet High School in 1960. A former cosmetologist, Loly has been involved with the ACLU in the past and currently serves on the board of the Tahoma Clinic Foundation, a nonprofit organization established in 1996, committed to “furthering the study and evaluation of naturally-based, ‘whole-body’ therapies.”