Our Mission
We believe that educating ourselves, we better ourselves.
Our mission is to convey the importance of the teachings within the spiritist doctrine, to create opportunities for improving ourselves, spiritually and morally, applying the knowledge and principles presented by the spiritist doctrine.
Who are we?
The Spiritist Study Group of Seattle (SSGS) is dedicated to understanding and disseminating the teachings of the Spiritist doctrine, written based on Allan Kardec’s codification.
Kardec’s work is the result of the study of mediumistic phenomena, which he initially believed to be of a fraudulent nature. By questioning several mediums in trance on a variety of matters, he compiled, compared and synthesized the answers obtained from spirits into a body of knowledge known as the codification. It speaks of the constant need to investigate the world around us (science), to make sense of our findings (philosophy), and to apply them to our day-to-day living so as to improve ourselves and the world around us (religion). This approach is often referred to as the triple-aspect of Spiritism: the conjoining of Science, Philosophy, and Religion.
Get to know our board of directors
President
Flavia Carolyne Valadao Souza has lived in the US since 2009, where she is raising her family. She is a teacher with a degree in Pedagogy from the Federal University of Goias, Brazil. Currently, she dedicates her time as a volunteer in the Spiritist Study Group of Seattle, where is the current president and general coordinator of the studies for children, youth, and adults.
Vice President
Iara Watney Pires is an active worker in the Spiritist group SSGS, and co-founder of the Spiritist Study Group of Seattle and the Auta de Souza Social Work department in the Seattle area.
She is a mediator of study groups of therapists with guidance in Jungian psychology and a volunteer in the therapeutic care of individuals with chemical dependency.
Iara is an artist and Business Owner. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Lato Senso post-graduation degree in Analytical Psychology.
Treasurer
Elaine Cristina Belentani-Saito is a food engineer who graduated from UNICAMP - Universidade Estadual de Campinas in Brazil with over six years of experience in the field. She is currently pursuing an AA degree in Accounting from Bellevue College while supporting three nonprofit organizations with their bookkeeping (BayBrazil, Spark Northwest, and Spiritist Study Group of Seattle).
Elaine also supports the nonprofit BayBrazil with partners relationship and event planning, and the nonprofit Spiritist Study Group of Seattle as a board member and study facilitator besides other related activities.
Fluent in Portuguese and English. Basic understanding of Spanish
Secretary
Mirelle Franca Wuolle is an Event Marketing Manager for Business Impact NW, a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) dedicated to serving underbanked entrepreneurs, providing coaching, classes, and access to capital to community small businesses, with an emphasis on working with traditionally underserved populations – entrepreneurial low/moderate income earners, women, BIPOC, veterans, immigrants, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Mirelle has over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry where she had an opportunity to work with various non-profit organizations. She has been involved in the community since moving to Seattle in 2018 and has been a volunteer with the Spiritist Study Group of Seattle and the Auta De Souza group providing meals for the homeless and senior citizens who can no longer cook for themselves since 2020.
Marketing & Communication
Tais Motta is an active volunteer worker and Director of Marketing at the Spiritist Study Group of Seattle.
She is a professional marketer with an artistic and keen eye for trends, especially in the digital environment. She has over 10 years of experience working in various areas in the Fashion Industry such as customer experience, promotions, sales management, market research, and brand design and development.
She went to school for Advertising and Fashion Marketing.
Counselor
Mateus Oliveira is a publicist who graduated in advertising and marketing from UCG - Catholic University of Goiás, Brazil. He currently owns a cleaning services business called MJO Cleaning Services which he has run for over 10 years.
Mateus considers himself enthusiastic, self-motivated, reliable, responsible, and hard-working.