My Story

Building relationships and trust to make good things happen in my community is what drives me in life and work. After more than 20 years in nonprofit leadership, I believe that when each of us is able to show up to work as our authentic selves, incredible things are possible.

My career path started in advertising and marketing, where I learned the importance of strong messaging, goal-setting and focus. That field led me to the nonprofit world when I went to work as the Advertising Manager for the Kansas City Repertory Theatre.

When we moved to the Pacific NW in 1999 I had the opportunity to work at a horticultural tech start up – which was exactly as wild as it sounds! Beginning in 2001 I began working in the nonprofit field once again and spent the next 12 years serving as an Executive Director first for Allied Arts of Whatcom County, and then for the Whatcom Literacy Council. Leading those fantastic organizations helped me to truly understand the importance of well defined strategy and strong team cultures in making change happen. I firmly believe that Aristotle was correct when he said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

From 2012 to 2021, I worked at Whatcom Community Foundation where I deepened my knowledge of philanthropy, planned giving, donor stewardship and program design and implementation. Along the way, I served for 11 years as a Trustee for Bellingham Public Library where I learned first hand what it means to be a good board member and what it takes to build and maintain a strong board of directors.