2014 Skagit Women's Alliance and Network

th

Anniversary

2014 Business & Professional

WOMEN OF THE YEAR

KATHRYN BENNETT

MARY JUNE CURTIS

JEANNE YOUNGQUIST

JILL ROUW 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

A supplement to the Skagit Valley Herald

Congratulations Deb Davis Bundy Our own SWAN Finalist!

DEB DAVIS BuNDy Skagit Publishing

Since 1980 Skagit Women in Business (SWIB) has offered members opportunities for growth on both a professional and personal level through monthly meetings, guest speakers, and other educational programs. Each year SWIB provides scholarships to women in Skagit County returning to school after a break in their education.

Join us at 7am the 1st Friday of each month at Copia Coffee Lounge & Gallery in Burlington. Visitors welcome!

SKAGIT WOMEN IN BUSINESS BOARD MEMBERS

Officers

JEANNE LAW President/ Newsletter Jeanne’s Jewelry Box

LAuRA FLETChER Vice-President RPh Shiraz Specialty Pharmacy

Members Lynda Balise

Deb Davis Bundy

Diane Fox

Yulia Garrison

LISA KNOWLES Secretary Chinook Enterprises

TONy SALAS Treasurer Rely Local

Sterling Touch

Lauri Laurisen

Danielle Martin

Wendy Lucas

Perfectly Posh

Rodan & Field Dermatologists

Primerica

Gerry Ellen Sleeth

Colleen Smiley

Sherri Stites

Elizabeth Fernando

Stephanie Hooper

Kathy Larson

Bayside Specialities

Karen Mills hampton Inn & Suites Burlington

Simply Silver and More

Retired PSE

Rebecca Shotten

Tina Pullar Skagit Publishing

Small Business Specialities

KRIS TuLLy Membership

Business Bank

Speedy Automated Mailers

Creative Celebrations

Tina Asp

CARyN hILDE REBECCA STACIE ZINN Co-Chair Spring MuRRAy ROBERTS Fling Public Relations Co-Chair Spring hilde Senior Fling Skagit Media

Living Solutions

Plexus Worldwide Ambassador

Garrison Engineering

Linda Fergusson Burlington Chamber CEO

Jeri Kaufman

ShARON hANSEN Past President/ Website/ Scholarship heritage Financial

Committee Chairs

BARBRA DEVRIES Co-Chair Fall Mingle

BC Accounting

Skagit Publishing

Star Staffing

All About hearing

Bekki Cox

Marketing

Whats your Avocado

BC Accounting

Mary Tacia Belle Ve’ Permanent Make up

Becky Taft

Skagit Bank

Not pictured

Joy Casamento

Brenda Green

Image 360

Pure Joy Skin Care & Wax

Registered Nurse

Alyse Axford

Alice Collingwood

Leilani Grobschmit

Zig-Zag & Rags Clowns

Monique Brigham

Plumeria Breezes Travel

Collingwood Communications

Leilani’s Photography

Amanda Cook

Skagit Adult Daycare

Farmers Insurance

Deanna McDougle

For more information visit: www.skagitwomeninbusiness.com

Rachel Yousling

Innovated Lifestyles

Marjorie Plewinski Copia Coffee VIP Espresso Catering

Jill Sprouse

Cabi Clothing

Skagit Valley Herald Publisher Heather Hernandez Skagit Valley Herald Editor Colette Weeks

Advertising Director Mark Dobie, mdobie@skagitpublishing.com

Contributing Writers Kimberly Cauvel, Daniel DeMay, Evan Marczynski, Mark Stayton, Kera Wanielista

Display Advertising Manager Deb Bundy, dbundy@skagitpublishing.com

Photographer Scott Terrell Design & Layout Patricia Stowell, Greg Fiscus

Media Consultants Stephanie Harper, Abby Jackson, Danielle Koagel, Tina Pullar, Kathy Schultz, Katie Sundermeyer, Paul Tinnon, John Williams Ad Operations Holly Chadwick, Jody Hendrix, Julia Matylinski, Dana Perry, Karen Sheppard, Patricia Stowell

SKAGIT PUBLISHING

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1215 Ander son R oad M ount Ver non, WA 98274 P: 360. 424. 3251 F: 360. 424. 5300 R est ocki ng: 360. 424. 3251 Š 2014 by Skagi t Publ i shi ng LLC Al l r i ght s r eser ved.

Skagit Publishing LLC

INSIDE come 4 Changes to SWAN awards

5 Lifetime Achievement Jill Rouw

finalists 7 SWAN Scholarship winners bios 8- Winner Kathryn Bennett June Curtis 13 Mary Jeanne Youngquist

14 Previous winners

SWAN / October 2014

3

SKAGIT Women’s Alliance and Network

Women of the Year to be honored in program’s new format categories: professional achievement, mentoring of women and community After 30 years recognizing the achieve- involvement. Finalists were chosen, and ments and service of women in Skagit the winner was named at the annual County, the Skagit Women’s Alliance banquet. and Network has given its annual awards Under the new format, judges from program a thorough modernization. across the county select award recipients In an effort to better celebrate the from the pool of applicants and detercontributions of many women in their mine which categories best apply to communities and places of business, them.

Women of the Year awards will be given This year’s three winners — Kathryn to three recipients in 2014.

Bennett, Mary June Curtis and Jeanne Previously, nominees were evaluated Youngquist — will find out more about that recognition at Thursday’s event. by the SWAN board based on three

By MARK STAYTON

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2014 SWAN NOMINEES! North Homes Realty, Inc.

Anita Kohl, Assoc. Broker 961-7795

Arlene Vonachen 853-6429

Barb Gent 681-0909

Dawn Hardman 540-0058

Jackie Lindeman

Margie Ernst 708-3198

Marlene Deasy 661-6720

Maria Mendoza 610-3309

Sandi Hocking 708-1523

Sandi Riley, Assoc. Broker 770-8670

Sharon Stokes 661-6164

Connie Moulaison

770-1341

Tamara Cooper 630-9127

Traci Cypher 708-9481

526 East College Way Mount Vernon, WA 4

SWAN / October 2014

Veronica Lopez 420-0696

770-9080

Shannon McCain 223-4873

360.424.2100

ABOUT THE BANQUET What: 30th annual SWAN Women of the Year award banquet When: 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16 Where: Swinomish Casino & Lodge Tickets: $50 at brownpapertickets. com/event/847713 More info: swanskagit.org

The evening will also include the honor of a lifetime achievement award for Jill Rouw, who is officially retired from her accounting firm but is still very busy.

Board President Ada Snyder said the new format focuses more on sharing inspirational stories than competing for a single award.

“We have come a long way since 1984.

Women have more of a place in the professional community,” she said. “Shining a light on more specific categories lets people see what all is being done.”

Board member Julie Blazek, a partner at HKP Architects, said instead of waiting in suspense through the awards ceremony, the new format means the winners already know they are being recognized.

Blazek, a two-time nominee, said the abundance of nominations turned in every year shows a multitude of ways women are improving their industries and communities.

Heather Hernandez, board member and publisher of Skagit Publishing, said the SWAN organization was originally formed to bring various local women’s professional groups together and support them through networking and recognition.

“The whole intent is to celebrate women as a whole, in business and professional development, and this just feels like a better move in that direction,” she said.

The expansion of the award is expected to help bring in more money for scholarships provided by the organization to women pursuing continued education.

Last year, $3,000 was awarded to two local recipients. This year, there are three scholarship recipients. The organization’s fundraising goal this year is $6,000.

Skagit Publishing LLC

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LIFETIME Achievement JILL ROUW

Congratulations Deb Davis Bundy

on being a finalist for 2014.

Jill Rouw at home.

Lifetime achievement winner the definition of a ‘servant leader’ organization and its annual awards dinner all those years ago, she never pictured herself being one of the eve“Thank you” is a phrase Jill Rouw ning’s honorees. thinks is often not said enough. “(It’s) humbling,” she said.

“Thank you” for working hard.

This year, she’s not just one of the “Thank you” for giving back. honorees, she’s the lifetime achieve“Thank you” for being you.

That’s where the Skagit Women’s Al- ment winner, the first the organization has had in several years. liance and Network group comes in.

“She is what I would consider a “Back in the early ’80s, there wasn’t much going on for women,” Rouw said. servant leader,” SWAN board member Kelli Tolf said. “She truly thinks of oth“It’s just giving the ‘atta girls’ and the ers first before she thinks of herself.” ‘thank yous’ to women in the community.”

But when she helped start the SWAN Continued on Page 6

By KERA WANIELISTA

We appreciate everything you do for our company, local businesses and community!

LIFETIME Achievement JILL ROUW After graduating from high school in Bellevue, Rouw attended Washington State University, and then in her 30s, went back to school at Skagit Valley College and Western Washington University to receive an accounting degree.

Eventually, she opened an accounting firm in Mount Vernon, which she owned for 25 years. Her goal was to make sure her clients got more than just their taxes done, she said.

“I always felt I was selling safety and education,” Rouw said.

After “officially” retiring five years ago, Rouw has remained as busy as ever: working with the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival and its foundation, the Skagit Valley Hospice Foundation and the Skagit Valley College Foundation.

As a frequent nominator of SWAN recipients and candidates, Rouw said no two candidates are alike, but all are similar in their desire to give back to their communities, offering their services

“The fun part of life is nurturing. Not just kids.” and volunteering.

This year, she nominated Mary June Curtis and Laura Minton Breckenridge.

“They do it because they want to,” Rouw said of the women she nominates.

“Because they have an interest in (an organization’s) mission statement.”

Rouw was also nominated this year, but, like always, didn’t want to accept.

Her SWAN colleagues wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.

Tolf said in the 15 years she’s known her, Rouw has mentored people not only in the business world but also through their health crises, something she knows all about.

“Her biggest attribute is she is a great listener,” Tolf said.

When she beat cancer five years ago, Rouw and her daughter took a trip to Machu Pichu to celebrate. A celebration

Right Care.

Right Here.

of life. A celebration she wants to help others with cancer achieve.

“People are scared with cancer,” Rouw said. “You’re still alive and it’s time to live.”

The greatest achievements of her life, Rouw said, are beating cancer and raising two happy and healthy children.

In the professional world, she said she’s proud of the mentorship and guidance she’s been able to provide to thousands of clients over the years.

“The fun part of life is nurturing,” Rouw said. “Not just kids.”

— Reporter Kera Wanielista: 360-416-2141, kwanielista@skagitpublishing.com, Twitter: @ Kera_SVH, Facebook.com/KeraReports

Continue the cycle - recycle

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Congratulations to all of the SWAN nominees.

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This October, treat yourself to a Soft Touch Mammogram.

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SWAN / October 2014

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SKAGIT Women’s Alliance and Network Scholarship winners CARLA REESE Age: 35 Hometown: Mount Vernon Attends: Skagit Valley College Studies: Nursing What she plans to do: “I am a classic single-mom story: looking for a job and some stability for my kids.

Nursing has been a natural choice as something that will provide stability … and let me continue doing what I love.”

Works: Has had a massage license for 12 years and works with hospice patients locally.

Intends to continue in the medical field.

goskagit.com

LAURA EBERHARD Age: 26 Hometown: Mount Vernon Attends: Western Washington University Studies: Halfway through a bachelor’s degree in human services What she plans to do: “I really want to do my best to help people who need it. I went into this to work with at-risk youths.”

Works: At Community Action and wants to continue there or work with at-risk kids after she graduates.

REGINA WANDLER Age: 26 Hometown: Mount Vernon; recently moved to Seattle to study Attends: University of Washington Studies: A master’s degree in environmental horticulture, with a focus on natural restoration of ecosystems.

What she plans to do: “I’m interested in continuing to work in that field and improve the quality of life for everyone in the Skagit area.”

Works: Stewardship associate for the Skagit Land Trust. Intends to return to continue working for the Land Trust.

Skagit Publishing LLC

SWAN finalists

KATHRYN BENNETT

MARY JUNE CURTIS

TRACEY LEVINE

Executive director of EDASC Foundation’s Leadership Skagit

Retired Skagit County juvenile probation counselor

Sports TV associate director for ESPN, Golf Channel, NBC Sports; producer/ associate director for the PAC-12 Network

DEB DAVIS BUNDY

CHRISTI KINNEY

JEANNE YOUNGQUIST

Skagit Publishing retail advertising manager

Burlington Parks and Recreation Department coordinator

Skagit County auditor

SWAN / October 2014

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SWAN winner KATHRYN BENNETT

On and off the clock, Kathryn Bennett shapes new leaders

Kathryn Bennett runs the Leadership Skagit office in Mount Vernon.

By KIMBERLY CAUVEL

The Port of Skagit is proud to salute all

2014 SWAN Business & Professional Woman of the Year nominees.

Thank you for your contributions to our community!

Port of Skagit ~ Good Jobs for Our Community

www.portofskagit.com Skagit Regional Airport

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La Conner Marina

SWAN / October 2014

Bayview Business Park

Nature Trails

Kathryn Bennett of Anacortes spends her time on the clock helping shape new leaders in Skagit County.

Off the clock, she devotes her time to serving on a variety of boards and lending a hand to volunteer efforts to support the military, Rotary Club and Boys & Girls Club, among others.

She always has an eye toward the future of her community.

Bennett is one of three winners of the Skagit Women’s Alliance Network’s Women of the Year Awards for 2014.

Details of her award will be announced at the Oct. 16 banquet.

As director of the Economic Development Association of Skagit County Foundation’s Leadership Skagit program, Bennett lives and works in the Skagit Valley.

“It’s extremely rewarding work because what I get to do every day is work with people who are interested in their community and want to be a part of its future,” she said.

The EDASC Foundation is a nonprofit organization aimed at helping local businesses grow and the local economy flourish.

The foundation organizes Leadership Skagit in partnership with Skagit

Skagit Publishing LLC

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SWAN winner KATHRYN BENNETT Valley College and Washington State University. The goal of the nine-month program is to strengthen and transform the community with an informed and connected network of business people.

Bennett’s favorite part of her job as the program’s director is working “with people from all walks of life in Skagit County who are interested in making the county the best that it can be for their families and their neighbors and their co-workers.”

Receipt of this year’s SWAN award is not the first time Bennett has been recognized as a role model for women and a business leader in Skagit County.

She was a SWAN finalist in 2009. Until this year, the award was given to only one Woman of the Year. Now there are three.

Bennett is active in the community, with a long list of organizations benefiting from her volunteer efforts.

Her recognition includes the Service Excellence Award from the Navy’s Surgeon General in 2000 for working to improve health and safety services for military personnel and their families.

“I truly believe that we depend on the social fabric of our communities, and that fabric is strengthened by our volunteer efforts and our involvement in the direction that our community is going,” Bennett said. “We each play a role in that, and the more of us who are informed and active, the stronger that fabric is.”

In years past, Bennett has served on the Seattle Children’s Hospital Board of Directors, Anacortes Public Library Foundation Board of Directors and Skagit Valley College Foundation Board of Governors.

She currently serves on the Skagit Valley College Board of Trustees by appointment from Gov. Jay Inslee. The position is “very rewarding because of its impact on the success of students, and its impact also on our greater community to provide opportunities for our citizens to achieve their dreams and really add to the richness and success of the county,” she said.

Before becoming director of Leadership Skagit in 2008, Bennett worked for

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“I truly believe that we depend on the social fabric of our communities, and that fabric is strengthened by our volunteer efforts and our involvement in the direction that our community is going. We each play a role in that, and the more of us who are informed and active, the stronger that fabric is.” the National Health Education Project, American Red Cross, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Washington and Alaska and the Island Hospital Foundation. She was also one of the first graduates of the Leadership Skagit program when it started in 2004.

“I’ve been extremely fortunate to work in the nonprofit world my entire career and to work with dedicated and

talented volunteers,” Bennett said. “I would say that is my greatest achievement, that I’ve been able to have that opportunity and develop relationships with those people that are motivated to make their world better.”

– Reporter Kimberly Cauvel: 360-4162199, kcauvel@skagitpublishing.com, Twitter: @Kimberly_SVH, facebook.com/ bykimberlycauvel

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CONGRATULATIONS to all SWAN nominees!

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SWAN winner MARY JUNE CURTIS

Retired probation counselor strives to lead by example Mary June Curtis stands in front of the Skagit County Courthouse.

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By EVAN MARCZYNSKI

Just 12 months into her retirement from working as a juvenile probation counselor in Skagit County, Mary June Curtis has had little time to consider the legacy of her career, which spanned more than 20 years.

But her proudest achievements were gained through her zeal to be a part of her community, she said, either through her job or through involvement with local school boards and hospital foundations.

“I think it’s always important to give back, no matter what capacity,” she said.

“I learned that from my mom.”

Curtis continues her community service through her position on the Skagit Valley Hospital Foundation’s board of directors. She is also a past president and two-term member of the Mount Vernon School District board and a founding member of the Mount Vernon Public Schools Foundation.

Working in Skagit County, Curtis said her role was not about putting troubled kids behind bars. Instead, she tried to teach the importance of accountability.

Curtis said one of her most successful endeavors was a graffiti abatement program that took kids who had committed such vandalism and put them to work

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SWAN winner MARY JUNE CURTIS “I think it’s always important to give back, no matter what capacity. I learned that from my mom.” cleaning it.

The program was developed in coordination with the Mount Vernon police and parks and recreation departments after a local judge, fed up with graffiti in parks, demanded something be done, she said.

Curtis took the opportunity to help the youths understand the consequences of their actions and turned the program into a makeshift civics course. Mentorship played a big role, she said.

“For a lot of these kids, there isn’t that expectation that you need to clean up your messes, so to speak,” Curtis said. “I think it’s important for kids to understand that they are part of the community, too.”

Curtis said she was grateful to be nominated and that the recognition of her work and service was humbling.

But hers was a career that was almost quashed before it began.

After graduating from Montana State University in 1974, Curtis decided to try for a job at a local sheriff’s office.

She always knew she wanted to work with children in the criminal justice system, and she had spent a year in school volunteering at a juvenile probation office. Curtis said she thought her experience writing presentencing reports would at least land her an interview with the sheriff.

She was wrong. The sheriff wasn’t interested. But it wasn’t due to any lack of experience.

“He looked at me and he said ‘I would never hire you because you’re a woman,’ ” she said. “Things were so different in the ’70s.”

She left that meeting without a job offer. But an opportunity later arose that Curtis said was the first time she felt she had the courage to work to make a meaningful change in her community.

The sheriff who wouldn’t hire her had a re-election coming up.

Curtis joined his opponent’s campaign team, and she said she still likes

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to think that her doing so played a small part in the incumbent losing the next election. Her political interests continue today: Curtis currently serves as the campaign chair for the Committee to Re-Elect Skagit County Treasurer Katie Jungquist.

She would later find work in another part of Montana, becoming the first female juvenile probation officer in the 16th Judicial District.

Curtis said her early career experiences gave her insight into practicing leadership and setting good examples.

With few women working in criminal justice, she said she constantly felt a need to take on extra responsibilities to prove herself worthy.

But it was that first experience with an unreasonable sheriff that would shape the rest of her life and career, she said.

“That gave me the courage to say, ‘I did something, I worked to make some change … and whatever I do, I need to do it well, because there’s going to be other women coming after me,’ ” Curtis said.

Not one to normally accept accolades, Curtis said the SWAN nomination takes her a little out of her comfort zone.

But she said she thinks of it as a sort of “thank you,” and an opportunity for her to remember some of the positive things she achieved in juvenile criminal justice.

“I know I made the difference in some kids’ lives,” she said. “That probably means more than pretty much anything.”

— Reporter Evan Marczynski: 360-4162149, emarczynski@skagitpublishing.com, Twitter: @Evan_SVH, Facebook.com/ EvanReports

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SWAN / October 2014

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SWAN winner JEANNE YOUNGQUIST

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Jeanne Youngquist stands in the rotunda of the Skagit County Administration Building.

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SWAN / October 2014

EBT Accepted

By DANIEL DeMAY

By the time she started at Washington State University, Jeanne Youngquist was well down a path toward teaching and mentoring others.

Since then and even before, the now 69-year-old has been involved in leadership and mentoring roles across a dizzying array of programs and institutions, including almost eight years as the current Skagit County auditor.

Throughout it all, she learned to focus on helping others achieve success, she said.

“You cannot help being successful if you make those around you successful,” Youngquist said in her nomination form.

Early on, her involvement with 4-H taught her to work hard and give back to the community. After her father battled tuberculosis, she was naturally inclined to volunteer with the March of Dimes and also helped an effort for a classmate suffering from polio.

From there, it was one thing after

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SWAN winner JEANNE YOUNGQUIST another: She became a dorm sponsor and member of the athletic council at college, the northwest district director for the WSU Alumni Association after graduation (where she helped start the annual Rally in the Valley), adviser for the ski club during her three years teaching at Mount Vernon High School, and then joined her family back on the berry farm they had started in 1968.

At Mike and Jean’s Berry Farm, Youngquist saw the chance to help guide kids to success. With two of her own already (and another coming in 1974), she said her role as a parent motivated her to help others, too.

“The roles that you play in life maybe follow a progression of what you do,” she said. “Raising children brings your focus more to youth.”

Working on the farm, she hired and ran the picking crews, made up, at times, of up to 300 kids from around the valley. But she found ways to teach them more than picking berries.

She raced with the kids to see who could pick faster, handed out prizes and sent them off with Popsicles dripping in their hands at the end of many days.

Working with kids on the farm was one of her favorite experiences, Youngquist said.

“Working with the kids on the crews and giving them a foundation and helping them be successful, that might have the biggest lasting result,” she said.

Eventually, when legislation ended the widespread use of kids to pick

berries, her farm hired and housed migrant workers. Youngquist honed her Spanish skills with some classes at Skagit Valley College and took on even more responsibility at the farm, operating equipment, figuring pay scales and overseeing payroll. At the time, she was one of the few female crew bosses overseeing the mostly Hispanic crews, and communication was key to her success, she said.

“There is a lot of trust that comes with communication, understanding and the humor of trying,” she said. “We have lifelong friends because of that effort.”

She still found time to stay active in her alumni association and took on other work with the Farm Bureau, serving as women’s chair and creating outreach and promotional programs.

At one point, Youngquist left the farm for a job at Skagit Valley Hospital, helping to first complete and then undo the merger into Affiliated Health Service, but even with a full-time job and a family, she kept up volunteering with a variety of youth programs, including the YMCA board, United Way board and more.

In recent years, after taking the post as auditor, Youngquist has had to step down from some political involvement with agriculture, but she keeps busy still, working with the Northwest Agriculture Business Center and serving on the national advisory board for the WSU College of Agriculture, Human

Congratulations to all 2014 SWAN Woman of the Year Nominees!

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and Natural Resources Sciences.

She sees her role in public office as just another chance to help her community.

“It’s a way to help make government serve their citizens just a little bit better,” she said. “I’m kind of surprised to be doing that, but I’m glad I did.”

— Reporter Daniel DeMay: 360-4162148, ddemay@skagitpublishing.com, Twitter: @Daniel_SVH, Facebook.com/ byDanielDeMay

Continue the cycle – please recycle

Recreation Coordinator Burlington Parks & Recreation

Congratulations

to SWAN Finalist Christi Kinney.

We thank you for your dedication to our community.

833 S. Spruce St. Burlington, WA 98233 burlingtonwa.gov 360.755.0531 SWAN / October 2014

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Past WINNERS

SKAGIT COUNTY Serving with pride

2013 Debbie Allen 2012 Kristia Poppe

The Skagit County Board of Commissioners Ron Wesen, Kenneth A. Dahlstedt, and Sharon D. Dillon are pleased to honor the achievements of the nominees of the Skagit Women’s Alliance and Network Award for their contributions to our community. www.skagitcounty.net

2011 Valerie Stafford 2010 Liz McNett-Crowl 2009 Sue Krienen 2008 Jan Ellingson 2007 Pam Nelson 2006 Maureen Harlan

congratulations to the 2014 SWAN Nominees!

We celebrate your success!

2005 Laura Cailloux 2004 Lisa Janicki 2003 Mary Arendse 2002 Debra Lancaster 2001 Laurie Gere 2000 Susan Cook 1999 Shirley Osborn

1320 Memorial Hwy • Mount Vernon 424.1977

1998 Linda Freed 1997 Lola Lang 1996 Maureen Dickson 1995 Judi Knutzen

Never Ordinary.

1994 Dorothy Bluhm Urbick

Congratulations to the SWAN finalists of 2014.

Your example inspires all women in business.

-Barbara Strauss

1993 Judy Montoya 1992 Nanette Hough 1991 Pat Hyatt

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1990 Carol Kirkby 1989 B.J. Kendall

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1988 Cheryl Bishop 1987 Geneva Sasnett

CONTINUE THE CYCLE — PLEASE RECYCLE 14

SWAN / October 2014

1986 Judy Menish 1985 Carol Pritchard Poppe

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Women of EDASC PROUDLY SUPPORTING AND PROMOTING SKAGIT COUNTY WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Kathryn, “Congratulations from the Board of directors and staff of EDASC. We thank you for all that you do. You truly are an inspiration and great mentor for our community.”

Julie Blazek

"Congratulations to the 2014 SWAN Women of the Year!

Your professional achievements, engagement in volunteer work and mentioning of other women add such depth and meaning to our community"

Kathryn Bennett Director of Leadership Skagit Part of the EDASC Foundation

Stephanie Wood

"Talents and perspectives that are unique to women are an added value in the workplace.

Employers should seek to diversify and improve their staff by including women at all levels."

Patsy Martin

Alice Takehara

"…to encourage others to step out of their 'comfort zone' and take on a leadership role."

Mary Anstensen

"…to encourage women to be involved in their communities, even in non-traditional roles."

“Congratulations, and thank you to the amazing women nominated for the S.W.A.N. award.

We appreciate everything you do to help make the Skagit Valley such a wonderful place.”

Contact EDASC today for more information about our programs and services.

360-336-6114 | office@skagit.org | www.skagit.org