Swan 2016

2016 Business & Professional

WOMEN OF THE YEAR

BONNIE BOWERS

ERIN LONG

REBECCA SCHLAHT

JACKIE CRESS

MARIANA FOLIART

Rising SWAN

Lifetime Achievement Honoree

A Supplement to the Skagit Valley Herald

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 Hampton Inn & Suites in Burlington. Visitors welcome!

Members SKAGIT WOMEN IN BUSINESS BOARD MEMBERS

Officers

BECKY TAFT President Skagit Bank

BARBRA DeVRIES, RN Vice President The Sterling Touch

GERRY ELLEN SLEETH Secretary Speedy Automated Mailer

BEKKI COX Treasurer BC Accounting

KAREN RAY Fall Ball Hometown Values Whidbey Island

STEPHANIE HOOPER Publicity

LAURA FLETCHER Past President Haggen Food & Pharmacy

Committee Chairs

Bayside Specialties

LAURI LAURITSEN Membership

Perfectly Posh

alyse axford Zigzag & Ragz

Yulia Garrison

Lisa Janicki Skagit County Commissioner

Danielle Martin Deanna McDougle

Rebecca Murray Skagit Media Marketing, LLC

Laura Riquelme Colleen Smiley Superior Court Creative Celebrations Judge

Sherri Stites, Cpa BC Accounting

Garrison Engineering

Rodan + Fields

Mary Tacia Bella Ve’

Jennifer Gehrke Mary Kay

Skagit Adult Day Program

Kris Tully

Savi Bank

Not Pictured:

LINDA PRESSLEY Spring Fling

Mt. Vernon Veterinary Hospital

DANITA GILBERT Newsletter/Fall Ball Skagit County Road Dept.

Lynel Gullidge The Auction Gal

Wilhelmina Harlock Attorney

Cherry Hass Future Pulled

Lana Hillman Farmers Insurance

Beth Meenagham Viva Farms

Sheri Saldivar Cascadia Eye

For more information visit: www.skagitwomeninbusiness.com

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Skagit Valley Herald Publisher Heather Hernandez Skagit Valley Herald Assignment Editor Dan Ruthemeyer

I N S I D E A celebration of 4 women’s accomplishments

Contributing Writers Kimberly Cauvel, Aaron Weinberg, Kera Wanielista, Brandon Stone, Marilyn Napier

in Skagit County

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Women of the Year

Erin Long Bonnie Bowers Rebecca Schlaht

Photographers Scott Terrell, Brandy Shreve Design & Layout Holly Chadwick, Greg Fiscus Advertising Director Duby Petit Display Advertising Manager Deb Bundy

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Lifetime Achievement

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Rising SWAN

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Past Winners

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SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS

Mariana Foliart Jackie Cress

CONGRATULATIONS 2016 SWAN NOMINEES! Your personal and professional contributions to the community help our region thrive.

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SWAN celebrates 32 years WHAT 32nd annual SWAN Women of the Year Banquet WHEN 5:30 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 20 WHERE Swinomish Casino & Lodge, Anacortes TICKETS $50, swanskagit.com/ events MORE INFO swanskagit.com

By AARON WEINBERG

The Skagit Women’s Alliance and Network will host its 32nd annual banquet Thursday, Oct. 20, at the Swinomish Casino & Lodge in Anacortes to honor women who are making positive impacts on the community.

Three Women of the Year awards will be handed out along with Rising SWAN and SWAN Lifetime Achievement awards.

SWAN President Kristia Poppe said the banquet shines a spotlight on amazing work that might otherwise go unnoticed by the general public.

“The part I truly enjoy is hearing about the amazing things women are doing in the community that people don’t even know about,” she said.

About 200 people are expected to attend the banquet, Poppe said.

Poppe, a 2012 Woman of the

Year recipient, said the award can be humbling, especially knowing all the great work done by women in Skagit County.

This year’s Poppe Women of the Year winners are Bonnie Bowers, Erin Long and Rebecca Schlaht. The recipients will be honored in three categories: professional achievement, mentorship of women and community engagement. The winners will learn their category of achievement at the banquet.

Women were nominated by SWAN members or by others in the community. Nominees must live or work in Skagit County.

Nominees are whittled down to no more than 10 finalists. From there, three are chosen.

During the banquet, SWAN will give out two additional awards: Jackie Cress will receive the Rising SWAN award as a woman starting to make a name for herself in the community, and Mariana Foliart, 91, will receive the SWAN Lifetime Achievement award for her decades of work within Skagit County and beyond.

Along with honoring successful women, the banquet also raises scholarship money through donations and raffles. The money goes to local women looking to continue their educations. So far, SWAN has raised about $4,000 for scholarships, Poppe said.

The guest speaker for the event will be Stephanie Smith, governor of the northwestern region for Soroptimist International of the Americas. Her speech will focus on mentoring, Poppe said.

Thank you Chief Bowers for 32 years of unwaivering service and community focus.

Congratulations for being selected a 2016 Finalist for SWAN Business & Professional Women of the Year

Police Chief Bonnie Bowers 4

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No public funds were spent on this advertisement

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The City of Anacortes and the Police Department are PROUD OF YOU!

Congratulations to the 2016 SWAN Women of the Year Finalists

Left to right: Jackie Cress, Skagit County Health and Human Services/Senior Services; Meredith McIlmoyle, Anacortes Arts Festival; Rebecca Schlaht, Helping Hands Food Bank; Bonnie Bowers, City of Anacortes, Police Department; Wendy Rohrbacher, Hospice of the Northwest Foundation; Jasmine Valandani, Museum of Northwest Art; Erin Long, Viva Tierra Organic; Mariana Foliart, Skagit Valley Food Co-op Board of Trustees; Wendy Ragusa, Skagit Valley Hospital Foundation

2016 SWAN Scholarship Recipients: Renee Buchanan • Bernadette Castner Andrea Dana • Jessie Payne

SWAN Woman of the Year ERIN LONG

Giving back to community

By MARILYN NAPIER

Erin Long knows what it is like to be helped by her community in a time of need. Now, the SWAN winner is giving back.

The 46-year-old Sedro-Woolley mother is not only a full-time accounting lead at Mount Vernon-based Viva Tierra, but she holds leadership positions at multiple nonprofits.

Long said that when she was hired at Viva Tierra she had no background in accounting and was a working, single mother who was going back to school to finish her bachelor’s degree.

She has now been at the organic produce business for 10 years.

“Having a job is great, but having a job with a company you respect is even better,” she said.

Along with her full-time job, Long finds time to volunteer.

She is the president-elect and service committee chair of Soroptimist International of Burlington, board vice chair and auction chair of Skagit Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services (DVSAS), president of Skagit Valley Speakers Toastmasters and alumni committee member of Leadership Skagit.

Long said she started volunteering after her children were given scholarships to pay for a soccer program she couldn’t afford.

“Without hesitation, (the soccer board) gave scholarships to my kids without even knowing me,” Long said.

“The help to support my children during that time was tremendous.”

From there, Long joined the soccer

Congratulations to Jasmine Valandani and all of the women nominated for the 2016 SWAN Award.

Serving with pride

Thank you for making our community thrive.

The Skagit County Board of Commissioners Lisa Janicki, Ron Wesen and Kenneth A. Dahlstedt

congratulations

Congratulate the Professional Women of the Year and SWAN Scholarship Recipients.

to the 2016 SWAN Nominees!

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board and other parent groups, and eventually was encouraged to join Leadership Skagit.

Long knew she wouldn’t be able to afford the membership fee for Leadership Skagit, but said her employers covered the cost.

“It was an investment in me and it was powerful,” Long said. “That was 10 years ago, and I have stuck with Leadership Skagit ever since.”

Up until her involvement with that organization, all the volunteer work she had done was centered around her children.

“Leadership Skagit was for me,” she said.

The program, which focuses on developing leadership skills, connected her with the other opportunities in which she has since become involved.

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ERIN LONG SWAN Woman of the Year “Going back to school and getting a degree was a life-changer for me. It was a huge confidence-builder.”

Long said being a part of organizations such as Soroptimist International of Burlington and DVSAS are great because they focus on educating and empowering women.

She wants to encourage other women to keep learning.

“Going back to school and getting a degree was a life-changer for me,” she said. “It was a huge confidencebuilder.”

Long is considering going back to school again, this time for a master’s degree in leadership.

“If you are able to say ‘yes’ to small opportunities along the way, then big doors will open,” she said.

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The Port of Skagit is proud to salute all

2016 SWAN Business & Professional Woman of the Year nominees.

Thank you for your contributions to our community!

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SWAN Woman of the Year BONNIE BOWERS

‘Calling’ enables her to make a difference

By KERA WANIELISTA

Bonnie Bowers may not have planned to go into law enforcement, but from the day she took her first college class in the field she realized she had found her calling.

“We get to make a difference every day in people’s lives,” Bowers said. “We see people at their very worst and we are challenged to give them our very best.”

As a sophomore at Washington State University, Bowers said she needed a

humanities credit and signed up for Criminal Justice 101.

“I loved it,” she said. “From that day forward, I never wanted to be anything else.”

More than three decades later, Bowers has led a storied career in law enforcement, first with the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office — where she served in a variety of roles, including corrections officer, patrol sergeant and La Conner detachment chief — then with the Anacortes Police Department, of which she became chief in 2008, two

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years after joining the department.

“She’s an outstanding police chief,” said Skagit County Sheriff Will Reichardt, who came up through the ranks of the Sheriff’s Office with Bowers. “The Sheriff’s Office was lucky to have her for as long as we did, but Anacortes is very lucky to have her.”

In the SWAN nomination application, Anacortes Mayor Laurie Gere wrote that Bowers is an experienced leader whom others naturally want to follow.

Her approach to policing has made her stand out as chief, Gere said, and allowed her officers to affect change in the community.

“Chief Bowers has empowered her staff to find long-term solutions for the homeless population,” Gere wrote.

“Staff members are equipped with gift cards and are encouraged to share a meal with homeless members of our communities to discuss resources that are available to them.”

Creating that change, Bowers said, is the capstone of her career.

“My greatest achievement, if I’ve truly been successful, is to change our culture of law enforcement in Skagit County,” Bowers said.

This isn’t Bowers’ first encounter with the SWAN awards. She was nominated nearly a decade ago, but declined to accept the award.

“It was really a business person’s award,” she said. “I’ve always considered myself a public servant.”

Although she didn’t see herself in the same category as the winning women, Bowers said she admired previous SWAN winners and their dedication to their communities.

“They were role models,” Bowers said. “Those were women I had a lot of respect for, so to be mentioned as having the same impact on the community ... it’s really humbling.”

BONNIE BOWERS SWAN Woman of the Year

Congratulates Mariana Foliart on being a finalist for the Skagit Women’s Alliance & Network 2016 Women of the Year Award Bowers said she plans to attend the banquet dinner in uniform, and has invited all the women in her department so they can know that they too can achieve greatness in a traditionally male-dominated field.

“If we get even one new police officer because of it, great,” she said.

“Because we need good people in this profession right now.”

When Bowers retires in March, she plans on traveling to Spain, and enjoying time with her grandchildren.

But Skagit County will always be her home, and making it better will always be her goal.

“Public service is in my soul,” Bowers said. “I’ll be around. I’m excited for the next generation of officers to come up and be leaders.”

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SWAN Woman of the Year REBECCA SCHLAHT

A love for community

By KIMBERLY CAUVEL

Rebecca Schlaht of Mount Vernon has big ideas about helping those in need in her community.

First and foremost is providing food.

“Everybody deserves clean air, everybody deserves clean water, and everybody deserves food,” said Schlaht, operations manager of Helping Hands Food Bank in Sedro-Woolley. “When you get to feed people it feeds their soul and (allows) them to thrive.”

Schlaht oversees about 100 volunteers and more than 1 million pounds of donated food and thousands of deliveries to home-bound clients each year.

Since joining the Helping Hands team in May 2015, she has forged relationships with other organizations in the

area and spearheaded new programs.

She has also been instrumental in raising the money needed to move the food bank, which serves about 650 families each week, to a new location.

Schlaht is credited with connecting the food bank with other programs that aid families and individuals in need, such as the Oasis Teen Shelter and Friendship House.

She partnered with the Woolley Food Forest Association to plan a permaculture-based community garden that will provide fresh foods to food bank clients, led the development of a backpack program to address student hunger in the Sedro-Woolley School District, and has collaborated with other area food banks to develop their own backpack programs.

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Schlaht is also working with Skagit County to establish food banks as a resource in case of countywide disasters.

“Her innovation will ensure that Skagit County is given countless opportunities to grow and strengthen itself through the hard work of its community members,” said Zoey Ferenczy, a Helping Hands employee who nominated Schlaht for the SWAN Women of the Year award.

SWAN, Skagit Women’s Alliance & Network, recognizes women who live and/or work in Skagit County for their achievements and their involvement in their communities.

Ferenczy describes Schlaht as inspiring, compassionate and loved by all.

“From delivering boxes of food after hours to people in emergency situations ... to working with community partners to strengthen the safety net for people experiencing poverty, she acts personally responsible for ensuring every person in Skagit County has access to good, healthy food,” Ferenczy said.

For more than 20 years Schlaht has served in a variety of operations management positions since starting her career with the Air Force’s 89 Flying Training Squadron in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1995.

Schlaht, who was born and raised in Skagit County, said the position at the food bank is a perfect fit for her.

When the last company she worked for relocated, she made a list of things she wanted in her next position. At the top was to work with food and help the community.

Her passion for ensuring people have access to food goes back generations.

“It goes all the way back to when my grandparents had no food during the war, and growing up in a household where we respected food and grew our own food,” she said.

Reflecting on what she’s accomplished at the food bank, Schlaht says her biggest accomplishment is yet to come.

“Besides feeding the 127,000 individuals who come through here during the

REBECCA SCHLAHT SWAN Woman of the Year “Besides feeding the 127,000 individuals who come through here during the year and working with these wonderful volunteers, it’s what we’re doing now ... We’re working really hard to change the idea of what a food bank is.” year and working with these wonderful volunteers, it’s what we’re doing now ...

We’re working really hard to change the idea of what a food bank is,” she said.

Helping Hands is revamping the way food bank clients are served. It is transitioning to more of a grocery store model.

“I’m in the process of really something exciting ... changing the whole philosophy of what food banking is,” Schlaht said.

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SWAN Lifetime Achievement MARIANA FOLIART

A rich and eventful life

By BRANDON STONE

From nuclear chemistry to teaching tai chi, 91-year-old Mariana Foliart has had an eventful life, one that is being honored with the Skagit Women’s Alliance and Network Lifetime Achievement Award.

“I’m surprised,” she said of the honor.

“I’m very flattered that my life seems to be that significant.”

Foliart worked as an analytical chemist at the Hanford nuclear plant in the 1940s and 1950s, after studying chemistry at the University of Washington.

“We felt like we were right in the vanguard of science,” she said, adding that because of the nature of the work she isn’t able to talk about specifics of what she did. “I felt like I might ... be the next Marie Curie.”

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She also worked as a research associate at the University of Alaska, where she traveled the state studying and teaching native Alaskans. One of the projects she worked on at the time involved studying the health programs of several communities.

Many years later, she ended up helping the residents of a small Alaska island win a lawsuit against the federal government.

Foliart said she spent time in Skagit County in the 1960s, and moved here permanently in 1983. Since then, she has served on the Skagit Valley Food Co-op board of trustees for 31 years and has taught jewelry making and tai chi throughout the county.

She also volunteers at the La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum, where she photographed and catalogued 500 items

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in its collection.

Kathleen Kok, curator at the museum, called Foliart a supportive friend, and said the museum’s board named her volunteer of the year.

At the co-op, where she serves on the board of directors as secretary and archivist, she enjoys mentoring employees, reminding them that they can do anything.

On Foliart’s nomination form, Tom Theisen, president of the co-op board of directors, called her “super reliable, insightful and optimistic.”

Foliart described herself as a Jill of all trades, something that’s evident in her varied résumé. Because of this, she said, her life philosophy embraces change.

“I believe that the only truth is change,” she said. “There’s no way of stopping it.”

JACKIE CRESS Rising SWAN

Following her heart to help seniors

By AARON WEINBERG

There is no typical day at the Burlington Senior Center, and that’s fine by coordinator Jackie Cress.

“You are pulled in 25 million different directions and you have to love that,” Cress said. “I love going to work and helping people. I love interacting with seniors.”

Cress runs the day-to-day operations at the center. That includes organizing the daily programs, directing volunteers and running fitness programs.

Her work at the center and her other volunteer work are being recognized by the Skagit Women’s Alliance and Network with the Rising SWAN award.

“The best way I can describe how I feel is that I’m just humbled,” Cress said. “I feel blessed to have a job I love and that makes a difference.”

Cress was offered the coordinator job on an interim basis in 2011 after having taught fitness classes at the Skagit Valley Family YMCA. She said the opportunity to work at the senior center was too good to pass up.

“I followed my heart,” she said. “I felt like I had to go for it ... It was fulltime helping seniors.”

About 75 seniors visit the center daily, Cress said, and that number can hit about 500 if there’s an event. She said her seniors are highly active and even have a flyswatter volleyball team.

She said her job is filled with rewarding moments, such as a 75-year-old woman learning to Skype her grandchildren in North Dakota or a man learning about hearing disability equipment that has allowed him to have phone conversations again.

When she became the coordinator, Cress created nine programs within her first 11 months, including fitness classes.

She said none of her work would be possible without the help of her large base of volunteers.

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“I connect well with them,” she said.

“This place is 99 percent volunteerbased, which is pretty amazing. I’m the only paid staff person who runs it.”

Cress is heavily involved in the community, having been raised in the similarly sized town of Poulsbo.

“Growing up I learned the importance of digging roots in a community,” she said. “The nice thing about that is you go to a grocery store and run into someone you know through work or volunteering.”

Her community work has included membership on the Skagit Valley Hospital Foundation Board, Children’s Museum of Skagit County Board of Directors, Burlington Little School Board of Directors and Kiwanis Club of Burlington-Edison.

With all she’s done in the community, she said it’s hard not to grow fond of Skagit County.

“This is home to me now,” she said. goskagit.com

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PASt WINNerS

is a proud sponsor of

2015 Erin Baldwin Janie Beasley Kari Ranten 2014 Kathryn Bennett Mary June Curtis Jeanne Youngquist 2013 Debbie Allen 2012 Kristia Poppe

1996 Maureen Dickson 1995 Judi Knutzen 1994 Dorothy Bluhm Urbick We wish to congratulate 2005 the 2010 nominees for the Laura Cailloux

1993 Judy Montoya

Business and Professional 2004

1992 Nanette Hough

2003 Mary Arendse

1991 Pat Hyatt

2002 Debra Lancaster

1990 Carol Kirkby

2001 Laurie Gere

1989 B.J. Kendall

2000 Susan Cook

1988 Cheryl Bishop

1999 Shirley Osborn

1987 Geneva Sasnett

1998 Linda Freed

1986 Judy Menish

1997 Lola Lang

1985 Carol Pritchard Poppe

SWAN

WomAN the YeAr Lisaof Janicki AWArd

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

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SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS Renee Buchanan

Jessie Payne

Bernadette Castner

Andrea Dana

“My academic goals are to fully invest myself into my reading in elementary education degree to better myself as a teacher and learn new strategies to help my students become better readers.

“For the short term, I hope to stay in kindergarten for years to come.

“In the long term, my goal is to stay in Skagit County and maintain my role as a teacher or eventually become a reading specialist.”

“My first goal is to complete my Master’s degree program in Higher Education Administration, to contribute in the attainment of my professional goals. In the short term, professionally, I plan to develop my experience working in higher education systems, and develop strong ties to the Skagit Valley College community, the Skagit and Whatcom county communities, and with the Washington State Community and Technical College Administration communities. My long-term professional goal is to obtain a position in a higher education system management.”

“My long term goal is to become an exemplary mariner with solid training and experience so that I can sail as a captain of a ship. The process to achieve the status of captain includes taking a set of required U.S. Coast Guard classes so that I can sail as a watch officer and shadow the captain role while continuing to gain more sea-time experience.”

“In the short term, I will complete the Central Washington University (CWO) Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher certification program in May 2017. This certification will allow me to teach high school students in the subject areas of early childhood education and business, which are two areas that I have been employed in most recently.”

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*Excerpts from winners’ scholarship applications

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