Until Feb. 1, 2023, we were Group Health Foundation. This post was written under our former identity. To learn more about our new name, read our announcement here.
Willa joined Group Health Foundation last spring. She believes work is supposed to be about improving the world around us. “Growing up I always knew that whatever I ended up doing for a living, a big part of it would be contributing to the community.” She grew up in Alger, a small community of just over 400 people in Skagit County.
She previously worked for a public accounting firm that specialized in nonprofits and then as an accounting manager at Oregon College of Art and Craft in Portland and at Tides in San Francisco. Not only is Willa a left-brain number-cruncher, she’s a right-brain creative. When she was younger, she worked in her mother’s stain glass studio, producing large art works.
Willa is excited to have joined Group Health Foundation. “It is an incredible opportunity in so many ways. One, to be back home and at an organization that serves this state. And two, to be part of an organization that is just starting out and being able to help set it up, build it up.” Willa also appreciates that the Foundation’s focus on learning transcends all staff, “There’s a feeling ‘We’re all growing and learning together.’”
As accounting manager, Willa enjoys managing the day-to-day financial transactions. She just completed her first year-end close at the Foundation, and is looking forward to setting up organizational systems that are helpful to staff and allow the Foundation to be an effective partner in the community. She likes working with numbers, but at the end of the day, she likes hearing about the people those numbers represent.
Outside of work, you might find Willa exploring new communities, hiking to experience nature’s beauty, spending time with family and friends, or curling up with a good book. On her nightstand now are: Just Mercy, Sapiens, and Norse Mythology.
