Nancy believes in the power of community organizations to create connections between people, provide opportunities to celebrate creativity and cultural diversity, and promote health and justice in our communities. She is relentlessly optimistic about the mission of 501 Commons. In addition to her executive director role, Nancy is the senior manager supporting Community Engagement, including Washington Gives, Information and Referral Services, and the Executive Service Corps. She is also responsible for fundraising, communications and marketing and is the lead with our foundation partners.
Before becoming executive director of 501 Commons, she was focused on her passion for expanding healthcare access.
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Merged two community clinics and redeveloped the historic Neighborcare clinic in Wallingford
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As Director of Marketing & Community Services at Pacific Medical, she oversaw the uncompensated care program and partnership with the community clinics
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She led the effort to create the Cross-Cultural Health Care Program, originally a program of Pacific Medical, which has done breakthrough work on culturally and linguistically accessible health care
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Nancy joined the policy staff for the Health Services Commission, where she developed the laws governing health care quality, employers, agents/brokers, and health plans
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She became the Director of Marketing for the Basic Health Plan, which provided health insurance on a sliding fee scale
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In this role, she did ground-breaking research to promote health insurance to diverse communities and successfully implemented community-based outreach that resulted in unprecedented participation and diverse enrollment
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As the Director of Quality for the Washington State Hospital Association, she represented the hospitals on regulatory matters and worked with rural hospitals to ensure quality care
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Nancy was also the Vice President of Strategy and Organizational Development at Group Health Cooperative, helping to integrate Group Health Northwest into the Cooperative and led the organization's strategy work
Nancy became the executive director of 501 Commons in 2002 after serving as an Executive Service Corps member. During the early years of her tenure, Nancy managed all the management consulting projects, working with 400+ community-based nonprofits, including many culturally and community-specific organizations.
She is married and has two children. Nancy met her husband Frank while organizing the 50-organizations strong Survival Services Coalition. The coalition secured the first direct city funding for food banks, shelters, and health clinics. The city now spends nearly $175 million in general funds on human services.
She studied social psychology at the University of Texas and received a master's from the Evans School at the University of Washington, where she was an affiliate faculty member teaching courses on management and leadership of nonprofit organizations.
Fun Fact: When Nancy worked for Pacific Medical, she wrote the bond proposal that resulted in the addition to Pacific Tower that includes the beautiful Panoramic Center, where 501 Commons, our partners in the building, and many nonprofits enjoy the best view in the city!