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<strong>Business</strong> Person of the Year Finalist: Mauri Ingram, Whatcom Community Foundation Mauri Ingram leads an organization that awarded more than $2.1 million to the community last year. (Photo courtesy of Whatcom Community Foundation) Nonprofit matchmaker: finding catches for donors and local nonprofit organizations By Joella Ortega Mauri Ingram first learned about the Whatcom Community Foundation when receiving one of its grants on behalf of a nonprofit she co-founded, now called the Downtown Bellingham Partnership (nee Downtown Renaissance Network). A few years later the Whatcom Community Foundation asked her to join its board of directors. Now she is its president and CEO coming off a banner year from which she has become a finalist for the most prestigious award in the Whatcom business community. A former co-owner of two local restaurants and an employee of Trillium Corp., Ingram leads the one of the state’s 19 community foundations on behalf of a 10-person board. “My career path has been anything but linear,” she said. “I knew I wanted to run a business. What I didn’t know was that I would want the community to own it.” The foundation thrived in 2013, awarding more than $2 million in grants and $100,000 in scholarships, and ranking in the top 25 most active grant-makers among the approximate 650 nationwide community foundations for the fourth consecutive year. Ingram said that the new Ferndale library was a highlight of 2013, culminating a seven-year process of helping to raise the funds that built it. The Whatcom Community Foundation formed in 1996 on an anonymous gift. It has grown perhaps the largest benefactor footprint in the county. “We ended our last fiscal year with assets of more than $20 million,” Ingram said. “That’s 20 times our original assets.” She said the foundation has made grants to hundreds of local nonprofits, expanding from about $100,000 a year in grant-making to over $3.8 million a year. Donors number about 4,900 and staff has grown from less that two full-time to five. Ingram deflected credit for the successes. “Everything I’ve accomplished has been the result of working with others,” she said. “I don’t feel like I own any achievements independently.” “My career path has been anything but linear. I knew I wanted to run a business. What I didn’t know was that I would want the community to own it.” In addition to the two nonprofits she served in Bellingham, she also has engaged in other community-service projects, such as the Campaign for the Arts, the Whatcom Coalition for Healthy Communities, and she’s a member of the YWCA’s Northwest Women’s Hall of Famem, The Whatcom Community Foundation mission works through donors and local organizations to properly channel monetary donations, and also assists community partners with information on business, education, and government. 24 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM
“We help donors bring their philanthropic goals to fruition by providing counsel and information about the opportunities and the variety of ways they can make a difference through their giving,” Ingram said. “We assist nonprofit organizations through a range of investments in their success. Lastly, we work with a wide range of community partners.” Through her work with the foundation Ingram has left a lasting mark on the positive efforts that the Whatcom Community has made, and the recognition that the county has received for its efforts. “Whatcom County is known well beyond our borders for our collaborative nature,” Ingram said. “Many of the obstacles to opportunities are well-hidden. We work well to cultivate relationships with our funders, and create opportunities for our donors to collectively take advantage of the opportunities we have to be the community that we can be.” Fingers crossed is not a business strategy. If you’re hoping your way out of cash flow problems or a big tax surprise, here’s hoping you’ll call us for help. 360 734 4280 Whatcom 360 757 2700 Skagit larsongross.com Bellingham Burlington Lynden WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 25
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