SWAN 2021 | Women of the Year by Skagit Publishing

2021 Business & Professional

WOMEN OF THE YEAR

Julie de Losada Dianne Goddard

Lifetime Achievement Honoree

Iris Carias

Claudia Avendaño-Ibarra

Tina Tate

Ana Rivas Rising SWAN

A Supplement to the Skagit Valley Herald

Letter from the SWAN president from Skagit Valley College. Among many things, Laura will be speaking about intersectional feminism and a sense of belonging. We will also have the opportunity to hear from Janie Beasley from the Swinomish Indian Tribe. Janie will be sharing her personal story as an Indigenous woman, in a narrative that is not typically dominant in our daily conversations. The SWAN board recognizes that when we (the audience) start incorporating these stories into our everyday lives, the work towards community belonging and inclusion becomes easier.

By MORGAN CURRY

Skagit Women’s Alliance and Network (SWAN) is eager to continue serving and recognizing inspirational women in our county. I want to personally thank all our previous donors and community supporters for their unwavering commitment to our mission these last 36 years. Together throughout the years, we have been able to honor 46 outstanding Skagit County women for their successes and contributions to our beloved community as business leaders, innovators, and visionaries. We have also been able to distribute $55,000 of educational scholarships to 47 up-and-coming professional women in Skagit County. It is important for us to honor and understand our organizational history before stepping into this next generation of SWAN. We, as a community, have experienced a lot of plight this last year — a global health pandemic, racial reckonings and turmoil, political polarization, and an economic downturn. From these experiences, SWAN has birthed a fourth award category for the traditional Women of The Year award called Transformative Leadership. The recipient of this award will have contributed to efforts that enact social change towards a healthy, just community, and have actively empowered marginalized groups in our county. Like many non-profit organizations, SWAN is a forever revolving, imperfect system. We are committed to keep learning how we can better serve women in Skagit County, starting with how we show up, across all metrics, in our community. Claudia Avendaño-Ibarra, Iris Carias, Julie de Losada and Tina Tate

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Curry

will be honored as SWAN Women of The Year. We will continue to honor women in the categories of Professional Achievement, Mentorship of Women, and Community Engagement, in addition to our newly added award category, Transformative Leadership. The recipients’ award categories will be revealed the night of our virtual banquet. Furthermore, we are proud to present Dianne Goddard with our Lifetime Achievement award and Ana Rivas with our Rising SWAN award. We are pleased to keep the SWAN legacy alive, while building off the original mission and goals of empowering women in Skagit County. The keynote speaker at this year’s banquet is Dr. Laura Flores Cailloux

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Congratulations SWAN Women of the Year!

A CELEBRATION OF WOMEN’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN SKAGIT COUNTY

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WOMEN OF THE YEAR Julie de Losada Iris Carias Tina Tate Claudia Avendaño-Ibarra

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Dianne Goddard

RISING SWAN Ana Rivas

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Skagit Valley Herald Publisher Heather Hernandez

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SWAN Woman of the Year JULIE DE LOSADA

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JULIE DE LOSADA SWAN Woman of the Year

Taking on a challenge By JACQUELINE ALLISON

Julie de Losada has spent the past year and a half leading Skagit County’s COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites and dozens of mobile vaccine clinics. De Losada, a senior analyst for Skagit County Public Health, said her work with COVID-19 emergency response has felt like a new career. She even got a new job title — emergency preparedness and response manager. De Losada said the work took her out of “conference rooms” and onto the front lines interacting with the public. “I’ve learned about the compassion and resilience of people, and the hard technical skills about how to respond to the community,” she said. She said she has learned about the importance of building trust and ensuring every resident has access to critical information. “Julie ensures information is shared in a variety of ways to all members of the community,” states the SWAN nomination form for de Losada. “She seeks bilingual/bicultural staff (and) ensures everyone has access to testing regardless of insurance and access to typically required documentation.” De Losada said her team’s goal has been to lower barriers that may exist to getting tested or vaccinated. Some questions staff have asked: What should be the hours of the testing/vaccination site? Who needs information? What language should it be in? De Losada said it’s been rewarding to watch those efforts pay off. “Those are pretty profound moments when somebody can come to get a test or vaccine and the only barrier is the car in front of them,” she said. De Losada, who holds a master’s degree in marriage, child, and family counseling, said she has relied on her background in mental and behavioral health to lead the county’s COVID-19

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Julie and her (COVID-19 response) team do not have the luxury of ‘how-toinstructions,’ yet she leads with innovation and integrity as if she was born to lead — because she was. response. She recalled a time when a woman showed up at the testing site panicked about getting a positive result. De Losada had the person take a deep breath and helped them decide the next step. More than 90% of De Losada’s response team are women, according to the nomination form. “Julie and her team do not have the luxury of ‘how-to-instructions,’ yet she leads with innovation and integrity as

if she was born to lead — because she was,” the form states. De Losada said she has enjoyed mentoring staff members and watching them grow into leaders. De Losada was nominated by Claudia Avendaño-Ibarra, a fellow Woman of the Year honoree and a volunteer at the county’s testing and vaccination site. “It’s a double honor she nominated me for this and we get to share this together,” De Losada said.

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SWAN Woman of the Year IRIS CARIAS

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IRIS CARIAS SWAN Woman of the Year

A life built on helping others By TREVOR PYLE

Iris Carias emigrated from Honduras and built a community-minded life and career in Skagit County that have included a seat on the Mount Vernon City Council, a position with the Mount Vernon School District and a bevy of volunteer roles. But even several decades after she came to the United States, Carias still knows the challenges faced by those who do so ... in communicating, in accessing needed services, in building a new life. “It’s like fighting a monster,” Carias said. “It’s a huge change. You’ve left behind all of your life. You’ve given up your culture, language, family, friends. It’s another world. That’s why I got involved in the community.” Carias has dedicated much of her life to making sure the needs of immigrants are met and their voices are heard. To that end, she’s taken on a number of roles in the community over the years, including as a migrant program educator with the Mount Vernon School District, a family liaison with Community Action of Skagit County and a board member with the Skagit Immigrants Rights Council. As someone who knows the difficulties navigating in an unfamiliar place, Carias can establish a rapport with those going through the same thing. “They feel comfortable talking to me. Sometimes I can help, sometimes I can act,” she said. Her experience and skills have been especially needed lately, as Carias has put in hours of work to help those in the immigrant community stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now a rigorous advocate of vac-

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For me to be nominated, I appreciate it. I’d like to see the women behind us to be nominated. We have many strong women doing what I can’t do. Who knows them? Who sees them? I’d like to see more of these women nominated. cination, in the beginning Carias set to work educating families how best to protect themselves with property safety procedures and wearing of personal protective equipment. “It was tough to reach out to families,” she said. As part of a team formed by several local agencies, Carias would meet people in driveways or parking lots where she’d teach them when to wear gloves and masks, and what the proper distance should be for social distancing. “We showed families how important it was to take care of themselves,” she said. Carias is currently doing something similar, but now teaching people about the importance of vaccines — an effort that requires battling misinformation she said is fueled by social media. The message, she said, is simple: “If I care for you, and you care for me, we are saving each other.” Carias is proud of the work, but she knows she’s not the only one doing it. She said other advocates, many of them single mothers, put in long hours to reach those in need. She hopes to see some of them at future SWAN awards ceremonies.

“For me to be nominated, I appreciate it,” Carias said. “I’d like to see the women behind us to be nominated. We have many strong women doing what I can’t do. Who knows them? Who sees them? I’d like to see more of these women nominated.”

Congratulations Judge Goddard

Presiding Judge, Skagit County District Court

on receiving a SWAN lifetime achievement award. It is an honor to be your colleague, and serve alongside you! Sincerely, The Board of County Commissioners goskagit.com

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SWAN Woman of the Year TINA TATE

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TINA TATE SWAN Woman of the Year

A focus on homelessness Tina Tate is doing what she can to battle homelessness in Skagit County. With a new partnership, a new shelter for the homeless and a steady increase in services under her leadership at Friendship House, Tate is a significant reason why there seems to be momentum in fighting a persistent issue. Tate has held a number of roles in community organizations, including with Leadership Skagit, Toastmasters and United General District 304, where she currently sits on the board. But it’s her efforts to alleviate homelessness, a condition Tate has personal experience with, that has taken much of her effort and yielded noticeable results. As a board member at Friendship House before becoming its executive director, Tate teamed up with thenExecutive Director Marie Marchand to launch the shelter’s cafè. When she became executive director in 2004, Tate helped set up partnerships with local agencies and governments to add programs such as a motel shelter program and a laundry service for the homeless. “I saw a need for more than what we started with. Our core program is good but doesn’t fill all the needs. I started talking to people, meeting and collaborating throughout the county. We found a niche where Friendship House can make a difference.” Right now much of her focus is on the Skagit First Step Center, a new Burlington facility that provides temporary shelter in small housing units. Burlington Mayor Steve Sexton first proposed the idea, with Tate and Friendship House getting on board early. More than 40 units are currently

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Now is a great time for nonprofits. Each has found their niche and we’re working together to move the homeless situation forward and make it better. available, and eventually residents will be able to access hygienic, medical and educational services. Friendship House operates the shelter, but Tate is especially proud of the partnerships that made it possible — from the support of Sexton and the Burlington City Council to funding from Skagit County, Sedro-Woolley and Mount Vernon. Tate, who refers to the shelter as “a vision come true,” said “Now is a great time for nonprofits. Each has found their niche and we’re working together to move the homeless situation forward and make it better. Friendship House, that’s what we do and where our focus

is. Others are focused on permanent housing. My work won’t do anything unless there’s housing for people to move to. That’s where collaboration comes in.”

Congratulations Julie de Losada

Emergency Prepardness & Response Manager and MRC Manager, Skagit Public Health

on receiving a 2021 SWAN Woman of the Year award. It is an honor to serve with you! Sincerely, The Board of County Commissioners

Congratulations to the 2021

SWAN WOMAN of the Year Nominees!

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SWAN Woman of the Year CLAUDIA AVENDANO-IBARRA

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CLAUDIA AVENDANO-IBARRA SWAN Woman of the Year

Bridging communities By BRANDON STONE

When it comes to the work of bridging communities, few have as extensive a rèsumè as Claudia Avendaño-Ibarra. A dedicated social worker and educator, Avendaño-Ibarra has had a career focused on elevating and mentoring members of underrepresented groups. “Networking and community engagement has been part of the way I live,” she said. “Social work is a way of being for me.” After decades working with young people in crisis, Avendaño-Ibarra accepted a teaching position as co-chair of Skagit Valley College’s Human Services Department. This position puts her in touch with students who aren’t the traditional college students, and who may have never seen themselves as graduates, she said. Through her newly formed company Raices Consulting and Counseling, Avendaño-Ibarra conducts diversity, equity and inclusion education for companies and groups in the Skagit Valley, she said. She works on helping them understand their biases, and helps them recognize what they can do to make their organizations a better place for women, minorities, people with disabilities and other underrepresented groups. Growing up, Avendaño-Ibarra was surrounded by role models — women of color who inspired her to live for others. As such, she feels an obligation to be a role model for the next generation, one person at a time. “I was inspired when I saw women, and women of color … reach their goals,” she said. “The idea that I might inspire someone else definitely reinvigorates me every day.” She said she feels privileged to be

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I was inspired when I saw women, and women of color … reach their goals. The idea that I might inspire someone else definitely reinvigorates me every day. bilingual, middle-class and comfortable in both white and Latino spaces. She feels this puts her in a position to bridge the distance between communities. “Even though we are less segregated than we used to be … everyone’s in their own little pocket,” she said. “That prevents us from understanding where our neighbors are coming from.” Avendaño-Ibarra also volunteers her time running a social media-based

list of services, jobs, events and other resources, called Claudia’s List. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve become aware of a resource and I wanted to share it,” she said. Avendaño-Ibarra said her recognition by SWAN was “a good kind of overwhelming,” and she thanked the women who saw her work and felt she was worthy of this recognition. “I feel a sense of responsibility to honor this recognition by continuing to do what I do,” she said.

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SWAN Lifetime Achievement DIANNE GODDARD

A legal trailblazer By KERA WANIELISTA

Not everyone can be called a pioneer in their field, but one who can is Dianne Goddard. As one of the few women to serve as a judge in Skagit County — and the first to preside in District Court — Goddard has spent her professional career breaking barriers, and leading the way for women. Local lawyer Tracy Finnegan, who nominated Goddard for the SWAN Lifetime Achievement Award, said “Many talk about (Ruth Bader Ginsburg) on a federal level, but here in Skagit County, Judge Goddard is our RBG — leading quietly in our community while raising a family and mentoring young women.” Goddard has stood out since being one of five women in her 265-person law school class. At the time — the 1970s — Goddard said many of her male professors acted as if it was their duty to weed out the few women who dared enter the field. Their efforts wouldn’t work on Goddard. Despite having a young family at home, Goddard finished law school, and in 1976 became the first female prosecuting attorney in San Juan County, New Mexico. “I’m very proud of having started out as a practicing attorney when there were very few women in that profession,” she said. As part of her work with that department, which neighbored the Navajo Nation, Goddard took on the work of helping Navajo women seek justice against those who had committed sexual crimes against them, and spearheaded the creation of a rape crisis team, she wrote in her nomination packet. “Previous prosecutors ignored crimes with Navajo victims,” she wrote. “I was proud to work for a prosecutor who brought an end to that hateful practice.” When she took a job with the Skagit 12

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County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in 1979, she was one of two women in the office, she said. One left shortly after. “I was kind of a rarity at the time,” Goddard said. “It wasn’t always an easy thing to be the only woman practicing in a community of excellent lawyers, all men.” In Skagit County, she didn’t feel the same animosity toward women lawyers as she had in law school, she said. Instead, she felt included in what she called the tradition of established lawyers mentoring younger ones. It’s a tradition she has embraced. “It was particularly an honor for me to mentor younger women who were

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starting their careers and extend that same advice and help to them that I felt I got from other people who were my mentors, even though they were all men,” she said. After years as a family practice lawyer, Goddard was chosen to be Skagit County District Court Commissioner, and then in 2018 District Court’s first female judge. It’s a distinction she’s proud of not only because of the passion she has for the work, but that it shows how far women have come in the field. “Things are changing a lot,” Goddard said. “I’m honored to have maybe been a little bit of a leader in that regard.”

ANA RIVAS Rising SWAN

Advocating for families By KIMBERLY CAUVEL

Ana Rivas, a 28-year-old mother of one, is dedicated to breaking barriers and helping others. Already, she is the first in her family to earn high school and college degrees, and is an advocate in the community for mothers, immigrants and others in need. Rivas is now pursuing a bachelor’s degree at Skagit Valley College, plans to work toward a master’s degree next, and envisions a career in social services. She is currently using her education and her own experience as a new mother to help mothers and families find their footing after birth as the Welcome Baby coordinator for United Way of Skagit County. “I do hospital visits every day Tuesday through Saturday. Babies are born every day,” Rivas said. She delivers to parents a Welcome Baby bag of necessities and information, and offers ongoing assistance to those who want it. The program helps connect families with any resources they need, from diapers, wipes, formula and clothing for the baby, to food, housing or other support services for the parents. On her own time and with the help of friends, Rivas has found other ways to fill needs in the community. She has helped provide Christmas gifts to children in need and postpartum supply bags to women isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic. In July, Rivas took on the task of coordinating a local diaper bank to ensure it continues serving low-income families in the county. Rivas understands that need well. After her daughter was born, the cost of diapers took her by surprise. “As a first-time mom, I struggled to keep paying for them and I was embarrassed to ask for help,” she said. Rivas was born and raised in Mount Vernon and credits her parents, who are immigrants from Mexico, for instilling in her the ethics of hard work and a

willingness to make sacrifices. Laura Flores Cailloux, who runs the Latino Leadership Program at Skagit Valley College, nominated Rivas for the Rising SWAN award because of her dedication to using lessons she’s learned to support other women, while also continuing to strive for personal growth. She called Rivas “an accomplished young professional, engaged student, and active community leader.”

Rivas completed the Latino Leadership Program during the 2020-2021 school year. She said the program taught her to recognize and reframe moments of self-doubt. Still, the Rising SWAN award came as a surprise. “I am very honored. Like my mom says ‘you are going fast,’” Rivas said through tears. “I’m very honored to have been chosen with the finalists this year.”

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PAST WINNERS

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Women of Recognition 2020 Tamsin Bell Polly Dubbel Marla Renee Chapa Laho Zachmeyer Annette Pankey

Women of the Year 2019 Dorothy Elsner Veronica Lopez Joan Penney

2004 Lisa We wish to Janicki congratulate the 2010 nominees for the 2003 Mary Arendse SWAN Business and Professional 2002 Debra Lancaster WomAN of the YeAr

2018 Jacque Beamer Patsy Martin Rita Ordóñez

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1998 Linda Freed 1997 Lola Lang

2015 Erin Baldwin Janie Beasley Kari Ranten

1996 Maureen Dickson

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1990 Carol Kirkby

2009 Sue Krienen

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2008 Jan Ellingson

1988 Cheryl Bishop

2007 Pam Nelson

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2005 Laura Cailloux

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United Way of Skagit County

United Way of Skagit County is proud of our team member

Ana Rivas for being honored by SWAN as Women of the Year! Thank you for being such a great leader for our community

SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS ANA MENDOZA FELICIANO Mendoza Feliciano earned an associate’s degree from Skagit Valley College in 2020 and is now at the University of Washington. She is working toward at bachelor’s degree in education, communities and organizations. Mendoza Feliciano expects to graduate in 2023. She has worked recently for two local school districts — Mount Vernon and BurlingtonEdison.

CYNTHIA AGUIRRE Aguirre earned an associate’s degree from Skagit Valley College in 2020, and is currently at the college in the bachelor of applied science in applied management program. Her expected graduation date is 2023. Aguirre has volunteered locally at LaVenture Middle School in Mount Vernon, with Skagit County Public Health’s COVID-19 clinic, and with Skagit County Law Day.

DANIA JARAMILLO

TAMARA HOLMES

Jaramillo earned an associate’s degree from Skagit Valley College in 2018 and a bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University in 2020. She is now working toward a master’s degree in education at the University of Washington. She expects to graduate in 2023. While at Skagit Valley College, Jaramillo won the Lewis Award.

Holmes earned an associate’s degree in dental assisting in 2019 from Bellingham Technical College. She is at the college working toward a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene. Holmes expects to graduate in 2022. She is the vice president of Bellingham Technical College’s Dental Hygiene Student Organization.

Congratulations to all the SWAN Women of the Year finalists and honorees!

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