Meet Recently Appointed Executive Director of the Skagit Community Foundation Michael Stark

 

There is a lot to be said about a how people identify with a place. It can be a core component of who they are; their history, their roots. It can carry a piece of their heart whether they remain or move on. Our place, Skagit Valley, is special, unmistakable, and somewhere I think we can all agree is well worthy of investment and care. Although I’m new, I’m here to help. 

I don’t have roots that so many who call Skagit County home have. Never have I met so many who stayed and grew a community, generation after generation. My family tree never rooted in that way. Yet I grew up with stories about my people, their places, and their histories all the same. The story of how my maternal great grandmother Bubba came over to Butte, Montana from Montenegro with nothing but a steamer trunk and a picture of the man on a white horse she had agreed to marry, sight unseen. Of my father’s mother, Janet, who spent her life as a 4 foot 9 inch powerhouse of an opera singer, performing over the radio waves and mid market stages of Denver, upstate New York, and Seattle throughout the 50’s and 60’s. Or of her husband, my grandpa Bob, who after serving as a ball turret gunner aboard B-17 bombers in WW2 spent his entire career working for United Airlines in north western Washington. I come from a longstanding stock of blue collar and high character; professionals and craftsmen, masons, smelter workers, small town entrepreneurs, opera singers, farmers, and businessmen. These stories, like all of ours, shaped me and their values grew with and around me. I’ve spent my life trying to be of service. Professionally I built a career as an investment advisor, learning that the real value I ever could provide was the piece of mind that helped my client’s sleep at night. I found myself always being drawn to community work. This passion grew as I got older, eventually overshadowing what I was getting paid to do and speaking more clearly to my nature. One thing that’s been missing from my life was a place to put down roots and build my branch of the family. I find myself fortunate to have the chance to do so here in the Skagit Valley, and maybe to provide help and hope however I can. 

It’s been said that an idea is born twice, first in the mind, and for a second time when it’s realized in the world. The Skagit Community Foundation was built around that very same concept. Since 1993 scores of dedicated employees and board members of the Skagit Community Foundation have connected people who care with causes that matter. I feel fortunate to continue that work, just let me know how I can help.