Colleen Willoughby
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Colleen S. Willoughby is an American
philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
and the founder and former president of the Washington Women's Foundation, and the director of Global Women Partners in Philanthropy.


Early life and career

Colleen Seidelhuber was born around 1934. Both of her parents
volunteer Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...
ed regularly. Her father volunteered at the
YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
and her mother at the local
Parent Teacher Association A parent is either the progenitor of a child or, in humans, it can refer to a caregiver or legal guardian, generally called an adoptive parent or step-parent. Parents who are progenitors are first-degree relatives and have 50% genetic meet. A fe ...
. Willoughby attended
Whitman College Whitman College is a private liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington. The school offers 53 majors and 33 minors in the liberal arts and sciences, and it has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9:1. Founded as a seminary by a territorial l ...
, studying
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
and speech. She graduated in 1955. It was at Whitman where she would meet her future husband, George Willoughby. After the couple married, Willoughby taught
junior high school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes ...
. She would eventually quit to become a
housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which may include Parenting, caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; Sew ...
, caring for the couple's two children, Scott and Anne.


Philanthropy

Willoughby volunteered for years, increasing her time spent volunteering as her children became adults. She volunteered at the
Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The museum operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in ...
, with the Camp Fire Boys and Girls,
Junior League The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (Junior League or JL) is a private, nonprofit educational women's volunteer organization aimed at improving communities and the social, cultural, and political fabric of civil society. With ...
and
Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization
. She served as president of the Junior League of Seattle and on the boards of the Association of Junior Leagues International,
Seattle Children's Home Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the county ...
and the
United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...
. Since 1981, Willoughby has organized the Women in Leadership Symposium at Whitman College. She serves as trustee emerita at Whitman College and as an advisory board member at the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Washington.


Seattle CityClub

After years of being civically, Willoughby noticed that few women served on boards and/or were involved in decision making at nonprofits. In response to this, Willoughby and seven other women founded the Seattle CityClub. The organization educates its members about civic participation and nonprofit management. They CityClub has over 47,000 members. Every year, the Colleen Willoughby Youth Civic Education Award is awarded by the Seattle CityClub. The award recognizes contributions by young people who are leading others in civic participation.


Washington Women's Foundation

Willoughby observed that women often volunteered at nonprofits but rarely donated financially, unlike men whose names often outweigh women's names on donor lists. As a response, Willoughby co-founded the Washington Women's Foundation (WWF) in 1995. Within two months, Willoughby and four of her friends had recruited 116 women to join. Members of WWF donate $2,000 each, with $1,000 being donated to nonprofits of that member's choice. The remaining $1,000 is placed into a grantmaking fund. Each year members review grant proposals from local nonprofits and vote on the most worthy nonprofit out of the group to receive a $100,000 grant. This concept, the pooling of $1,000 from each member to be gifted as a collective $100,000, is utilized nationwide through other collective giving groups, including
Impact100 Sonoma Impact100 is a nonprofit philanthropic organization with local chapters in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, that was founded by Wendy Steele in 2001. History In 2001, Wendy Steele founded Impact100 in Cincinnat ...
. Today, WWF awards grants in five focus areas: health,
human services Human services is an interdisciplinary field of study with the objective of meeting human needs through an applied knowledge base, focusing on prevention as well as remediation of problems, and maintaining a commitment to improving the overall qu ...
, environment, education, and arts & culture. Within three years of its founding, WWF had granted almost $1 million to nonprofits. As of 2015, the WWF had over 500 members. In 2002, the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...
awarded WWF a grant to create a book about its giving model titled ''Something Ventured: An Innovative Model in Philanthropy''.


Women's Collective Giving Grantmakers Network

As a response to the growing number of collective giving groups, Willoughby started the Women's Collective Giving Grantmakers Network (WCGN) to serve as the umbrella organization for groups similar to the WWF. Incorporated in
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...
, WCGN provides support and tools to current and future women-led giving groups and hosts regular meetings and an annual conference. As of 2017, WCGN has 49 member organizations in 24 states and two countries and over 10,000 women members from member organizations. In 2019, the organization changed its name to Catalist.


Philanthropic research work at University of Washington

Willoughby is active in women's philanthropic research at the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
. She founded the Global Women's Philanthropy Project, which researches how collective giving models can be launched and successful in China. Willoughby also serves on the
advisory board An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to the ...
for the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
and is the former chair of the school.


Awards

Willoughby was awarded the Junior League of Seattle's Dorothy Stimson Bullitt Community Service Award in 1991. She was named a 2004 Woman of Influence by the ''
Puget Sound Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...
''. In 2008, Willoughby was named a Storm Woman of Inspiration by the
Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team was founded by Gi ...
. The following year, 2009, Willoughby was awarded the Mary Harriman Award by the
Junior League The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (Junior League or JL) is a private, nonprofit educational women's volunteer organization aimed at improving communities and the social, cultural, and political fabric of civil society. With ...
for her work with the Junior League, women, and in fundraising. She received the 25th A.K. Guy Award from the
YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
in 2012, for her "extraordinary commitment to and leadership in philanthropy, women’s leadership, civic engagement, and youth issues."


Personal life

Willoughby resides in Seattle and
Lopez Island Lopez Island is the third largest of the San Juan Islands and an unincorporated town in San Juan County, Washington, United States. Lopez Island is in land area. The 2020 census population was 3,156, though the population swells in the summe ...
. She has five grandchildren.


References


External links


Official website of the Washington Women's FoundationOfficial website of the Women's Collective Giving Grantmakers Network (now called Philanos)Global Women's Philanthropy ProjectInterview with Colleen Willoughby
via the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willoughby, Colleen 1934 births American women philanthropists People from Bellevue, Washington People from Seattle Whitman College alumni American women educators Living people 21st-century American women