Board & Staff

Goosefoot Board of Directors

Our board members represent many facets of South Whidbey.

Goosefoot is a “supporting organization,” a nonprofit and public charity all rolled into one. This designation allows us to earn and distribute profits from the Goose Grocer and the properties we own.

Our board includes leaders from three “supported organizations.” While each organization receives some financial support from Goosefoot, they are completely self-governed. Their contributions to Goosefoot as board members are substantial as they represent areas of expertise necessary to making the best funding decisions we can as grant makers. Our supported organizations are:

• South Whidbey at Home, a membership-based organization dedicated to helping residents aged 55+ to remain in their homes and active in the community
• Whidbey Island Nourishes, a volunteer-powered nonprofit dedicated to nourishing youth on South Whidbey Island by providing no-cost, ready-to-eat healthy meals.
• Whidbey Watershed Stewards works with the Whidbey Island community to promote watershed stewardship, habitat enhancement, and environmental education for all ages.

Together, our board guides Goosefoot’s focus and actions, with an eye to the future.

Leigh Bloom
President
2014 – present

Leigh’s professional background includes real estate (in the form of design, commercial appraisal and residential construction), and very small-scale specialty food manufacturing/distribution.

Outdoor activities drew him to the northwest in 1988 from New England and experiencing the northwest wilderness continues to be a driving force.  Island living has been divided between Bainbridge Island from 1990-1996, and Whidbey Island from 1996 to present.  With four children grown and now living in the region, Leigh and his wife Michele continue with ongoing community activities from their Maxwelton Valley home. Leigh’s other nonprofit work includes: The Whidbey Island Waldorf School, Sound Water Stewards (and associated organization projects), and Hearts & Hammers.

Kevin Dunham
2022 – present

Kevin owns and operates a small farmstead in Bayview with his wife Jenny and two young daughters. They raise and sell pastured livestock; chickens, pigs, turkeys, and sheep, have a large kitchen garden, and have been planting hundreds of fruit, nut, and fodder trees. He runs his own regional sheep shearing business serving over 150 flocks in the Puget Sound area. He has decided to spend his life on Whidbey Island for both its beauty and its amazing community. He has been involved with Whidbey agriculture since 2012 and hopes to develop, support, and encourage regenerative and resilient farming systems. 

Bob Gentz
Treasurer
2010 – present

Bob is a retired engineering project manager who worked primarily in the international metals industry. His concern about wildlife habitat preservation and sustainable living practices has motivated him to be actively involved with various organizations including: Whidbey Watershed Stewards, The Nature Conservancy, Sound Water Stewards, and Whidbey Camano Land Trust. He enjoys the Pacific Northwest’s unique natural environment; exploring its many beaches and wilderness trails. Occasionally, he and his friends try their luck on the golf course or at some remote fly-fishing spot, where they enjoy the beautiful scenery. Bob and his wife Carol have lived in Langley since 2001.

Ross Godwin
2024 – present

Ross has lived on Whidbey Island for 40 years, first working with a cable TV company then doing home repairs and maintenance for real estate agents and property management companies. He met his wife here 39 years ago. He started volunteering for different organizational boards when their boys were young and going to the Children’s Center in Langley. Ross has been on the Unity Church Board and the Hearts and Hammers Board, and is currently on the South Whidbey@Home Board as Vice President and a volunteer. 

Karen Larsen Gordon
Vice President
2022 – present

Karen discovered South Whidbey Island in the 1970’s and cherishes finally calling it home. Professionally, Karen owned and operated travel agencies, and upon earning a certificate in Natural Resource Management from U.C.S.D, changed gears and became Executive Director of an environmental organization in San Diego. She also was an active docent for 3 ecological reserves. 

Settling in 6 years ago in the Mutiny Bay area offered multiple opportunities to continue her volunteerism. As community service has been a major part of her life, assisting at Senior Thrift, monitoring for Whidbey Audubon, working with children at the Outdoor Classroom – Whidbey Watershed Stewards – and most recently helping seniors at South Whidbey at Home fill her days.

Betsy Hofius
Secretary
2015 – present

Betsy teaches second grade at South Whidbey Elementary.  She was a member of the Clinton Hall Board, whose mission is to maintain itself as the center of Clinton civic life. Betsy moved in 2003 to a small farm in Clinton.  Her two children graduated from South Whidbey High, enjoyed successful college careers and now look forward to their visits back to the farm.

Upon moving to Whidbey, Betsy’s goal was to become meaningfully involved in the community.  Conversations on the sidelines of children’s soccer games and in the audiences of student concerts eventually evolved into the work she does now.

Candace Jordan    
2008 – present     

Candace brings values learned growing up in the beautiful & tight knit Skagit Valley among farmers, small businesses, loggers, adventurers & community volunteers. A 3rd generation Washington native & UW grad, she is delighted to be back in the Northwest with its strong sense of place. As a Realtor, she can serve her clients while nurturing the sense of community on Whidbey Island. Candace is a past President of the Goosefoot Board & the Whidbey Island Association of Realtors.

Jean Singer
2018 – present

Jean had multiple careers before finding her heart-work in organization change.  Her professional path included youth groupworker in New York City, soft fabric sculptor in Portland, carpenter in the Bay Area, architect and high-end construction manager in Seattle.  Completing a second Master degree at 50, she then established a consulting practice in organization change and leadership development. Jean taught graduate courses in organization change at Antioch University Seattle.  She holds a BA in Psychology from Pitzer College, Claremont, California, a Master of Architecture from University of Washington and a Master in Whole System Design from Antioch University Seattle. 

Jean and her spouse Dyanne live at the Red Door Farm with 18 years of joy growing their own food and now taking tear-drop camper road trips in between.

Mark Thomas
2024 – present

Mark and his family were frequent campers on South Whidbey long before becoming part-time residents for 14 years and then embracing full-time island life starting 2022. Having worked their way through multiple cabin renovations, they now enjoy the peace and quiet living outside of Freeland.

Professionally, Mark spent most of his career in Seattle’s technology and community banking industries with roles spanning marketing, corporate communications, and change management. He is a Goosefoot Board representative for Whidbey Island Nourishes, where he enjoys working in the kitchen and supporting food security for South Whidbey’s children. He also volunteers with Hearts & Hammers. His wife, Lisa, is a third-grade teacher in Oak Harbor. 

Nicole Whittington-Johnson
2024 – present

Nicole is a proud mama of two little ones, ages 3 and 5. Originally from Arizona, she moved to Whidbey in 2017 with her husband, Kenny, who grew up on the island. They enjoy family days spent growing food, making art, and being together.

As Executive Director of the Langley Chamber of Commerce, Nicole loves building relationships across various sectors to strengthen the local economy and community. Her career reflects a genuine commitment to community building through empathetic leadership, cultural awareness, and placemaking.

Fredrik Winsnes
2024 – present

Fredrik has been enjoying South Whidbey Island since 2018 with his wife Sue. Before his retirement in 2020, he spent a decade at NetHope, a non-profit connecting big international NGOs with the commercial information technology world. Before his NetHope days, Fredrik was at Microsoft and other big-name companies in tech management. From 2005 to 2009, he was involved in a neat project called “Computers for Uganda,” where high school students from Eastern Washington refurbished and set up PCs in Ugandan schools.

Originally from Norway, Fredrik loves traveling back home and exploring new places. He and Sue have three grown children, and have also opened their home to over 25 international exchange students over the years.

Mitch Wright
2023 – present

Mitch, his family, and two ridiculously spoiled dogs arrived on Whidbey in 2015 after a highly stressful stretch turning around distressed businesses as CFO for private equity companies in Connecticut and Atlanta. Mitch likes to joke that he and his family arrived for rest and relaxation on Whidbey, getting so accustomed to “Island Time” that he never got around to leaving again. He very much enjoys outdoor activities including backcountry hiking & camping, cycling Whidbey’s amazing rural roads, and hitting the slopes in the winter months.

A graduate of the Vanderbilt Masters of Business Administration program and a Chartered Financial Analyst, Mitch now heads the finance, accounting, logistics and planning functions for Nichols Brothers Boat Builders and Everett Ship Repair from Whidbey.

Goosefoot Staff

Our staff are visible in all sorts of places! Participating in community meetings. Teaching business workshops. Facilitating collaborative efforts. Maintaining our historical buildings and properties. Socializing at street dances and art openings. We like to get around!

Look for these folks and know they’re working hard for our South Whidbey community.

Mariah Beard (2022)
Administrative Coordinator

Mariah is a long-time Islander, having grown up here and returning after college to raise her daughter. She previously worked for Good Cheer for many years and is thrilled to be back with an organization that gives back to the community that helped raise her.

Mariah is constantly on the go, between spending time with her family, working to turn her childhood house and property into her dream home, housesitting, and traveling. In her downtime, you can often find her with a book in her hand or planning for her next home project.

Julie Grubbs (2023)
Finance Director

After a 20+ year corporate career spanning public accounting, healthcare and banking, Julie leapt into small business ownership in 2009. Actually she was dragged along by her partner and now-husband, Tom. The next several years were spent rebuilding a broken-down laundromat and an equally decrepit convenience store, returning them to their status as important neighborhood hubs. Turns out Tom and Julie are a pretty good team. So they got hitched, enjoyed life and eventually sold the convenience store. After 14 great years in Gilbert Arizona, they rented the house and moved to Hong Kong where Tom captained a privately owned jet and Julie learned how not to work. In two years, Julie visited 12 countries (and Tom even more), many for the first time, and a few of them more than once. They hunkered down for the pandemic and when it was time to return to the US, they picked Whidbey Island. A cooler climate, island life and friends from Hong Kong drew them in. Now they are busy enjoying a different kind of island life.

Rose Hughes (2021)
Finance Administrator for Goosefoot
Managing Director of Island Roots Housing

Rose has an insatiable love of learning and teaching about economics as the art/science of collective decision-making about resources – something each of us do every day. This focus has created a career spanning from bookkeeping for entrepreneurs to administering statewide development loan funds, from being a farmworker to advocating with international finance initiatives for sustainable and equitable agriculture across the global south, from teaching local citizens “financial integrity” to working in municipal finance.

For nearly 20 years Rose kept an admiring eye on Goosefoot, and made the leap when the Finance Director position was created in 2021. In her “spare time” she’s running a management consulting firm with her life and business partner, mentoring youth, serving on civic committees and as a volunteer deckhand on the historic Schooner Suva.

Elise Miller (2023)
Executive Director

Elise has devoted her nonprofit career to accelerating social change for the common good. For over 25 years she directed, founded and transformed nonprofits with national and international reach, primarily leveraging strategic initiatives with multiple stakeholders to improve environmental health for vulnerable populations. She also served as the interim executive director of Hedgebrook, the noted international women writers’ retreat center on Whidbey, and is a certified Leadership Coach for nonprofit leaders.

The compounding and myriad crises facing our world today have compelled Elise to devote her nonprofit experience more on the local level where it is critical to implement innovative initiative to build thriving and resilient communities. Given Goosefoot’s visionary work does just that on South Whidbey, she couldn’t be more delighted and honored to serve her own community in this way.

When she’s not at her desk, you’ll find Elise training for triathlons, reading insatiably, practicing meditation and cheering her son on at wrestling tournaments.

Kimberly Muller (2025)
Staff Accountant

Bio coming soon

Marian Myszkowski (2005)
Director of Programs

After graduating from college, Marian left Washington State for the East Coast. She spent 20+ years working for nonprofit educational and arts institutions, including the Institute for Policy Studies (Washington, D.C), Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA), and Boston Architectural College (Boston, MA). She returned West in 2003 and found herself on Whidbey Island with no intentions of staying. She found Goosefoot and never left!

In her spare time, she enjoys the creative outlets of art and theater, both as viewer and as a participant. Marian has shown her photography on Whidbey Island and in Boston, and has also performed improv in both locations. If you consider playing live tournament poker a sport, then she’s also an athlete. Of sorts.

Tom Rider (2023)
Facilities & Maintenance

Tom grew up in Texas and is a graduate of the University of Texas. A nine-year resident of Whidbey Island, he moved here in 2015 to live with his youngest son, daughter-in-law (a lifelong Whidbey resident), and two grandsons after a thirty year career as an architectural photographer in the San Francisco Bay area. He has a transcontinental life, with another son, daughter-in-law, and two more young grandchildren in New York. After a lifetime in the rough and tumble freelance, corporate, and retail worlds, he feels he has found a true home at Goosefoot. “To be able to work with an institution and a staff who share my views and outlook on life has been like a gift,” he says. “I am grateful every day for this opportunity and fully intend to dedicate myself to Goosefoot and to the friends I’ve made here; I literally could not be happier.”

As a committed cyclist, the eight mile ride to Bayview fits perfectly. Photography remains an important part of Tom’s life, combined with a lifelong history of hiking, backpacking, and river rafting.

Rachman Ross (2020)
Facilities & Maintenance

Rachman grew up in Los Angeles CA working mostly in restaurants and coffee houses by day and then performing live music as a drummer by night. He moved to South Whidbey in 1997 where he worked at the Smiling Dog coffee house at Bayview Corner for many years as well as doing landscaping.

Communicating positivity through his work and music are elements closest to his heart. In his spare time he’s usually practicing drums or in the company of his cat.

Sami Postma (2017)
Events & Education Coordinator

Sami has been working to support the small business community since she moved to Whidbey Island in 2012. After years of working with the Economic Development Council as a business mentor, events planner, and social media guru, she joined the Goosefoot team. She also has her own business doing marketing and web design.

Sami likes quiet time at home, with books, video games, and too much work. She also enjoys traveling, and geeking out with other nerds at conventions around the country. Even “free time” usually includes focus and dedication—ask her about her cross stitches some time!

Larry Shorey (2023)
Facilities & Property Manager

Bio coming soon!

Vineet Teames (2025)
Facilities Assistant

Bio coming soon!