Colleen Willoughby

Colleen Seidelhuber was born around 1934. Both of her parents volunteered regularly. Her father volunteered at the YMCA and her mother at the local Parent Teacher Association.

Willoughby attended Whitman College, studying political science and speech.{{cite web|last1=Grantier|first1=Virginia|title=Symposium founder earns national award|url=https://www.whitman.edu/newsroom/whitman-magazine/2009/december/alumni-news/symposium-founder-earns-national-award|website=Alumni News|publisher=Whittier College|access-date=19 June 2017}} She graduated in 1955.{{cite web|last1=Brauhn|first1=David|title=Trustee emerita Colleen Willoughby '55 urges women students to "step up, step out and engage" in this year's Women in Leadership Symposium.|url=https://www.whitman.edu/newsroom/whitman-magazine/whitman-magazine-fall-2015/feature-stories/a-legacy-of-leadership|website=Whitman Magazine|publisher=Whitman College|access-date=29 May 2017}} It was at Whitman where she would meet her future husband, George Willoughby. After the couple married, Willoughby taught junior high school. She would eventually quit to become a housewife, caring for the couple's two children, Scott and Anne.

Willoughby volunteered for years, increasing her time spent volunteering as her children became adults. She volunteered at the Seattle Art Museum, with the Camp Fire Boys and Girls, Junior League and Planned Parenthood. 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 and the United Way. 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.

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.{{cite web|last1=Nelson|first1=Carol|title=Women of Influence: Women must keep striving for more (Video)|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2016/11/17/women-of-influence-carol-nelson-willoughby-ireland.html|website=Puget Sound Business Journal|access-date=29 May 2017}}

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.{{cite web|title=Youth Civic Leadership Award|url=https://www.rewa.org/youth-civic-education-award/|website=ReWA|access-date=29 May 2017}}

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|quote = My mother’s tool was a mixmaster, but mine is money.{{cite web|last1=Arkles|first1=Louise|title=The power of collective giving: Women mixing it up|url=http://www.generositymag.com.au/the-power-of-the-collective-women-mixing-it-up/|website=Generosity|access-date=29 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513031602/http://www.generositymag.com.au/the-power-of-the-collective-women-mixing-it-up/|archive-date=13 May 2015|url-status=dead}}

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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.{{cite book|author=Joanna L. Krotz|title=The Guide to Intelligent Giving: Make a Difference in the World--And in Your Own Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_12KtDyTo0C&pg=PA146|year=2009|publisher=Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.|isbn=978-1-58816-761-3|page=146}} 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.

Today, WWF awards grants in five focus areas: health, human services, 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 awarded WWF a grant to create a book about its giving model titled Something Ventured: An Innovative Model in Philanthropy.{{cite web|last1=Tice|first1=Carol|title=Leading the way|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2004/11/08/focus6.html|website=Philanthropic Leadership|publisher=Puget Sound Business Journal|access-date=29 May 2017}}

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, WCGN provides support and tools to current and future women-led giving groups and hosts regular meetings and an annual conference.{{cite web|last1=Broadwell|first1=Paula|title=Check Your Privilege: Why Women's Philanthropy Is Growing Across Generations and Socioeconomics|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paula-broadwell/check-your-privilege-why-womens-philanthrophy_b_8363432.html|website=The Blog|publisher=Huffington Post|access-date=29 May 2017}} As of 2017, WCGN has 49 member organizations in 24 states and two countries and over 10,000 women members from member organizations.{{cite web|last1=Curtis|first1=Mary C.|author-link=Mary C. Curtis |title='Fire Starters' in Women's Philanthropy Focus on Regeneration|url=http://womensenews.org/2015/11/fire-starters-in-womens-philanthropy-focus-on-regeneration/|website=Women's E News|publisher=Women's E News|access-date=13 March 2017}}{{cite web|last1=Mesch|first1=Debra|last2=Mills|first2=Virginia|title=Giving Together Has Exponential Effects On Communities|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/giving-together-has-exponential-effects-on-communities_us_5893b53de4b04061313608a5?u5alkfl72x0mb1emi|website=Huffington Post|access-date=12 March 2017}} In 2019, the organization changed its name to Catalist.

Willoughby is active in women's philanthropic research at the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Washington. She founded the Global Women's Philanthropy Project, which researches how collective giving models can be launched and successful in China.{{cite web|url=https://evans.uw.edu/centers-projects/mlc/global-women%E2%80%99s-philanthropy|title=Global Women's Philanthropy|website=Evans School of Public Policy & Governance|publisher=University of Washington|access-date=19 June 2017}} Willoughby also serves on the advisory board for the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Washington and is the former chair of the school.{{cite web|title=Advisory Board Members|url=https://evans.uw.edu/about/advisory-board/board-members|website=Evans School of Public Policy & Governance|publisher=University of Washington|access-date=19 June 2017}}

Willoughby was awarded the Junior League of Seattle's Dorothy Stimson Bullitt Community Service Award in 1991.{{cite web|title=Dorothy Stimson Bullitt Community Service Award|url=https://www.jrleagueseattle.org/?nd=dsb_award_announced|website=Junior League of Seattle|access-date=19 June 2017}} She was named a 2004 Woman of Influence by the Puget Sound Business Journal.

In 2008, Willoughby was named a Storm Woman of Inspiration by the Seattle Storm.{{cite web|title=2008 Storm Women of Inspiration Recipient|url=http://www.wnba.com/archive/wnba/storm/news/woi_08_willoughby.html|website=WNBA|access-date=29 May 2017}} The following year, 2009, Willoughby was awarded the Mary Harriman Award by the Junior League for her work with the Junior League, women, and in fundraising.{{cite web|title=Colleen Willoughby|url=https://www.ajli.org/?nd=p-do-civldr-mh-bio-colleen-willoughby|website=Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc.|access-date=29 May 2017}} She received the 25th A.K. Guy Award from the YMCA in 2012, for her "extraordinary commitment to and leadership in philanthropy, women’s leadership, civic engagement, and youth issues."{{cite web|title=Colleen Willoughby Wins A.K. Guy Award|url=https://evans.uw.edu/node/6457|website=Evans School of Public Policy & Governance|access-date=29 May 2017}}

Willoughby resides in Seattle and Lopez Island. She has five grandchildren.

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• [http://wawomensfoundation.org/ Official website of the Washington Women's Foundation]
• [https://www.philanos.org/ Official website of the Women's Collective Giving Grantmakers Network (now called Philanos)]
• [https://evans.uw.edu/centers-projects/mlc/global-women%E2%80%99s-philanthropy Global Women's Philanthropy Project]
• [http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drawingroom/women-s-work/4906302 Interview with Colleen Willoughby] via the Australian Broadcasting Corporation

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Category:1934 births

Category:American women philanthropists

Category:People from Bellevue, Washington

Category:People from Seattle

Category:Whitman College alumni

Category:American women educators

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century American women