Meet our team
GHP FISH Food Bank is run by our board of directors and 100s of local volunteers who make everything possible, and supported by our dedicated staff. Thank you!
Staff
Pamela Leazer
Fundraising Development Director | pamelal@ghpfish.org
Pam’s work life began in the real estate industry in Sonoma County, Calif., where she was raised and graduated from St. Mary's College and earned her master’s in Organization Development from Sonoma State University. Since then, she has enjoyed a variety of leadership roles in business and the not-for-profit world.
Pam served as executive director of the West Sound Chapter American Red Cross and regional development manager for the American Red Cross, followed by development roles with the Washington Alzheimer’s Association, Bellarmine Preparatory School, and Harrison Medical Center Foundation. She’s also taught in the University of Washington Tacoma’s Professional Development Program and at the Pacific Lutheran University Center for Executive Development, and traveled the country as a national instructor, trainer and facilitator for the American Red Cross.
Touched by the genuine compassion and generous philanthropy of the hundreds of people she’s met over the years, she feels honored have played a small part in helping address many critically important causes.
Bill Mumford
Operations Manager | billm@ghpfish.org
Bill spent a long career in the retail sector as both a buyer and manager with numerous retail companies across the country including Barnes & Noble, Borders, Williams Sonoma, Rite Aid, & Party City. He started giving back to the community way back in his youth when he volunteered at his local animal shelter at age 13. Upon retirement he jumped at the opportunity to serve the community and use his managerial experience as the first Operations Manager and paid employee at the GHP FISH Food Bank. He works every day the food bank is open to standardize policies and procedures. In addition to managing the daily running of the food bank, he coordinates the buying and warehousing of donations and purchases and serves as a liaison to numerous neighboring community organizations including other food banks, local community groups and student support groups.
Sigurros Welborn
Volunteer Support Manager | sigurrosw@ghpfish.org
Sigurros has always been passionate about helping people in need. She began volunteering with Meals on Wheels in high school and continued serving at various organizations ever since. After a 16-year career as a hair stylist—turned stay-at-home mom during her husband's deployment to the Middle East—she decided to follow her heart and shift into the nonprofit sector. She volunteered at the local food bank in Maple Valley for two years and was hired there in 2018, starting as volunteer and program coordinator and then moved into the market/warehouse manager position.
In 2021 Sigurros and her family moved to Gig Harbor to be closer to her husband’s work at JBLM. She started volunteering weekly at GHP FISH and soon was coordinating food pickups and serving as the point person for more than 200 active volunteers. To keep pace with growing needs at the food bank, she was hired as part-time Volunteer Support Manager in 2023.
Board of directors
Ron Coen
President of the Board
A Gig Harbor native and graduate of Peninsula High School, Ron graduated summa cum laude from Pacific Lutheran University with a double major in political science and sociology. He served 26 years in the U.S. Navy as an aviation maintenance officer for three squadrons on four aircraft carriers, plant manager and contracting officer for Sugita branch of the Japan Aircraft Company, and manager of the Navy’s largest West Coast Jet engine repair facility. He worked five years as assistant to the bishop of the American Lutheran Church (ALC) where he was responsible for administration and programs for five states, and 11 years as regional coordinator for six synods in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). He spent seven years as fraternal manager for Thrivent Financial, responsible for West Coast program development, training and volunteer programs. He has served on several nonprofit boards and has been president of the GHP FISH Board since 2014.
Janice P. Coen
Founder & Coordinator
Born and raised in Gig Harbor, Jan is a lifelong volunteer. As a military wife and mother, she traveled the world and taught classes to deaf children in New York, taught ESL to college students and business people in Japan, where she also served as a Red Cross volunteer. While stationed in San Diego, Jan worked with 15 congregations to offer a food bank and other social services to the extended community. She served on numerous boards and committees wherever she went. When she returned home to Gig Harbor in 1976, Jan met with community leaders to determine local needs and then recruited volunteers to provide the needed services using the FISH model developed in England. In the early 1980s they took on the operation of a small food bank that had moved out of the area. GHP FISH has continued to expand in size and scope ever since. Jan received the 1991 Governor's award for Outstanding Volunteer Service, was honored by Pierce County Aging & Disability Resources in 2012 and was named Citizen of the Year by the Gig Harbor Elks Lodge in 1992-93 and 2019-20.
Jennifer Clark
Secretary
Jen grew up in Southern California, serving at food ministries and shelters with her church and family from a young age. She has a degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University, where servant leadership is a core tenet. During her 20-year career in corporate accounting she continued to volunteer with a variety of nonprofits and to run her church’s food pantry ministry. In 2017, she left the corporate environment for more flexibility for community service, Bible study and her family. She joined the team at James Storehouse; shopping with clients, building community and assisting with many events to love and support foster families and aging-out youth in Ventura County. At her church she was a ministry coordinator—overseeing office administration, planning church events and running VBS. When Jen & her husband (and sweet beagle) moved to Gig Harbor in 2019, she volunteered at GHP FISH right away; helping with client shopping, food stocking, communication, donation reports and the annual holiday toy drive.
Betty Jutte
Treasurer
Betty came to the US from Scotland via Greece in 1971. She began her accounting career in London at the Ministry of Health, performing mainly payroll work while taking accounting classes at a local college. She then set out to see parts of Europe, ending up in Greece, where she met and married a man from Tacoma. Primarily a stay-at-home mum until their two children were in junior high, Betty was treasurer of the Parent Teacher Student Organization at her children’s elementary school, and also of her neighborhood food co-op. She pursued the tax and accounting course work she’d started several years earlier and eventually went to work for a small accounting firm where she was employed for 30 years. She retired from day-to-day work in June 2019, but still works the tax season. Betty started volunteering for GHP FISH in 2018 and joined the board in May 2020. She assumed the treasurer role later that year.
Amy Gartlan
At large
Amy has lived in Gig Harbor since 2001, when she and her husband moved here from St. Louis for his job at Russell Investments. She changed careers from elementary school teacher to active volunteer when her son was school age, helping primarily at his schools. Since transitioning to GHP FISH, she has served in many capacities, working closely with clients, volunteers, supporters and many aspects of our operation. She has been a director since 2016, first as communications coordinator, then as fundraising coordinator and co-chair of the Building the Future Capital Campaign that raised funds for our new building, and then as grocery food drive coordinator.
Sue John, Ph.D.
Communication Coordinator
Sue is a writer and editor whose career experience included daily newspaper and free-lance journalism, project management, media coordination, teaching and academic research. She earned her bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees at the University of Washington, where she was most recently employed as a Department of Communication lecturer and Forefront Suicide Prevention communication specialist. She also has an A-Z Grant Writing certificate from Tacoma Community College. At GHP FISH, Sue leads a talented team of volunteers with expertise in reporting, media relations, social media, graphics, online communication, videography and marketing. She also served on the Capital Campaign Cabinet.
Dawn Wagner
Clothing & Household Goods Coordinator
Raised in the Midwest, Dawn attended the Stenotype Institute of South Dakota for court reporting and worked in the legal field after moving to Washington State in the early 1990s. Dawn has devoted much of her personal life to community volunteer work: serving in many capacities at her children’s schools, several years as a Girl Scout leader, and with GHP FISH since 2015. Dawn coordinates a team of seasoned volunteers who inspect and sort all nonfood items (clothing, housewares, books, school supplies, etc.), choosing the best items for GHP FISH clients. They also set aside new children's toys for birthdays and provide essential items to unhoused individuals. Dawn and her team carefully curate their “boutique,” where clients can select clothing and other goods free of charge after they have completed their food shopping.
Richel Falk
Fundraising / Grants Coordinator
Richel was raised in Fircrest and has lived in Gig Harbor since 1993. She graduated from Western Washington University with a degree in psychology. Richel worked for the General Services Administration and then the Weyerhaeuser Company for over 34 years, mostly as a contracts manager and procurement manager focusing on IT Outsource oversight, services and facilities management. She has a certificate in contracts management from the University of Washington and was an advisory board member for the program for five years. She also obtained a Certified Purchasing Manager (CPM) lifetime certification. She has volunteered at GHP FISH since 2019 and played an important role in creating its grant program, both for operational funding and the Building the Future Capital Campaign.
Jane Hampton
Telephone Monitor Coordinator
Jane is a retired librarian and a longstanding GPH FISH volunteer. Her career with the Pierce County Library System encompassed reference, bookmobile and youth services. Prior to that, she taught social studies and language arts. She has her B.S. in Education as well as a Master’s in Library Science. Since joining the GHP FISH volunteer ranks in 1977, Jane has held several roles including telephone monitoring, driving, and grocery store food collection. During this time, she also served as a preschool Sunday School teacher and assistant children’s supervisor for Gig Harbor Day Women's Bible Study Fellowship International. In her role as telephone monitor, Jane is responsible for ensuring client needs are addressed, even those that come in after hours. Jane’s many years of experience also provide valuable perspective on the organization’s response to changing community needs.