Whatcom Women and Business announces its professional woman of the year award winner

Written by Dave Gallagher | The Bellingham Herald | October 29, 2010

Here’s a press release from Whatcom Women in Business, announcing its Professional Woman of the Year award:

Whatcom Women in Business is proud to announce that its 28th Annual Professional Woman of the Year award has been awarded to Nancy Ivarinen.

This prestigious award recognizes the contributions of women through their leadership, mentorship, business acumen, ethics, and community involvement. Nancy is a staff attorney with Northwest Justice Project, providing legal advocacy to low-income victims of abuse or domestic violence, and the Paralegal Studies Program Director and Instructor at Whatcom Community College. She is the first attorney to ever win this award.

 Whatcom Women in Business would also like to honor its Member of the Year, Melinda Shenk.  Melinda established Marianne’s House in 2005, a local day activity center for adults with developmental disabilities (DD), named in memory of her sister Marianne who had a special love for the DD community.  Melinda has been a member of Whatcom Women in Business for the past two years, and has chaired its annual fundraising event for the past two years. She has recently made a career change and returned to school to pursue a paralegal degree.

 For more information about Whatcom Women in Business, go to www.wwib.org.