Blog of Bloodworks Northwest



Meet the Bloodworks Board

Bloodworks’ Board of Trustees provides insight and guidance into the decisions that steer our operations. Our trustees bring a unique perspective to their role within Bloodworks. 

We sat down with a few of our board members to learn about why they’ve chosen to donate their time and expertise to Bloodworks’ lifesaving work:

Tell us about your personal connection to the Bloodworks mission and how you represent our community’s interest as a Bloodworks trustee.

My family has been living in the Seattle area since the 1920’s, so I have some deep roots in the Northwest. I have a profound desire for everyone in our region to be as strong, healthy, and connected as possible, and it’s my opportunity as a trustee to raise awareness of Bloodworks’ wonderfully unique role in keeping people healthy. Blood absolutely saves lives, and it requires members of our community to literally give of themselves to their neighbors. I want to foster that sense of community and connection in the PNW!

Sean Sigmon, Chair
InformedDNA
Vice President, Business Development, Life Sciences

I represent the community as a person with lived experience since I’ve been on both the donating and receiving ends of Bloodworks Northwest. I want to make sure Bloodworks continues to play its vital role in the community because a robust blood supply saves lives!

When I delivered my daughter in 2016, I suffered a significant postpartum hemorrhage. Over 15 units of blood were transfused while doctors worked to stop the bleeding. That blood is the reason I’m alive to raise my daughter. Blood transfusions are needed more often than people realize.

Molly Firth, Vice Chair
MCG Consulting
Principal

At the start of the pandemic, we were looking for a way to support the community, and we had a great relationship with Bloodworks. A one day pop up turned into a one week pop up turned into a one month pop up, and it was just a great partnership between the Mariners and Bloodworks. I just wanted to be able to support the organization.

I have family members and friends who have needed blood donation. It’s something that my family had done when I was growing up — my parents both did it. It’s a small thing to do to help people that you’ll never get a chance to know and is just really important in our community.

Trevor Gooby
SVP, Ballpark Operations
Seattle Mariners

I approach my role as a member of the community Bloodworks serves. Whether we ourselves rely on the organization’s lifesaving work or someone we know does, my goal is to support Bloodworks’ leaders as they navigate the rapidly changing needs, desires, and realities of healthcare, community, and technology today.

Many family members, friends, and people I work with everyday rely on blood transfusions to stay alive. Between the need for blood after childbirth or during surgery, many of my friends would not be around today without the support of Bloodworks and its donors.

Christine Henningsgaard
CEO & Co-Founder
Quilted Health

One of my responsibilities at Bloodworks is to ensure our trustees have the information they need, in a timely way, to guide our organization in fulfillment of its mission. That mission is a noble one: ensuring that our family, friends, and neighbors have blood when they need it. Probably all of us will need lifesaving blood shared by a generous donor at some point in our life, or will know someone who does. What a privilege to be part of the amazing, complex process that makes that happen 24/7/365!

I was diagnosed with leukemia a number of years ago. Instead of that being a “death sentence” according to my doctor, I went quickly into a strong remission that still holds because a new medication had been recently developed. I’m alive because of research into a blood disease and because smart people found a way to defeat it. I love working at Bloodworks, where we help make that happen!

Maxine Sellers
Board Secretary
Bloodworks
January 11, 2022 7:37AM

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