| Kitsap County has many women who are helping it make a better place to live and play — everyday heroines who are making a difference through their work or volunteer activities.
These are just some of those women:
Sylvia Klatman, executive director of the Bremerton Chamber of Commerce, has been part of the local business community for many years, first as a manager in her family’s business, and later working for the Economic Development Council. She volunteered for the chamber for nine years, organizing events like the Armed Forces Festival, before being hired.
“Because I’d volunteered there, I liked the interaction with the business people — intelligent, motivated, community-minded people,” she said in answering how she was attracted to her initial job as the chamber’s operations manager.
She has been the executive director since August 2000, and has served on numerous boards including the Pacific Northwest Trade Association, the Kitsap Visitors and Convention Bureau board of directors, the Association of Washington Business board, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
One of Klatman’s biggest achievements as executive director has been to make the organization financially viable so it can start building a capital fund for its own building. The chamber has been in existence for about a hundred years, but this would be its first owned building.
“We need to inject a little bit of vibrancy into the organization,” she said. “We knew we’d eventually buy our own building, and needed to pump it up and put money into reserves for emergency and capital funds.”
Klatman credits the chamber’s board of directors with keeping its focus on making the nonprofit fiscally strong. In addition to looking for new fund-raising ideas, the chamber also had to improve its efficiency, looking for ways to cut anything from the phone or electric bills to the copy machine use.
Outside her work, Klatman has been involved with her children’s school and sporting activities as much as she could. “I’ve been real fortunate… that the board totally understood (the need for) having a work-life balance,” she said. “They’ve been very supportive of my children and family, and my education.”
Bek Ashby, CFO of Belfair-based North Bay Mortgage, worked in the banking industry for about three decades and retired as the CEO of Silverdale State Bank. But after a year she “got bored” and decided to go back to work.
Born and raised in Port Orchard, Ashby stayed in the area, finding it a “great place to raise children.” A Port Orchard Planning Commissioner in the ‘90s, she is once again serving in that role currently. Her community involvement includes being past president of the Key Peninsula Business Association for two years, and a member of the Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce board.
“When my children were young, I chose to be involved in youth activities,” she said. “Once they were grown, I turned my attention to community activities.”
South Kitsap Relay for Life, the Port Orchard Police Civic Service Commission and the school district’s budget committee are some of the other groups she has supported with her time. “It’s always been important to me to give back to the community where I live,” she said.
Serving as the Relay for Life chair for the past two years is one of her community service highlights. “We took it from 27 to 57 teams, raising $205,000 from $57,000 previously,” she said. “The community really pulled together and has made it a nice event.”
Laureen Lund, city of Gig Harbor marketing director, says her work of promoting Gig Harbor and the region is not a job, but more of a lifestyle. “My family and my job and my volunteerism are all morphed together,” she said.
A graduate of Central Kitsap High School, Lund grew up in Silverdale, where her family has deep roots. Now living in Gig Harbor with her husband — her high school sweetheart — and children, Lund seems to have found a job that allows her to use a mix of her talents, from her public relations skills to her event organizing background and her creativity.
The first person to hold a job marketing Gig Harbor, Lund created much of her own job description, focusing on her strengths and her personality. Never one short of ideas, she has since introduced many new successful events that have one bottom line goal: to bring more people into Gig Harbor to play, and not just tourists, but residents as well, so businesses can continue to flourish. It’s not unusual to hear her being praised for helping various groups promote their events, give them ideas and provide other support.
Lund said Gig Harbor is gradually being noticed — as evidenced by growing national press — and they are now seeing results of the work done several years ago. “It takes a while to create awareness that you’re a destination,” she said, adding that one of her jobs has been to educate local residents and businesses about what they can do together to make the area a destination without ruining the character of the community.
Sheri Watson, manager of Day Road Business Park, owned by her family, has been a strong force in the Bainbridge Island business community for many years. She’s been credited with helping improve the island’s telecommunications, and helping make the light manufacturing zoning more business-friendly.
Watson also co-founded a local Internet Service Provider, which was initially created as a way to provide online service to the business park after a modernization project.
Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, Watson learned different skill sets — but entrepreneurship is “also a little genetic,” she said. She owned her own children’s clothing store in Rolling Bay for a few years before being recruited to run the business park.
Watson said she had to ask five times for a major telecom to expand its infrastructure on Bainbridge. “On the fifth time of asking, I got them to do it,” she said. “I’m used to getting no, it’s just part of a process.”
Watson later was behind another major effort, to help create more light manufacturing space so businesses could grow. “We were losing business to Poulsbo and other parks in the north end of the county because we didn’t have (available) buildings,” she said.
In addition to being a big advocate for local businesses, Watson volunteers for organizations such as the Helpline’s board of directors and the Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce board, and finds the time to support her artist daughter, who owns Raquel’s Mosaic Creations.
Marilyn Jones, a Silverdale mother of three, has been a mover and shaker in education at local, regional and state levels. Starting out as a member of the PTA at her daughter’s school, she has since been part of Central Kitsap schools council and president of the regional PTA. She is currently financial grants chair for the state PTA, overseeing a $75,000 grant program for high school seniors all over Washington.
“We are a military family, and I joined the PTA so I could meet other parents,” she said. “I stayed on because I like to advocate for all kids. It’s a great way to be involved in the community.”
A “stay at home mom,” she volunteers full-time, not only with the various PTA activities but also for the American Red Cross, the Paul Lander Education Foundation executive board, and the annual Halloween program at the Kitsap Fairgrounds. All her commitments have a youth component to them.
Jones didn’t like public speaking when she first signed up with the Cougar Valley Elementary PTA, so she had to stretch herself to be effective. She signed up for several committees right away, and soon was visiting other schools and expanding her involvement. Two of her children have graduated since then, with the youngest a high school junior, but Jones said she’ll be involved in some capacity event after he graduates.
“She is awesome,” said Judy Gunderson, a longtime member of the regional PTA service delivery team. “If every PTA in the area could have a Marilyn, it would be great for the children.”
Jones says all her volunteer activities have contributed to her personal growth, and she could not have done it without her family. “Whatever I volunteer for, my family volunteers for,” she said. “There is no way to do it without the family support.”. | 
