Updated:
Blue Mountain Community Foundation
Founded in 1984, the Blue Mountain Community Foundation functions as a permanent charitable aggregator for Walla Walla County and the surrounding region.
Blue Mountain Community Foundation
Founded in 1984, the Blue Mountain Community Foundation functions as a permanent charitable aggregator for Walla Walla County and the surrounding region. Kol Medina took over as President and CEO after serving as CEO of the Kitsap Community Foundation and as Mayor of Bainbridge Island. The foundation's core capital comes from a collection of named trusts and donor-advised funds, including the Clara & Art Bald Trust, the Mary Garner Esary Trust, and the Stubblefield Foundation Grant Program, all of which channel their distributions locally. The foundation's balance sheet holds a mix of endowment assets, donor-advised fund pools, and a direct real estate portfolio. The real estate holdings include a farmland portfolio situated in Walla Walla County and the foundation's own headquarters at 22 East Poplar Street. Grant capital flows into a broad range of community causes — education scholarships, health initiatives, and civic projects — often augmented by aligned institutional partners. With a staff lean enough that the board remains central to operations, the organization reflects the community's professional cross-section. Trustee Melissa Clubb serves as Brand Manager at L'Ecole No 41 Winery, while Trustee Lori Asmus is the Chief Nursing Officer for Providence Clinical Network's Southeast Region. Board Chair Cindy Widmer also has ties to L'Ecole No 41 Winery and the Blue Mountain Action Council. The foundation maintains a Summit Society for planned-gift donors, creating a secondary network of future capital commitments. The foundation's structural differentiator is its concentrated geography. Unlike large community foundations that span broad metro areas, Blue Mountain's mandate is inseparable from a single rural county. This hyper-local focus makes it the default philanthropic infrastructure for Walla Walla's agricultural and vinicultural wealth, giving it an unusual monopoly on place-based giving that national donor-advised fund sponsors cannot replicate.
General information
Firm type
Foundation
Year founded
1984
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Walla Walla
Corporate office
22 East Poplar Street, Suite 206, Walla Walla, WA 99362
Principals
Kol Medina
President/CEO
Cindy Widmer
Board Chair
Melissa Clubb
Trustee
Lori Asmus
Trustee
Barbara Roloff
Chair Emeritus
Tammie Buchanan
Trustee
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
How is the foundation's capital deployed?
Capital is held across endowment pools, donor-advised funds, and directly owned real estate, including a farmland portfolio in Walla Walla County. The foundation also maintains its headquarters as a commercial asset. Grants and scholarships are awarded annually to local organizations and students, with occasional co-investments from larger partners like the Schultz Family Foundation and Seattle Foundation.
What is the source of Blue Mountain Community Foundation's charitable capital?
Much of the foundation's permanent capital originates from local philanthropic families and trusts. Named entities under its umbrella include the Clara & Art Bald Trust, the Mary Garner Esary Trust, and the Stubblefield Foundation Grant Program. It also enables living donors in the Walla Walla region to create new charitable funds.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
Need institutional-grade insight on endowments & foundations?
Altss delivers:
Prefer a guided tour?
We’ll walk you through: