Whitney Holm knows the value of a team. From her college basketball days to two years in the Peace Corps to her current role as a working mom to two young daughters, she credits partnership and collaboration with getting it all done.
The transportation design engineer was awarded top honors by her coworkers at SCJ Alliance for her contributions within the company and outside of it.
“Whitney is not only a huge pleasure to work with, she is playmaker in the community,” said SCJ Co-Founder and Senior Principal Jean Carr. “The SCJ Cares Award was created to celebrate team members like her, who embody the SCJ commitment to serving each other and our community.
Whitney is on the board for both the Boys & Girls Clubs of Thurston County and South Sound Roots Academy, a charitable organization dedicated to making high-level sports training safe and available to all young athletes.
“When I got back from the Peace Corps, I started to ask around about the best place to volunteer my time locally,” she said. “I kept hearing Boys & Girls Club.” Whitney says the organization is passionate about local youth and improving lives. “It’s been a great match,” she said.
The Saint Martin’s University basketball Hall of Famer joined the board of South Sound Roots Academy when it launched in 2016 and is helping to get the organization off the ground.
“We are starting to notice disturbing trends for young athletes,” she explained. “Pressure to be elite and early specialization is leading more kids to drop out of athletics at an early age because families can’t afford it. Yet, often, the ones who can’t afford it need the role models the most.”
“At Roots, we’re working to reverse those trends,” she continued. “We use science-based methods, reducing injuries and also teaching parents. We truly want what’s best for these kids and believe developing the person is more important than the player.” Whitney said her work with the Boys & Girls Club has allowed her to connect kids to Roots programs who otherwise wouldn’t have known about them.
Anonymous nominations for the SCJ Cares Award lauded Whitney as a kind and loving friend to all, incredible mentor and motivator, and inspiration for those aspiring to a healthy family-life-work balance. Wrote one nominator, “Whitney, always up for a challenge, is a model of the balance between motherhood, commanding a successful career and actively serving her community.”
Now, that’s the kind of player we all want on our team.
