Nancy Skinner Nordhoff

Nancy Nordhoff is known for her involvement in environmental and feminist causes, most notably in Washington State, where she was born in 1932 and where she currently lives. At Mount Holyoke, she attained a degree in chemistry, and went on to get a pilot’s license after graduation and to attend graduate school. Nordhoff has worked with the United Way and the Skinner Family Foundation on philanthropic projects aimed at environmental conservation as well as women’s empowerment. Her achievements include founding Hedgebrook Writer’s retreat, a center for female writers, building a public park in Langley, Washington, and founding the Goosefoot Community Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to sustaining Whidbey Island. For 25 years, Nordhoff has also worked as a funder and advisor for the Women’s Funding Alliance of Seattle. In 2006, the National Women's History Project named her a Women’s History Month honoree, and in 2009, she won the National Philanthropy Day award for “Outstanding Philanthropist.”