About Julie Edsforth

I am a Washington state-based nonprofit consultant helping individuals, nonprofit organizations and community initiatives do their best work to bring about positive, durable, progressive change that promotes the health and well-being of people and the planet.

My consulting practice is more than my day job. It's a vehicle for me to contribute to the missions and highest aspirations of the organizations I serve, and an expression of my social, political, and environmental values.

I believe in building ‘big tent’ cross-race and cross-class coalitions as a path to community health and well-being. I have a fundamental belief in the power of working in partnership with diverse groups of people to solve some of society’s most complex problems. This work isn’t easy - it requires humility, introspection, an examination of how privilege and biases get in the way, and a commitment to learning and growing from mistakes. I’m pragmatic at heart, always trying to step back and asking “who are we serving, how is this helping?”

Since hanging my shingle as a nonprofit consultant in 2008, I have been lucky to work with 70+ nonprofit organizations in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. I enjoy working with organizations of all shapes and sizes and across all issue areas – it keeps me flexible, perpetually learning, and able to cross-pollinate new ideas, innovations and best practices across sub-sectors.

The cross-functional nature of my consulting practice and 30+ years of varied experience in the nonprofit sector (as an executive director, social worker, counselor, board member, consultant, donor and community volunteer) means I am holistic in my approach and bring a compassionate and balanced perspective to organizational growth and change management. My experience enables me to relate firsthand to the challenges and rewards that come with surviving and thriving in a dynamic nonprofit environment.

I am the former executive director and one of three founders of Powerful Voices, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization. Early in my working life (after the house cleaning and life guarding jobs I had through high school and college) I spent a bit of time in the high tech industry, where I gained business skills that I carefully bring into my nonprofit work. I am a graduate of Whitman College and have a Masters in Social Work from the University of Washington.