The strength of a community lies within its members who love and cherish the unique characteristics that make it special. Schantell Porter grew up near Seattle in Renton and Bonney Lake, but upon visiting Bellingham to check out Western Washington University, realized it was the kind of community they could live in and love for a very long time.
Porter works at Northwest Youth Services as its office and executive project manager. “As part of my role, I’m the executive assistant to our executive director,” Porter says. “I’m our office manager, the board of directors’ liaison, and I also work on mobile special projects on top of that.”
After graduating high school, Western proved to be a perfect fit for Porter. “When I toured the college, I fell in love with Bellingham right away, which is pretty easy to do because Bellingham is beautiful, for sure,” says Porter. “I studied business management and entrepreneurship at Western and that’s also where I met my husband.”
Porter graduated from Western, virtually, and started a position at the Bellingham Chamber of Commerce as the program and event manager. “One of my professors in college knew the president and CEO of the Bellingham Chamber and referred me that way, which was a really great connection and opportunity,” they say. “I worked at the Bellingham Chamber for two years and my boss, Guy Occhiogrosso, helped me through that entire time to build connections.”
Porter describes Occhiogrosso as a meaningful mentor who helped them build valuable professional and social skills within the community, eventually leading them to meet their current boss.
Porter’s passion for community is evident in the way they describe their work and purpose.
“I think community is how we heal and that’s one of our main core values at Northwest Youth Services, healing through community, which is amazing and beautiful,” they say. “Also, community is why I go to work every day. I think being involved and getting engaged really does motivate me. I got to visit some of our other locations at Northwest Youth Services and meet some of our youth; that’s really why I come to work — and why I wanted to work here — to help the youth in our community heal and thrive.”
Being named a nominee for the Top 7 Under 40 for Whatcom Young Professionals is an invigorating opportunity for Porter as they navigate the future of their career path. “It’s definitely an honor and it’s pretty exciting,” they say. “It’s an interesting feeling for me because this is a program I used to coordinate at the Bellingham Chamber when I worked there, so being on the other side of it is really exciting and fun.”
What’s next for Schantell Porter?
“I’m still on the advisory council for Whatcom Young Professionals and I’m excited to get back into that in my new role at Northwest Youth Services,” they say. “I’m also the co-chair of the PFLAG Bellingham/Whatcom Chapter, and that’s pretty recent, as well, so I’m looking forward to building that organization up, along with our other members, and really getting the word out about what we do and try to connect and advocate for more queer folks in our community.”
On top of their tireless work lifting up youth and LGBTQ voices in the community, you can also expect to find Porter spending their limited free time hanging out with their cats and husband River. “We just love the cats to death,” they say. “We have a catio for them in our backyard, which we built and I think is pretty funny. I’m too scared for them to be outdoor cats, so I had to find a new way. Their names are Citrus and Momo.”
Otherwise, Porter enjoys the outdoors like any true PNW native, and also spends time enjoying our scrumptious local cuisine. “I love reading and I’ve been watching a lot of “Ru Paul’s Drag Race lately,” they say. “Currently, I’m reading “Call Me by Your Name.” It’s truly amazing.”
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