Outside of land use, Burgess practices municipal law, with a focus on Port Districts, and currently serves as contract General Counsel to the Port of Tacoma. Burgess served 13 years active duty as a U.S. Army officer, six of those as a Judge Advocate and continued to serve as Judge Advocate in the Washington Army National Guard until her retirement as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2016.

Burgess has her undergraduate degree from Harvard and her law degree from the University of Washington. She previously served as a Board Member with Boys and Girls Clubs of Thurston County and currently serves on Thurston County Economic Development Council Board.

“Heather’s legal knowhow is a great addition to the board,” Josh Deck, President & CEO said. “Deeply embedded in our community, Heather has a great understanding of the economic landscape of our region and the critical issues impacting growth and development. With a long and proven history in construction financing, having someone with Heather’s caliber of expertise in real estate, land use and environmental law helps us be a better and more effective community partner.”

At its annual meeting in April the bank also honored retiring board members Kathleen Bauknight and Mary Gentry with board emeritus status. Chair of the Audit Committee for many years, Bauknight was the Director of Real Estate for St. Martin’s Abbey when she joined the OlyFed board 30 years ago.

An accomplished author, Gentry was a local English and drama teacher for more than a decade before earning her law degree and serving as an estate planning attorney with Bean & Gentry for 30 plus years. Gentry served on the OlyFed board for 28 years and was Chair of the Governance Committee for much of her time on the OlyFed board.

“The contributions and impacts from the work Kathleen and Mary have done over the past three decades are simply tremendous,” Deck said. “During their time on the board, both Kathleen and Mary were part of a team that helped the bank almost triple its asset size, move from paper to digital processes, double its branch locations and serve its customers and community in so many innovative and generous ways.”

“They are both pioneers in every sense of the word and their leadership in the community goes well beyond their work with the bank,” Deck continued. “They’re dedicated philanthropists giving so much of their time, talents and resources to so many local causes and organizations.”

At the annual meeting, the board also elected member Genevieve Canceko-Chan and Parfait Bassale to another three-year term, where Canceko-Chan will serve as Chair of the Audit Committee and Bassale as Chair of the Governance Committee.

“We are so pleased to have Parfait and Geneveive continue their work with OlyFed as we see a growing need in our community for the unique and uncommon ways our mutual banking structure is helping to make a real difference when it comes to affordable housing, economic development, financial education and so much more,”  Deck said.