Dianne Roberts, Major Gifts
An ambitious fundraiser and outdoorswoman who attended the first Wooden Boat Festival in 1976 and has lived in Port Townsend since 1984, Dianne Roberts’ maritime qualifications include a four-year, 20,000-mile sailing voyage with her husband and two sons from Port Townsend to Australia and back aboard their 54-foot steel pilothouse ketch, Impossible. “Going to sea changed my life,” says Dianne. “Getting out of sight of land made me understand how connected the whole planet is.” Dianne is a professional photographer, writer, and publicist whose photographs have appeared in various media worldwide, including National Geographic. She and her husband, mountaineer Jim Whittaker, operate a successful public speaking and consulting business. She has been Director of Marketing for an environmental products company, and Executive Director of the Mt. Everest Peace Climb, which raised more than $1 million in donations from 168 corporate sponsors and hundreds of individual donors. She helped organize and fund two major expeditions to K2 and was a team member and official photographer on both. She is an accomplished rower, sailor, mountain climber, marathon runner, skier, and holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.