Billie Schmidt

Billie grew up in a small town in Southwestern New York.  She is the 9^th of 11 children and remembers life in her home as very noisy and active, where she learned to share, take turns and compromise.  Billie graduated from D’Youville College in Buffalo, New York with a Biology degree and worked for 7 years as a medical technologist testing animal and human blood chemistry.  At about year 5 she decided something was missing; her job was becoming mundane, repetitive and unfulfilling.  She began volunteering at Children’s hospital in the recreation room and soon realized that she was missing all the noise and activity she had grown up with.  She went back to school to Seattle Pacific University to get a second degree in Recreation and Leisure Studies.

Billie gained valuable recreation experience working part time for the Mercer Island Parks and Recreation, Bellevue Parks and Recreation, Bright Day Primary School and the Bellevue Boys & Girls Club.  The Bellevue Boys & Girls Club job eventually turned into a full time position.  Billie worked there for 4 years developing their after school and summer programs then moved to the Wallingford Branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County where she worked for eight years as first their Program Director and then Director of Operations.  She was hired in 2003 as Branch Director for the North Mason Branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound and continues her work there as well as adding Bremerton’s Branch to her responsibilities.

Billie feels that helping to make the community stronger by helping children succeed and getting involved in community projects is what life is all about.  She sees children as our future and feels we should all work towards providing hope and opportunities for kids so they can become outstanding leaders and citizens, thereby strengthening the community.  Beyond her work for the Boys & Girls Clubs, she has been very involved in helping her community by volunteering. While in Seattle, she served on the steering committee for FamilyWorks, a non-profit family resource center in Seattle and was an active member, board member and vice president of the University Kiwanis Club. She also served on the board of the University Temple Children’s School, a non-profit preschool, volunteered at the BF Day Elementary School as an art instructor, volunteered for her local Boys & Girls Club as a soccer coach for K-1^st graders, and was an assistant Brownie troop leader.  Currently she is the secretary of the North Mason Rotary Club, member of the North Mason Chamber of Commerce, member of the North Mason School District Facility Advisory Committee, Member of the Mason County Parks and Trails Advisory Committee, member of the newly founded Mason County Non-profit Alliance, and member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Academy.  

Billie is married and has two young children and spends as much free time as possible with family and friends.