Volunteer Team Award
Boys & Girls Clubs of King County
InfluenceHer Program
Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC
Moss Adams Securities & Insurance LLC
Erica Coogan is worried that the media is pressuring young girls to sabotage their own futures. “This pressure is causing girls in middle schools to see themselves as sex objects, not potential leaders of companies. They’re dumbing themselves down in school and bullying each other,” she said. For this reason, Ms. Coogan, a partner with Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC in Seattle, along with colleagues Kathryn Garrison (advisor), and Ania Krol (marketing coordinator), has become a volunteer leader for the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County InfluenceHer Program. The three-year-old initiative is aimed at girls aged 10 to 18, and supports role-model programming such as the SMART Girls curriculum, which focuses on health education, fitness and self-esteem. Day-long community events cover specific themes such as bullying, careers, positive choices and stereotypes. InfluenceHer has reached 6,000 girls in the Seattle region since its inception in 2009. Moss Adams has been the initiative’s primary sponsor; the volunteer team has raised $186,000 over the past three years. “Many girls think it’s not cool to be smart. If we don’t nurture and guide them now, we’ll be losing half the brainpower in the world,” Ms. Coogan said.