Our Board

Now Recruiting New Board Members

Good Cheer is looking for new board members. Board members serve a three-year term, and have the option of renewing for a second term. We need volunteers to start this year or beginning in January 1, 2024.

Regular board meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday of the month at 5:00 on zoom. Meetings are typically an hour and half long. The base expectation is 2 to 4 hours per month. This includes preparing for and attending monthly board meetings and providing input via email throughout the month. There will also be opportunities to join committees, which would require a larger time commitment. There will also be one in-person annual meeting to discuss how well the organization is meeting its goals and stated objectives. Help with Good Cheer community events is also appreciated.

We will prioritize applicants with the following skills/traits/experience:

  • Lived experience with food insecurity (past or current)
  • Background in equity and diversity, or other community advocacy
  • Facilities
  • Fund development

If you are interested in joining our board, please download an application. Submit completed applications to the Board President at boardpresident@goodcheer.org, or reach out for more information.

Good Cheer Board of Directors

Greg Roeben

Board President

Greg grew up in Montana.  As a child of a single mother who (at times) relied upon USDA Food Stamps, he grew up to attend college and graduate school in Boston. After working as a teacher/counselor at a public alternative high school, he graduated from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He moved closer to home to complete residency training in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry at the University of Washington Medical Center.

Greg established a private practice in therapy-based psychiatry on Seattle’s Eastside. He crossed paths with a high school classmate, Susan, and they married. Greg and Susan have had a second home on Whidbey for over 20 years. Since their respective retirements, they have been spending much more time on Whidbey. They are active with local and national organizations working to mitigate food and employment insecurity. Greg in also an active volunteer with the Washington State Animal Response Team (WASART) and local Medical Reserve Corps.

 Term ends 12/31/26

Cindy Boone

Board Treasurer

Cindy is originally from California’s Central Coast where she raised her family and worked in the accounting profession for over thirty years. Fifteen of those years she spent in the non-profit sector, first at NCI Affiliates, Inc. and then at Cal Poly Corporation in San Luis Obispo, an auxiliary for Cal Poly State University. At both organizations, her duties covered a wide spectrum, ranging from general accounting, payroll and auditing, to state and federal compliance, budget preparation, and project management.

After retiring from Cal Poly in 2019, Cindy relocated to her son and daughter in law’s farm on Whidbey Island after falling in love with the beauty and magic of the landscape. If she’s not working on the farm or spending time with her granddaughters, you will find her hiking in the woods or bird watching. In addition, Cindy has also filled her time volunteering at the Good Cheer Bayview location for the past 3 years, working in the kitchen and garden. She is very excited to serve Good Cheer as a board member, contributing her experience and support to its mission and to the Whidbey
Island community.

Term ends 12/31/2025

Arwen Norman

Board Secretary

While earning her B.S. in Biology at the University of Washington, Arwen Norman concluded that more ecologists need to be involved in sustainable food production. Upon receiving her academic degree she pursued a hands-on farming education through several internships in western Washington, eventually moving to Whidbey in 2014 to help run SkyRoot Farm with a friend from UW.

From the gleaners picking up produce at the end of the farmers market to talking shop with the garden team, Good Cheer has been part of Arwen’s Whidbey community. She looks forward to broadening her contributions to island food security by serving on the Good Cheer board.

Term Ends: 12/31/26

Chris Gibson

Board Member

Chris and his wife Kelly are 1977 graduates of Langley High School.  In 1995, following a ten-year career in commercial aquaculture, Chris became an appellate attorney. In 2001, Chris and Kelly returned to South Whidbey to raise their two boys.

Chris joined Good Cheer in 2021, after serving ten years on the South Whidbey Schools Foundation board, eight as Board President. Chris is active in the community and a regular shopper at Good Cheer.

Term Ends: 12/31/26

Sue Peterson

Board Member

Sue is a Managing Director at Pathstone, a financial advisory firm, where she serves as a lead client advisor. Prior to joining Pathstone, Sue was a Managing Director at Cornerstone Advisors, where she served as a client manager for over 30 years.

She and her husband, Marty, were blessed to purchase a second home in Clinton in July 2019 and begin to build a community here on the Island. Their strong interest to give back led to an introduction to Good Cheer with Sue joining the investment committee initially and then the board in January 2022. Sue is also on the board of the YWCA Seattle/King/Snohomish and sits on their finance committee.

Term ends 12/31/2024

Carol McMullen

Board Member

Carol and her husband, Kerry, moved to Whidbey Island to retire in 2019, six months prior to the COVID shut down. Finding a place to fit in and contribute in a new community was difficult during that time. Volunteering in the Good Cheer garden provided a place to learn about and be a part of the community.

Carol and her husband are both long time western Washington residents. She has a degree and work history in Education, raised three boys and ran a small business with her husband before moving to Whidbey. Carol and her husband are loving island life.

Term ends 12/31/25

Kathryn Stevens

Board Member

Kathryn Stevens inherited a commitment to service from her parents, Bob and Ethel Waters. They moved to Whidbey Island in 1979 where they built their own green home and became active in several organizations and community projects.

During her career as a leader in finance, hospital administration, and as a consultant in organizational transformation projects for healthcare systems, Kathryn expanded her understanding of human behavior in organizational settings. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Management, followed by an MBA, both from Pepperdine University. Kathryn later completed an MA and PHD in Human and Organizational Systems.

Kathryn and her late hubby, Tucker, moved from So Cal to Whidbey Island over 21 years ago to be close to her parents, enjoying the beauty and magic of island life. While continuing to do business consulting engagements, she and Tucker became active in the community they both loved.

Having previously served on the board for 7 years, the last 3 as officers, she returns to support staff and leadership in the implementation of creative processes surrounding the services Good Cheer provides to the South Whidbey community.

Term ends 12/31/2024

Robin Semas

Board Member

Robin was born in Seattle and spent summers and holidays on Whidbey at her grandparents’ cabin on Sunlight Beach and at her great grandparents ‘ farm outside Bayview. Staying with those relatives taught her how families opened up their homes and hearts, how they passed on life skills to others, and the importance of being self reliant for food. The bounty of the island was harvested and processed from the cabin garden and other local sources, allowing her family to have enough food for the year.

Robin has an undergraduate degree in urban studies and a masters in social work, both from the University of Maryland. She worked in a foster-care program and then opened a private therapy practice. In 2013, Robin and her husband, Phil, retired to Whidbey, building a house outside of Langley.

In addition to raising two daughters and adopting a teenage son, she and Phil have housed many young people in need, and now help house Island Shakespeare Festival staff and actors. Robin was drawn to volunteer at Good Cheer by its gardening program and goal of food sufficiency for island residents.

Term ends 12/31/2024

Joan Anthony

Board Member

Joan was born and grew up in the greater Seattle area, graduating from Bothell High School. She attended Washington State University, graduating with a BA in General Studies in 1970, and then entered the Management Training program of what was then Peoples National Bank (Now U.S. of Washington). She worked in Auditing for 16 years and eventually becoming an Assistant Vice-President and Lending Officer working with clients in Business Banking.

Joan left banking to work as a business manager for a local public relations firm and pursue a masters decree in Pastoral Ministry at Seattle University. From there she entered Seabury-Western Theological Seminary (Episcopal) in Evanston, Illinois, earning a Masters in Divinity in 1991. She has served congregations in Western Washington and Arizona, retiring in 2014 from the Diocese of Olympia where she had been on the Bishop’s staff.

In retirement Joan spent time traveling with her husband, also a retired Episcopal priest. After his death in 2015, Joan worked as an interim pastor in several congregations in search of a permanent priest. Most recently she was the interim at St. Augustine-in-the-Woods, Freeland. During that time she moved to Langley on a permanent basis and retired (for the 4th time!) in 2022.

Term ends 12/31/25

Allyson Meyer

Board Member

An avid storyteller, Allyson Meyer is the founder of Allyson Meyer Communications, a marketing and communications firm that uses videography, photography, writing, and social media to tell clients’ stories. Located in Langley, Meyer partners with clients nationwide to hone their messaging while creatively pursuing their mission in the communities they serve. She is also a contributing writer for Whidbey Life Magazine and in 2023, she joined the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts marketing team. Meyer currently serves on the board for South Whidbey Hearts & Hammers and Good Cheer Food Bank & Thrift Stores.

Descended from Oak Harbor’s 1858 Irish pioneers, Meyer moved to Whidbey Island from California in April 2022 to be closer to her family and to explore her ancestral connection to the island. She serves as the Corresponding Secretary for the Whidbey Island Pioneer Burial Association and enjoys opportunities to connect with the island that her family has called home for generations.

Meyer received her undergraduate degree in Communication Studies and a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in Managerial Leadership from the University of San Diego (USD). She also earned a project management certificate from USD Professional and Continuing Education.

Term ends 12/31/2026