Erika Carleton Joins VCA as Development Director

February 16, 2021

Vashon WA —Vashon Center for the Arts’ Staff and Board of Directors is pleased to welcome Erika Carleton as Development Director. Erika will join the VCA team starting February 22, 2021.

Erika has been a member of the Vashon community since 2010. Many islanders may know her from her time as Development Director at the Vashon Maury Island Land Trust where she spent 5 years connecting with donors and volunteers in a variety of conservation efforts. Most recently, Erika served as Annual Giving Officer with FareStart, a non-profit based in Seattle, WA. She brings over 18 years of development experience to VCA. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from McGill University in Montreal. Erika has a passionate interest in the arts that began at an early age learning to play the flute and piano, as well as a fondness for dance having taken ballet lessons for years as a child.

“I had the pleasure of working with Erika during her time at the Land Trust. I have seen her talents in action and cannot imagine a person more suited to steward VCA’s supporters and patrons. I am thrilled to have her join the VCA family.” – Allison Reid, Executive Director

In early 2020, VCA was concluding its search to hire a Development Director. Shortly after conducting final interviews, the Covid19 pandemic caused VCA’s leadership to put an immediate freeze on hiring. VCA’s development and fundraising efforts shifted heavily toward grant writing and emergency funding to weather the impacts of the crisis. Now, with the pandemic restrictions slowly being lifted, VCA leadership determined that this is the right time to complete the hiring process that was begun last year. As VCA’s grant and foundational support grew, the additional support and expertise a Development Director provides is a much needed and necessary step towards building a sustainable and healthy arts organization.

“We are so fortunate her interest to cultivate and steward our art center’s development work had not waned but grown even stronger.” – Cathy Winjum, Board of Trustees Vice Chairperson