Meaghan Baumgartner

Meaghan came to Camp Nor'wester the same way a lot of people do — through a deep, long-standing love of what camp can do for a young person. She just happened to spend 15 summers working at camps figuring that out before she arrived here.

Those summers were at Camp Fire's Camp Sealth on Vashon Island, where she worked her way from riding instructor to Summer Camp Director, with time as an Outdoor Education & Retreats Director too. In between, she spent nearly two years as a 911 operator — which, it turns out, is excellent preparation for running anything. She holds a B.S. in Recreation Management from Oregon State University (Go Beavs!) and a Master of Public Administration with a focus in Nonprofit Leadership.

Meaghan joined Nor'wester as Executive Director in October 2023, and she'll tell you that what keeps her going through the long summer days is exactly what drew her here in the first place: the transformative power of camp — not just for campers, but for the young staff who show up, grow up a little, and leave changed by the experience. She loves balancing the big-picture work of leading an organization with the on-the-ground time spent building real relationships with the team, the campers, and the community. The visiting whales are, as she puts it, a very good bonus.

When she's not at work, Meaghan is spending time with her husband Steve — who she met at Camp Sealth, because of course she did — and their chocolate lab, Oakley. She rides horses, runs, crafts, travels, and fits time in to read whenever she can.

You can always email Meaghan at meaghan@norwester.org to ask about the last time she saw whales