2019-20 United Way of the Columbia Gorge Board. From left: Steve Morrow, treasurer; Paul Blackburn, outgoing UWCG president; Karen Neitzel, incoming UWCG president; Jeff Heater, Wasco/Sherman County UW Council president; Joe Guenther, Hood River County Council president; and Gordy Sato, UWCG board member.
2019-20 United Way of the Columbia Gorge Board. From left: Steve Morrow, treasurer; Paul Blackburn, outgoing UWCG president; Karen Neitzel, incoming UWCG president; Jeff Heater, Wasco/Sherman County UW Council president; Joe Guenther, Hood River County Council president; and Gordy Sato, UWCG board member.
Karen Neitzel has been elected the president of the local chapter of the United Way.
Neitzel has recently returned to Hood River after five years as the Associate Head of School at ‘Iolani School in Honolulu, Hawaii.
From 2006-13, she served as a principal of Hood River Valley High School; she also served on the fundraising council of the United Way of the Columbia Gorge. She currently works for a search firm specializing in independent school hiring.
Neitzel replaces Paul Blackburn as the president of UWCG; he and his family have moved to Washington, D.C., for 15 months.
UWCG honored Blackburn, former mayor of Hood River, at its agency social for his many years with the organization, including serving as board president.
“He’s the epitome of a giver. He’s done so much to help United Way. We will miss him,” said Gordy Sato, who has been with United Way for 24 years.
Commented