Linda Haglund
Award: Excellence on Main Award
Year: 2022
City: Wenatchee
Linda Haglund has been the Executive Director of the Wenatchee Downtown Association since 2011. Her parents met, married, raised their family, and lived lives as community servants in Wenatchee. Linda is a culture-builder and, over more than a decade in Main Street, has contributed almost as much to the positive culture of the Washington State Main Street Program network as she has to the culture of her own beloved Main Street community in Wenatchee.
Linda boldly uses words like “family” and “heart” and “cheerleader” to refer to her work. She is the first one to say “welcome”, the first one to take someone under her wing, the first one to send a message out of the blue that lets you know that she sees you and appreciates you. Linda will tell you that she’s usually not the most qualified person at the table, and yet she’s moved absolute mountains through her expert abilities to highlight opportunities and convene the right players. She is the ultimate champion for her hometown, for her beloved small businesses, for her property owners, for her partners, for “Main Street family” near and far.
Linda’s mix of tenacity, encouragement, and unrelenting optimism have made her a critical leader and partner in her hometown as well as across the state. Her work reflects her beliefs – that everybody has gifts they can share, and that we make a difference one person at a time.