Our Story
StrongerTowns was formed when our first program, skill exclamation, was looking for a home. Rather than build a home single for our mentoring project, Martha Trolin and Ben Bauermeister decided to create the organization that we couldn’t find in our community: a fiscal sponsorship umbrella that was willing to risk pursuing new innovative ideas and helping them grow to be strong community resources. Within two years we had a handful of projects each. Each running semi autonomously, but benefiting from strong administrative support. StrongerTowns was the best kept secret in Port Townsend for a number of years due to our mission to promote programs over the fiscal sponsorships, corporate identity.
For the first 12 years of our organization’s history, StrongerTowns was a vibrant and volunteer-only organization; we had no employees. In 2026 the board made the decision to begin employing people to help with the wide variety of tasks that face a nonprofit organization. Our first employee, Executive Director Daniel Milholland, began in early January 2026 and with this new position we began the process of growing our paid administrative and program staffs. At this point, programs can decide whether they want to hire employees or stay volunteer only. That choice dictates the overhead charges that they are contributing quarterly during the year.