Meet your Board Members
The Cordata Neighborhood Association Board believes our mission is to protect and promote the interests, needs, and shared vision of our community through education and engagement.
“A community is defined by the questions that it asks.“
Member since: 2019
Position: President
I moved to Cordata in 2017 from Phoenix after I retired as a high school principal. My special interests include hiking and biking, so I am very protective of our parks, trails and open spaces. I serve on the Greenways Advisory Committee as well. I am proud to live in Bellingham and feel so lucky to have found my home here in Cordata.
Dan Norvelle
Member Since: 2019
Position: Treasurer
I worked for a service provider to the lodging industry for 30 years, as a PM overseeing the installation of our VOD, satellite programming, and wireless internet services throughout the US & Puerto Rico. I moved to Bellingham in 2017. In 2019 was asked to join the CNA board and worked with Julie Guy on several projects. I also serve on our Cordata Community Garden Committee along with doing the maintenance work on our garden of 57 raised beds.
Diane Kitchen
Member Since 2025
Position: Director
I lived most of my life in Whatcom County. My family moved to Acme then later to Deming when I was a young child. I’ve seen the city grow and develop into the small city it is. I’ve lived in the Cordata neighborhood for about 18 years. I’ve been a home caregiver for over 20 years with a specialty in mental health and substance abuse issues. I’m also an End-of-Life Doula. As an “empty nester,” I can dive into my union work with the SEIU 775 as well as my work on the WA Cares campaign. Biking and making homemade bread and cookies are my favorite pass times. When the weather permits, you’ll see me walking around WCC and the rest of the neighborhood with my Yorkie-poo, Buttercup.
Jewel Johnson
Member since 2025
Position: Director
I moved to Cordats in 2022 from Los Angeles after I retired from a 26-year career as an accidental Park Ranger and Wildland Firefighter. I also served one term as Secretary of the International Ranger foundation and continue to be involved with the Ranger family. I moved to Bellingham for peace, quiet and proximity to new mountain ranges to explore. My free time is filled with textiles and travel. I look forward to doing my part in maintaining the peace and quiet of Cordata and my new city of Bellingham.
Jasmine Fast
Member since 2018
Position: Secretary
After moving to Bellingham in 2010, I served on the Reserve at Cordata Homeowners Association and the Greenways Advisory Committee where I began to realize gaps in the public planning sector. Curious to learn more, I stumbled into Western Washington University’s Urban Planning & Sustainable Development program and discovered my passion for GIS and data analysis. Today, I am a mother to two humans, two axolotls, one dog, and I work as an Associate Planner at Jones Engineers. As a Cordata Neighborhood resident since 2013, I am excited to be a part of our ongoing community development and participatory planning though the Cordata Neighborhood Associatio
John Toof
Member Since: 2025
Position: Director
John has lived in B’ham for 25 years, worked at WCC for 24, and has lived in Cordata for nearly four years. He is very grateful to a plot of earth to tend at the Cordata Neighborhood Garden. Now that I’m retired, I’m eager to discover how I can be a contributing neighbor as a Cordata Neighborhood Association board member.
Paul Kratzig
Member Since 2016
Position: Director
I was born and raised in Whatcom County as a part of family which has inhabited the community for five generations. I taught in Tacoma, Seattle, and WWU. I worked in real estate out of a downtown Bellingham office for 38 years. I was also a beef farmer for nearly 40 years on the family farm. I served as the founder and president of the Meridian Public School Foundation for 24 years. I wish to assist in maintaining and improving the quality of life for community members for generations to come.
Dianne Tudor
Member Since 2020
Position: Vice President
I retired from a career in advertising/graphic design and moved from Seattle to Bellingham in 2014. I feel blessed to have found a condo community in the Cordata Neighborhood that I can call home. My interests include staying physically active in our beautiful environment here, volunteering, creating art, and savoring all the fruit, veggies and flowers that are ours for the picking! I feel lucky to live in this beautiful corner of the PNW!
Julianna Royal Guy
Founding Member in 2006
Julie was the founding member of the Cordata Neighborhood Association. She and her friends and neighbors made sure that the rest of the City knew and heard from this growing community on the north end of Bellingham. She put herself and her voice in front of the Mayors, City Council members, city planners, developers, and anyone else who had influence on the area. It was largely through her work that we came to have two parks and a branch library in Cordata.
Julie passed away on June 26, 2023. Her life concluded (or as she would have called it, “flew away”) on her own terms in her way. She was one of a kind and she will be missed.
CNA Document Downloads
In the beginning . . .
It started with a question. The question was, “Where’s the park?” The answer was, “Cornwall Park is three miles away.” Guide Meridian/Cordata Neighborhood was park-less and Julie Guy, newly arrived from Alaska, decided in March 2005 to do something about this disappointing shortfall. Talks with neighbors turned into meetings, and meetings turned into an officially recognized neighborhood association in October of 2005. We were on our way.
After some time, the Guide Meridian/Cordata Neighborhood became the Cordata Neighborhood Association. Through the years the CNA has worked to stay informed and to improve the community. The documents in this Google Doc linkinclude the archives of agendas, minutes, newspaper articles, and other evidence of the activism of the CNA since 2005.
The new Cordata Park is a testimony to the efforts of our community to work together to add amenities in Cordata. We are also very pleased to celebrate our Julianna Park as well as the additional trails and trail connections.
Current Work
Some of our current work includes the following:
1. Collaborating with the COB Parks department to plan for Phase II of Cordata Park
2. Advocating for a branch library in Cordata
3. Purchasing and installing two free little libraries in Cordata Park as well as other locations
4. Supporting new businesses in Cordata and offering a positive welcome to developers who can enhance our community. 5. Communicating with our community neighbors, City departments, commercial and residential developers, and neighboring associations, local businesses, churches and other agencies to keep informed and proactive.