Collaborative. Impactful. Connected.

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In 1998, the Icicle Fund was established by Harriet Bullitt as a 501(c)(3) supporting organization for the work of six named partner organizations focused on advancing the Arts, protecting the Environment, and promoting the Natural and Cultural history of the Wenatchee River watershed.  This work quickly expanded to include all North Central Washington (NCW), including Chelan, Douglas, Okanogan and Grant counties. Since 1998, the Fund has invested more than $45 million in over 100 nonprofits that support the environment, the arts, and history in North Central Washington. 

The six lead partner organizations - Icicle Creek Center for the Arts, Chelan-Douglas Land Trust, Methow Arts Alliance, The Nature Conservancy, the Trust for Public Land, and the Wenatchee River Institute – hold the majority of seats on the Board of Directors and lead the work of the Fund.

In its early years, Harriet shared "The Parable of the Long Spoons" with the board, which conveys the caring and cooperative spirit with which she hoped the Fund would operate.  The board continues to work in this spirit, collaboratively with each other, to fulfill the Fund’s mission.

The Fund’s mission “To support the environment, the arts and history through collaboration in North Central Washington” is inspired by a vision of NCW as a region where nature, the arts and the area’s natural and human history inspire an appreciation, understanding and stewardship of this special place. 

A sense of place is central to the Fund’s mission. It is this belief that strong connections of people to place are built and nurtured through artistic expression, imagination, understanding of the past, experience in nature, and care for wildlife and natural landscapes.  As a catalyst for partnerships and collaboration, Icicle Fund helps to nurture these connections and as a result, strengthens and sustains the beloved region of North Central Washington.

In 2019, Bullitt gifted her ownership of Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort to Icicle Fund, allowing her guests to also support this mission through the resort’s proceeds.