Lynne Washbish - 14 Years of Service

Lynne Washbish has done a little bit of everything during her career with the Red Cross. She began her nearly 14 year journey as a sales representative in our training services, where her role was to visit organizations and businesses across Kentucky to make sure they had someone trained in CPR and First Aid to meet OSHA requirements. This was back when Kentucky fell under multiple regions, but Lynne’s job still took her all over the state.

“This is when I realized the importance of the mission of the Red Cross and how I wanted to be part of it,” said Lynne. “Saving lives and helping people from their darkest day warmed my heart.”

From sales rep, Lynne moved to being the service delivery manager in Training Services, working with long-time Red Crosser Cindy Lineberger, who now works with our Volunteer Services. Later, she became a fundraiser in our Financial Development department, and most recently, the Executive Director of the Bluegrass Area Chapter when the former Executive Director retired.

The challenge of her job and being able to support her community is what keeps Lynne coming back: ”It allows me to do good work. It keeps me well grounded. It lets me be proud of every day of what I do to help others.”

As Executive Director, Lynne regularly works with the media, creates, and maintains relationships with leaders and organizations across her community, and serves as a point of contact for the judge executives in her counties during times of disaster.

“As an Executive Director, I am the face of the Red Cross,” said Lynne. “The communities that fall under the Bluegrass Area Chapter and the relationships that I've built allow me to stay well connected, so when a disaster does strike locally or nationally, we’re able to provide support.”

The Bluegrass Area Chapter, along with the Eastern Kentucky Chapter, have seen several floods in recent years. One of Lynne’s goals this year is to touch base with the judge executives in all the counties she serves. “It’s been very important for me to make sure that in all the 28 counties I cover, I have good relationships with the judge executives and the top community leaders.” She also made it her goal to complete the 58 Mile Walk Challenge with the Red Cross this year and had already walked 82 miles as of March 1!

Lynne loves what she does, and she loves talking about the story of the Red Cross and drawing people to the organization. “I'm proud to work for an organization which allows me to be that blanket in someone's darkest hour, and it allows me to talk the story about our mission with passion from my heart.”

Recently, Lynne was featured in TOPS Lexington as one of their 2024 TOPS Leaders of Lexington. Fun facts about Lynne are that she is Lebanese and loves cooking Lebanese food; she has been married for 31 years to her husband, Donnie; and they have two sons, a daughter who is Lynne’s “mini-me”, and a spoiled dog.