Janice Greene: A woman everywhere, all at once

EVERETT — ­Janice Greene is always focused on the role each person plays in the bigger picture, she said.

Throughout her 39-year career at Boeing, and now in her current position as the President and CEO of Women’s Business Enterprise Council Pacific, Greene said if one role doesn’t work, then the rest of it won’t work.

“You have to be able to see the whole big picture,” Greene said, “how things fit together and that everybody is playing an important role.”

Greene, of Everett, said she first learned how to coordinate the needs of every worker as a factory shop coordinator at Boeing in 1978. Her factory work led to a position in supplier diversity strategy in 2000, where she connected diverse suppliers across the globe and increased Boeing’s role in coaching and developing small businesses, according to Greene.

Greene was appointed as President of Snohomish’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter in 2008, where she continues to work with individuals from different racial and ethnic backgrounds to address potential civil rights violations, according to Greene.

“I believe every person deserves equity, opportunity, justice, and respect,” Greene said. “This work is very personal to me—I’ve seen firsthand how discriminatory practices hold back Black, Latine, Indigenous, and other people of color, as well as women, immigrants, individuals with disabilities, the socio-economically disadvantaged, and those who differ in other ways.”

Greene holds a Ph.D. in strategy, project and program management. After she retired from Boeing in 2017, she became President and CEO of WBEC Pacific.

WBEC Pacific is a regional partner of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, a nonprofit organization that certifies women-owned businesses so they can connect with corporate and governmental partners, according to the national group.

When Greene started at WBEC, there were 650 certified women-owned businesses, according to WBEC Pacific’s certification team. That number has now doubled and certified women-owned businesses bring in a total revenue of $11.4 billion.

Greene’s collaboration with WBEC Pacific’s board of directors and certification team helped increase the organization’s revenue and certified women-owned businesses, she said. 

“My opinion is that our women business enterprises are the best,” Greene said. “It’s not that they get the contracts because they’re women, but they actually compete and win. What we do is make sure they get that opportunity to compete.”

Brea Armbruster, the organization’s director of communications and business development, met Greene at an event at Everett Community College about seven years ago, according to Armbruster.

Armbruster joined Greene at WBEC Pacific this January, she said.

“(Dr. Greene) is one of those people that has a plan for everything,” Armbruster said. “Even if you don’t know what that plan is yet, she’s already crossed her ‘T’s’ and dotted her ‘I’s’ on how this is going to be working.”

Greene helped Armbruster lead WBEC Pacific’s last two events and provided guidance on how to appeal to certain industries through programming and outreach, according to Armbruster.

“(Dr. Greene) is a woman that’s everywhere, all at once,” Armbruster said. “I honestly don’t know how she does it, but she has a huge impact both locally … (and) regionally as leading the charge for women-owned businesses.”

Colleen Bonniol, CEO of MODE Studios, joined WBEC Pacific in order to finish a project for Microsoft in 2009.

They first met at a pitch competition at University of Washington in 2019. Bonniol froze on stage during her introduction pitch and Greene gave her immediate support, according to Bonniol.

“She just wrapped her arms around me … and sat me down and she was like, ‘that’s okay, you’ll get it next time,’” Bonniol said. “She sat with me and she talked to me and she told me it was okay … it’s not a failure, you tried.”

After the event, Greene asked Bonniol to build an online platform that engaged the WBEC Pacific community during the pandemic.

Bonniol received a Women Business Enterprise Star Award and partnered with Pacific Gas and Electric following her work with Greene, according to Bonniol.

“Dr. Greene was pretty pivotal to us,” Bonniol said. “She gave us an opportunity that I don’t know others would have given us … and in that process, and during that time frame, we were able to develop that language and the services that we can provide to corporations.”

Bonniol also found a greater sense of belonging from Greene’s leadership at WBEC Pacific, Bonniol said.

“I feel like on some levels, I found my people,” Bonniol said. “I’d been looking for women who do what I do, who aren’t necessarily in my industry but are women business owners who have problems ... and it’s just so helpful to have that community of people to ask questions.”

In the next five years, Greene said she wants to double the number of certified women-owned businesses at WBEC Pacific.

“I am a strategist ... so I like to see that big picture and put those pieces in place,” Greene said.

This story was produced by a journalism student at the UW News Lab for the Tribune.