Governor Jay Inslee has appointed Gladys Gillis to serve a six-year term on the Central Washington University Board of Trustees.
The leadership role is the latest for the CEO and co-owner of Starline Luxury Coaches, who also helms the United Motorcoach Association board as the chair. Gillis, a CWU alumna who earned a Bachelor’s degree in industrial technology in 1986, served on the CWU Foundation board of directors for the past three years.
“I am proud of CWU for its efforts to help first-generation college students get into college and stay through completion,” she said. “As a first-generation college student from Washington State myself, I look forward to encouraging and supporting the continuation of those initiatives.”
As a business owner, Gillis is committed to helping ensure that the university continues to operate efficiently and in a fiscally responsible manner.
“We are extremely pleased to have Gladys join the board because of her background as a successful and innovative entrepreneur,” noted CWU President James L. Gaudino. “In addition to being a CWU graduate, she has been an active and valued member of our Foundation board for several years, so she knows Central well.”
The Puget Sound Business Journal recognized Gillis in its “Women of Influence” in 2016 and named her Seattle-based company one of Washington’s “Top Women-Owned Businesses” in 2014. The Starline Collection also earned Seattle Business Magazine’s “Washington Green 50 Award” in 2011 and, in the same year, the “Environmental Excellence Award” from the Association of Washington Business.
Gillis is a member of the board of the Greater Seattle Business Association, and a founding member and board member for the Motorcoach Marketing Council from 2008-2015; she was also on the Washington State Joint Transportation Committee in 2010. She was selected to represent the motorcoach industry on the National Advisory Council on Tourism and Transportation Infrastructure in Washington, D.C., where she is helping to create the future of passenger transportation.
