We are heartbroken to announce the passing of Hopelink’s Chief Executive Officer Geoff Crump, who died on Thursday, Sept. 5. Geoff was an extraordinary community leader, a devoted friend to many, and a loving husband and father. We ask for privacy and respect for his family and loved ones as our community grieves this tremendous loss. 

Geoff worked within the Washington Community Action Network for his entire career, dedicating over 20 years to ending poverty in our region. From his Boy Scout days to his appointment as Hopelink’s CEO this April, Geoff was driven to serve his community – and he did so valiantly. Geoff began his career with Hopelink in 2004 as a Rural Connections Program Manager, later returning as COO in 2015 before he was appointed interim and then permanent CEO in 2024. 

With his leadership, Hopelink was able to create new departments and program innovations that reached hundreds of thousands of people who utilized the agency’s services to gain stability and build skills to exit poverty. He was an ever-humble, singular changemaker. He was a fierce advocate for his staff and cared deeply for their wellbeing. He was a steady, stalwart partner to leaders and organizations across the region – and nationwide – who shared his passion for building healthy, thriving communities. 

But most of all, he was a proud husband to his wife Natalie and father to their daughters Lucille and Eleanor. He often shared the joy his family brought him with his coworkers, sending Teams chats and emails with pictures from family vacations, gymnastics lessons, or when the tooth fairy came. The Crump family have been important members of our Hopelink community for years and will always be so. Our deepest sympathies go out to the entire Crump family and his friends.

We’ll miss his presence deeply. We’ll miss his humor, his laugh, his favorite grey North Face jackets and Doc Martens, his steadiness, his guidance, and his friendship. We’ll miss his never-ending determination to support our neighbors and end poverty. Hopelink won’t be the same without him.  

His determination and unyielding faith in the Hopelink community will live on. We can hear him saying his signature, “Let’s shove off,” and throwing up a peace sign as we march forward with the mission he carried out so resolutely. He will always remain in our hearts.

Geoff, we can never thank you enough. We’ll miss you so much.

With deep care,

All of us at Hopelink