F5 donated $250,000 to Spokane wildfire recovery, directed by local employees

Cathy PetermanChief People Officer

A few weeks ago, I sat in our Seattle office watching the news as devastating wildfires pushed toward Spokane, Washington, and police rushed door-to-door telling families they had to leave their homes immediately. Let’s be honest—300 miles feels both very close and incredibly far when you’re watching a crisis unfold. I spent those days thinking constantly about what it must feel like to leave everything behind, especially knowing that some of the 65,000 people forced to evacuate were our own F5ers who work in our Spokane office.

In the blink of an eye, playgrounds emptied, businesses shut down and neighborhood streets were jammed with fleeing families under thick smoke and high heat. While we were relieved that no lives were lost, the damage was devastating. More than 800 structures were burned to the ground or damaged, and the consequences of this devastation will remain with Spokane Valley residents for a long time.

In the face of devastation, our commitment to supporting not only our F5ers but also the community in which they live became urgent. The leadership team, Global Good, and our Spokane-based F5ers quickly united to donate $250,000 to local recovery. Our unique approach, in having our Spokane F5ers determine how the $250,000 is directed, reflects our deep belief in what it truly means to be human-first—by trusting the people closest to a community to guide its healing.

When disaster strikes close to home

The Spokane office forms part of our deep roots and connection with communities in the Pacific Northwest. We first opened an office there more than a quarter-century ago, and today 250 F5ers work from there. These folks, some of them from families that go back generations in Spokane, know the region best. So they’re deciding how the $250,000 will be allocated among the nonprofits that have committed to put every dollar towards local recovery. The organizations are:

• Akin, which provides essential services, including food, diapers, and clothing, for children and families

• Innovia Foundation, which is providing financial support to nonprofits, businesses and community groups impacted by the fires

• SCRAPS Hope Foundation, which is supporting the care and shelter of animals injured or displaced by the fires

• Second Harvest Inland Northwest, which is helping ensure impacted families have the food they need

The stories that make us who we are

Spokane is a tight-knit community, and everyone who lives in the region is connected to someone who suffered a major loss.

Hunter Smit, a senior manager of product marketing based in our Spokane office, shared that while his own house was intact after the fires, the burn lines extend just feet behind his backyard fence. More than a dozen families in his neighborhood lost their homes entirely. "Driving through the neighborhood afterward and seeing what people lost was a hard moment to witness," Smit said.

We care about people's stories, and those stories are built inside our homes and communities. I’m incredibly proud that F5 is helping with the recovery effort. The opportunity for people to create new stories in the midst of devastation is really powerful.

“People who live here are very loyal to Spokane,” said Heidi Schreifels, who manages our global certification program from Spokane. “It’s a close-knit city with a lot of grit.” She’s been inspired over these past weeks seeing people jump in to help strangers without hesitation and feels invested in F5’s support.

One of the things I’ve quickly fallen in love with during my first few weeks at F5 is that our Global Good program isn't run by a committee in a boardroom—it is entirely employee-driven. Because of that, Schreifels and her colleagues were in the driver’s seat to help decide how to allocate the funding among the nonprofits to make the greatest impact.

In the end, employees decided to send $100,000 to Akin, $75,000 to Second Harvest, $50,000 to Innovia Foundation, and $25,000 to SCRAPS Hope Foundation. “These donations are going to make a huge difference in a community this size,” she said.

I'm still figuring out my way around our offices (and honestly, navigating all the F5 acronyms!), but just weeks into my role, I’ve already seen how this company responds in a crisis. Washington is our home state and the very heart of who we are, and seeing how our Spokane team showed up for their neighbors was incredibly powerful.

Rebuilding after devastation takes time, but by standing together, we can help this community begin writing their next chapter.

A big thank you to Akin, Innovia, SCRAPS, and Second Harvest. Their efforts are making a big impact, and we appreciate their hard work healing this thriving community after such a devastating loss.

To learn more, visit our F5 Global Good program webpage.

About the Author

Cathy PetermanChief People Officer

As Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, Peterman leads F5's global people strategy, driving talent development, organizational design, and culture. Previously, she was Chief People Officer, Technology at Wayfair, where she architected the people strategy for a global technology organization of over 3,000 and drove AI transformation and talent development across the company's 11,000 employees worldwide. Cathy brings 20 years of experience scaling complex technology organizations and guiding enterprises through transformative change. Prior to Wayfair, Cathy spent six years at Amazon driving talent strategy across three distinct businesses supporting more than 40,000 employees. She led enterprise-wide initiatives spanning organizational design, executive development, people analytics, and performance transformation, with additional HR leadership roles in Amazon Advertising, Amazon Devices, Prime Video & Studios, and Physical Stores. Throughout her career, Cathy has designed and executed large-scale people transformations, M&A integrations, and global expansion strategies across organizations of up to 300,000 employees. Her expertise spans enterprise talent development, executive compensation design, and leveraging AI to accelerate operational efficiency. She is passionate about building industry-leading teams and enabling growth in innovative, fast-paced technology companies. Cathy holds a BA from Villanova University and an MA from the University of Denver, and is based in Seattle.

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