(SEATTLE) — Julie Keim, the owner of Compass Courses, a YMTA scholarship sponsor and Propeller Club board member, has been named the recipient of the first Seattle Propeller Club Maritime Social Good Award. The club sought to use the opportunity of the redesigned Maritime Gala to recognize Keim’s commitment to the charitable mission of the club and to highlight the extraordinary work she has done in the Seattle community and beyond.
Keim runs Compass Courses, a maritime training school. As her school has grown, she has leveraged the institution to expand the reach of her charitable work. Keim's commitment in her field extends to a leadership role at the Maritime Education Standards Institute. Her charitable work extends into so many areas of the industry, but the central theme is the welfare and safety of those that go to sea.
Keim is known for going the extra mile to help her students. Her school holds courses that aim to keep mariners safe, and when the enrollment for a class is low and the school stands to lose money, she holds the class anyway because the mariner needs the class at that time and in that place. Once, when a local training school wouldn’t share a davit to train hoisting and swinging lifeboats, she was undeterred. She found, disassembled and transported a davit from Texas to Seattle so that her students could train on the proper equipment.
Last year, Keim provided more than $54,000 in scholarships to mariners seeking instruction at Compass Courses. She also supports students seeking post-high school maritime education through Puget Sound Maritime’s YMTA scholarship program.