Monica Bell

As Systems Coordinator at The Business Guides, Monica supports our team to refine and clarify systems to maximize efficiency and enhance the client experience.

Monica started with The Business Guides as our Accounting Intern for the 2016 tax season, assisting with IRS audit report preparation, individual and corporate tax preparation, and marketing efforts. For her final project, she updated our client onboarding system utilizing LEAN Thinking process mapping techniques. After her internship, she stayed on as a Tax Assistant, took a couple of months off to apply to graduate school, and returned as our Systems Coordinator in early 2018.

Born and raised in California’s Sacramento River Valley, Monica completed a B.A. in psychology at the University of San Francisco. During and after college, she honed her community organizing skills working on immigrants’ and workers’ rights campaigns, as a health educator with an independent women’s health clinic, and as a member of the G.R.U.B. (Growing Resourcefully, Uniting Bellies) farming and living cooperative in Chico, California.

After an intense 2015 season during which the G.R.U.B. cooperative faced the possible sale of their 40 acres to real estate developers, Monica set out to gain financial skills to increase the impact and longevity of her community organizing efforts. In 2016 she relocated to Port Townsend where she could live with family and be close to her young nephews while advancing her education.

In addition to problem solving at The Business Guides, Monica has applied her skills to help address our community’s need for affordable housing, most recently as a trustee for Homeward Bound Community Land Trust. Monica is also passionate about child well-being and preventive mental health. She has taught family communication courses locally and is currently pursuing a master's degree via the University of Washington School of Social Work’s Extended Degree Program.

When she’s not working or volunteering, Monica loves growing her own food, watching other people’s dogs play at the beach, and geeking out about coastal ecology.

Monica can be reached at 360-385-6961 (Ext. 5) or monica@thebusinessguides.com.