Sound Mental Health

The employees of Sound Mental Health have a behemoth job, caring for 16,000 of the region's most acute mental health cases. But they tell us that in addition to their importance to the community, one of the main reasons they love their jobs is that they work for what they consider to be the best nonprofit around. "The work is meaningful, the caliber of staff is fantastic and the benefits are great," one worker says. It's support like full health-care coverage for employees and their families, a profit-sharing 401(k) plan to which SMH contributes 3 percent of workers' salaries, yearly pay raises and a keen eye toward innovative technologies that make workers at the Capitol Hill-based company feel fortunate in the nonprofit world. Says one satisfied staffer, "Working here I always feel that I am as cared for as the people we serve."

Other top finalists*

• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Boys & Girls Club
• Evergreen Hospital Medical Center
• Northwest Hospital & Medical Center
• Overlake Hospital Medical Center
• Paratransit Services
• Premera Blue Cross
• Presbyterian Retirement Communities Northwest
• Senior Services

*Listed in alphabetical order