Erica Quam

Erica joined PCA in October 2024 as Pacific Northwest Partnership Manager. She is responsible for communicating the value of the Positive Coaching Alliance and building partnerships with schools and youth sports organizations across Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

Prior to PCA, Erica helped her wife open the Prime Sports Institute – a sports medicine clinic located in Bellingham, Washington. She had a leadership coaching practice to help athletic coaches, athletes and teams. A highlight was facilitating annual 3-day women’s coaching summits.

Erica volunteers time to host quarterly Coaches Connections for coaches of all levels. She helps plan local events to celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day and is building a coalition of leaders to improve play equity across Whatcom County.

Erica learned to swim at age 3, started competitive swimming in 6th grade and went on to compete for the varsity women’s swim team at Indiana University. A coach once asked if she’d ever thought about coaching – which changed the trajectory of her life. She worked summers during college as a swim camp counselor, spent her first year out of college as a volunteer coach and the next 4 years as the Women’s Assistant Swim Coach at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. In 2002, Erica took over as Head Women’s Swim Coach at Washington State University where she worked until 2011. She co-led backpacking trips for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in the Tetons, North Cascades and Olympics.

Erica grew up in Roanoke, Virginia. Her favorite activities are getting out in the mountains or on the water with her wife Kerry and their dog, Copper.