An English major, published poet, and communications executive might sound like three different careers. For Yvonne Higgins Leach `79, they have always been part of the same story.
 
Most people boarding a Boeing 787 Dreamliner would never guess that one of the people responsible for telling the airplane's story was also a published poet.

Yvonne Higgins Leach spent 25 years in marketing and communications at Boeing, bringing a background in English and creative writing to the world of aviation. For nearly eight years, she led communications for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, overseeing a team responsible for internal, external, customer, and supplier communications while serving as one of the program's media spokespeople. She later became director of Commercial Airplane Programs Communications, leading communications teams in Everett, Renton, and South Carolina.

"Bringing a new commercial airplane to market is a once-in-a-career opportunity," Leach said. "It only happens about every 15 years."

During development, the Dreamliner program experienced delays that drew intense international media attention.

"By the fourth or fifth delay, the media had grown frustrated, and Boeing was losing their trust," she recalled.

Leach credits Gonzaga Prep with giving her the confidence to communicate clearly, make difficult decisions, and trust her own judgment.

One of her clearest memories began with a request to enroll in Advanced English. Her grades didn't qualify, but she asked the school office to speak with teacher Pat Cavanaugh anyway.

"He took a chance on me," Leach said. "It set the trajectory for me to know I could do more."

Teachers Cavanaugh and Joe Schneider encouraged her love of literature. But teacher Mark Arnold had perhaps the greatest influence on her writing. He led a weeklong poetry retreat on the Oregon Coast and later hosted poetry workshops in his home, introducing students to a community of writers. "It set me on my lifetime journey of writing poetry and having poems be a central part of who I am," Leach said.

She also found a home on the literary magazine staff, serving first on the committee and later as editor.

"The teachers who guided us struck a careful balance between mentorship and independence, trusting us to make subjective editorial choices," she said. "That trust built my confidence and taught me how to lead thoughtfully, listen to diverse perspectives, and make informed decisions. Those skills have been invaluable throughout my career."

Outside the classroom, Leach ran cross-country in the fall and track in the spring. She credits coach Tom Dzwinel with helping her recognize not only her athletic potential but her leadership abilities.

Junior and senior retreats reinforced the importance of reflection and spiritual growth, practices that have remained part of her life ever since.

Writing remained at the center of Leach's life after Prep. She earned a bachelor's degree in English from Washington State University and later a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at Eastern Washington University. She moved to Seattle during a difficult job market and took a position with a drywall supply company, where she launched a company newsletter. The publication became her portfolio and eventually led to an interview with Boeing.

When the Dreamliner program faced repeated delays, Leach drew on many of those same experiences.

Each morning, she took five to 10 minutes to pause, close her eyes, and seek the strength she would need for the day.

"This is an example of the spiritual engagement that started at Prep and continued throughout my life," she said. "It gave me the strength to communicate the big picture and maintain my belief in the airplane through those challenging situations."

Leach has been writing poetry since the sixth grade, when her sister, Michelle, introduced her to the art form and convinced her that poetry was a gift to the world.

Even while raising a family and working weeks that often stretched 50 to 60 hours, she never stopped writing.

In 2014, Cherry Grove Collections published her first poetry collection, Another Autumn. A decade later, Kelsay Press published her second volume, In the Spaces Between Us.

"Poetry is the way I connect deeply with the world, people, and animals," she said. "Poetry comes out of silence for me and serves as my way to discover the mysteries of life, functioning much like prayer. The best way I can describe it is that it acts as the soul in action through words on a page." She believes a poem is complete only when someone reads it.

"The poet captures an experience with words, rhythm, and metaphor, and the reader gives it life by engaging with it. Reading the poem gives the poem life."