OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Treasurer

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Belle is the Senior Program Officer for Education and Youth Development at the Oregon Community Foundation, where she oversees grantmaking toward out-of-school time initiatives, career and technical education programs, and postsecondary education access (including a $10 million scholarship program). Prior to OCF, Belle was the program director at the American Indian Education Foundation, focusing on drop-out prevention and a college scholarship and mentoring program that boasted one of the highest retention rates in the country. She has also worked internationally in East and South Asia and in Eastern Europe, worked nationally on environmental fellowship and rural youth development programs, and sat on the board of several nonprofits.

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Carol is the CEO of The Collins Foundation. Adopted with her twin from South Korea and raised in Maryland and rural Oregon, she is driven by a passion for equity and deep inclusion and a conviction that each of us has a role in creating a just society for everyone. Prior to joining The Collins Foundation, Carol served as a program officer and as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager at Meyer Memorial Trust. She has also worked as a farmworker, domestic violence advocate, health educator, nonprofit consultant and trainer, and policy and community engagement manager for the Oregon Health Authority’s Office of Equity and Inclusion. Carol has served on the boards of Seeding Justice (formerly the McKenzie River Gathering Foundation), the Hambleton Project, and the Oregon Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence, and is currently a board member of the Pride Foundation. 

Secretary

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Truman serves as the President of The Collins Foundation, a board member of The Collins Companies, and as a trustee of Willamette University and the Collins Medical Trust. He earned his undergraduate degree from Willamette University in 1986 and his Master's degree in Computer Science from Stanford University in 1987. He worked for 25 years as a software developer in the field of electronic design automation.

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Robin is the Director of the Children, Youth and Families department at The Ford Family Foundation, where she focuses on making system-level changes that allow families to provide the absolute best care for their children. Her work includes connecting agencies, advocates and community members who are dedicated to the same goal, helping the field do more—and better—together. Raised in Southern Oregon and a Ford Opportunity Scholar, she has over 20 years of experience in early childhood systems and programs, fostering equitable access and amplifying the voices of underserved communities.

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Carrie Hoops is the Executive Director of the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation. For over thirty years, she has fostered institutional growth, strength, and leadership at a wide range of nonprofits spanning social services, arts and culture, humanities, and education. Prior to joining the Foundation, Carrie served as Executive Director of William Temple House, a social services agency providing low/no-cost mental health counseling, food pantry, and navigation services across the Portland metropolitan area. She has also served as Executive Director of the Nonprofit Association of Oregon, leading its strategic shift into statewide membership association advocating for a more visible, influential, and resilient nonprofit sector in Oregon. A lifelong Oregonian, Carrie loves gardening, hiking the state’s beautiful trails, and laughing as often as possible.

Chair

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Peter, a principal of Koehler ADR LLC, is a mediator and arbitrator and a member of the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation’s board of directors. In 2020, he was appointed by Governor Kate Brown to serve as the mediator between timber and environmental groups during a collaborative effort to re-craft Oregon’s forest practices, leading to a historic agreement to sustainably advance both a thriving forestry economy and fish habitat conservation in Oregon streams. Peter previously served as corporate counsel for Nike, Inc., including as vice president responsible for managing the global legal team. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Oregon Environmental Council and Classroom Law Project. He lives in north Marion County on a working farm.

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Based in Klamath Falls, Jessie is a longtime leader and advocate working at the intersection of youth development, food systems, and community-wide well-being. She is a program manager with the Southern Oregon Educational Service District, working alongside community members to support student success from pre-school to post-secondary transitions through the ​​Klamath Promise initiative. She is also a farmer and small business owner, has worked in the Oregon Department of Human Services, and led the first Blue Zones Project community in the Pacific Northwest. Born and raised on her family’s multi-generation farm and ranch, Jessie is a board member for the Ross Ragland Theater and Cultural Center, serves on the SMART Reading Leadership Council for South Central Oregon, and helped create Klamath Farmers’ Online Marketplace (KFOM). Her children are now the fifth generation on their family farm.

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Carina Miller is a proud Warm Springs, Wasco, and Yakima mother. She lives on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Central Oregon and aims to use teachings from her upbringing to help transform the world into a more equitable and sustainable future. Carina currently leads tribal government and stakeholder relations at the Energy Trust of Oregon. She previously worked as a researcher for the Warm Springs Community Action Team, a coordinator for her tribe's Children's Protective Services, a Head Start teacher, and a production assistant for TV news. A co-founder of multiple organizations, Carina also chairs the Columbia River Gorge Commission and served as a Tribal Council member for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs from 2016-2019.

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Michael is the Senior Program Officer for “Our Empowered Youth” at Meyer Memorial Trust, where he works with community-based organizations to move Oregon towards a just and equitable system that meets the educational needs of all students. He began his career as a youth outreach coordinator for a rural farmworker community in eastern Washington, then spent a decade working in higher education at Washington State University Vancouver and Linfield College. More recently, he held roles leading grantmaking at Northwest Health Foundation and supporting Latinx student success at the Oregon Department of Education. In his community, Michael serves as an elected member of the Reynolds School District board.

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D.L. is an educator with over 25 years of experience in teaching, diversity and equity training, and public speaking. He is the Southern Oregon Black and African American Student Success Specialist with the Southern Oregon Education Service District, and a leader with the Black Southern Oregon Alliance, a community-based organization. Based in Ashland, he has also taught communication courses at the high school and university levels, including public speaking, journalism, media and civil rights history, and public relations. D.L.’s leadership includes service with the Oregon Cares Fund for Black Relief and Resiliency, the Oregon African American/Black Student Success Advisory Committee, the Governor’s Healthy Schools Reopening Council, the Oregon Racial Justice Council’s Education Recovery Committee, and the Jackson County United Way Board of Directors.

Vice Chair

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Barbara is a senior adviser at the Institute for Responsive Government, and the former Executive Director of the National Vote at Home Institute. She previously served as an Oregon State Representative for nearly a decade, elected to represent communities including Northeast Portland, Maywood Park, and Parkrose. Inspired to seek public office after volunteering at her children’s local public school, her tenure in the Oregon Legislature included serving as House Majority Leader from 2019 to 2022. In 2019, she led the Joint Committee on Student Success to pass Oregon’s largest new investment in early learning and K-12 education in a generation, and rethink how schools engage their communities to provide an excellent and equitable education to all children. Throughout her career as a labor educator, political organizer, and lawmaker, she has remained deeply committed to supporting Oregonians to participate in an open, accessible government. The fifth and youngest child of an English teacher and a public television executive, Barbara now lives in Portland’s Rose City Park neighborhood with her husband and two teenagers.

Carrie co-owns and operates Thompson Timber Company in Corvallis, and serves on the board of The Ford Family Foundation. She previously worked as an elementary and middle school teacher for Corvallis Public Schools, and holds a current Oregon Teacher’s Certificate as she continues to substitute teach in the Corvallis and Philomath areas. In addition to managing a family foundation and a family-owned private equity fund, Carrie serves on the board of the Corvallis Youth Symphony Foundation. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington.

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Vanessa Wilkins is a strategic advisor who believes all schools should be places of joy and discovery where every child has the support and inspiration to fulfill their potential. Currently, Vanessa serves on the Oregon Community Foundation board of directors, as a venture partner at Oregon Venture Fund, a board advisor at Lightspeed Technologies, and an Expert-in-Residence at Harvard Innovation Lab. Previously, Vanessa worked at NIKE on the Nike School Innovation Fund, co-founded Partners in Scale, and served as Managing Director at Friends of the Children where she also served on the board for 17 years. Vanessa grew up in Portland, attending Portland Public Schools before she graduated from Boston University and Harvard Business School. Vanessa lives in Sisters, where her daughters both attended Sisters High School.