THE INTERTWINE ALLIANCE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of Policy & Strategy Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Director of Urban Conservation at Willamette Riverkeeper
- Member of Policy & Strategy Committee
Bob Sallinger is the Director of Urban Conservation at Willamette Riverkeeper. Prior to that he worked in a variety of capacities for Audubon Society of Portland for three decades. His focus at Willamette Riverkeeper is protecting and restoring the urban reaches of the Willamette River, promoting green infrastructure to address urban stormwater, and engaging communities with the river. Bob's passion for conservation was developed early exploring the woods of Massachusetts and later on solo hikes from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail and from Canada to Southern Colorado on the Continental Divide. Bob has a B.A. in Biology from Reed College and a J.D. from Lewis and Clark Law School. He has worked as an adjunct professor of law at Lewis and Clark Law School and as an elected director at East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District. He currently serves as board president of Humane Voters Oregon, on the Board of Directors of the Elliott State Research Forest and The Columbia Corridor Urban Flood Safety and Water Quality District, and on the Portland Utility Board. Bob lives in Northeast Portland with his wife Elisabeth Neely, three children and an assortment of dogs, goats, chickens and other critters.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Co - Owner of Ash Creek Forest Management
Brad Burke (he/him) is a lifelong Oregon resident and co-owner of Ash Creek Forest Management, LLC, a B-Corp habitat restoration company. Prior to purchasing the business, Brad was the Lead Project Manager for Ash Creek, running hundreds of habitat restoration projects across the Pacific Northwest. He also works as a freelance film producer, predominantly on films that feature under-represented communities, like "The Last Day of Retrograde" (2022), a feature film dark comedy centered around queer identity, and "Sohayla Horani: Interested or Racist" (2020), a standup show about Sohayla Horani's experiences growing up Muslim in a post-9/11 US. Outside of work, Brad can be found brewing hard cider, making Big Leaf Maple syrup, or being slightly competitive in a board game.
Job Titles:
- General Manager of the Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District
Doug Menke (he/him) was appointed general manager of the Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District in November 2006. He has enjoyed almost 40 years of public service at THPRD since joining the district in 1984. Menke oversees delivery of high-quality park and recreation programs, services and facilities to more than 230,000 people in the greater Beaverton area. As GM, Menke manages a staff of park and recreation professionals supported by taxpayers and governed by a five-member Board of Directors.
Dr. Erin Foster Abernethy (she/her) works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Ecological Service's division as the Portland Area Urban Conservation Coordinator. After over a decade in academia (which included researching dam impacts on rivers in the southern U.S. and the Grand Canyon), Erin has joined the USFWS to expand its focus on urban conservation work and partnerships with historically excluded communities. Erin enjoys recreating on whitewater rivers, hunting and urban foraging.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of the Board of Directors
Eva Valadrian (she/her) is a Pacific Northwest native who grew up in the old-growth forests along the Oregon Coast. For over a decade she has worked as a multicultural marketing and communications strategist in Portland. She co-founded Valadrian Creative and Consulting, a DEI consulting firm and media production house, where she works on actionable strategies for building partnerships across difference for private, non-profit and governmental agencies in the public lands sphere. Eva is a GIS Specialist focused on using spatial data to illuminate inequities in access to outdoor spaces, allowing the data to inform strategy development to create a more equitable, diverse and inclusive outdoor community. As the content and communications manager for Northwest Family Daycation, a community-based program that The Intertwine Alliance created in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, she enjoys creating fun and engaging ways for kids (and their parents!) to connect with the nature near them. Eva is a mother of four living in a mixed-race partnership, a traveler, a dancer, and a passionate naturalist.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Board Member and Access Recreation
- Certified Accessibility Specialist
- Member of Policy & Strategy Committee
Georgena Moran (she/her) is an ICC-certified Accessibility Specialist with over 20 years of experience, and an outdoor enthusiast. She is well versed in ADA and ABA Accessibility Standards, applying them to facilities and parks, and specializing in hiking trail assessments. Georgena is the founder and Project Manager of Access Recreation (AR) and the co-owner of Access for All, LLC, consulting, training and advocating for the rights and empowerment of people with disabilities. As a person living with a mobility disability, she led the effort to bring more recreational opportunities to people of all abilities in the Portland region through the AR projects Guidelines for Providing Trail Information to People with Disabilities for trail managers and AccessTrails for information on trails for users of all abilities.
Job Titles:
- Member of Policy & Strategy Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of Policy & Strategy Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Jackie Lang (she/her) leads Waste Management's strategic engagement and public affairs in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. She started her career as a journalist before transitioning to community engagement, issue management and media relations in Washington, DC, Washington and Oregon. Raised in a farming community in rural Montana, Jackie learned early the power of nature and stewardship as a pathway for healthy, resilient communities. She chairs The Intertwine Alliance's Development Committee.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Founder of KF Curates
Karen Foster (she/her), founder of KF Curates, is an Experience Curator, Community Connector, and Diversity Equity Inclusion Facilitator. She creates strategies and events that bring people together, to create meaningful transcultural experiences to influence systemic change. Karen believes in creating spaces that inspire, educate and empower others to take bold action and create change within themselves, their communities, and corporate spaces.
Michael Bork (he/him) is the North Clackamas Parks & Recreation District Director, and has only called Oregon home for the past year. He and his wife of 22 years, Mary, plus their nine animals, lived the past decade in Fairbanks, Alaska. Michael has spent 25 years working in parks and recreation management, in Illinois, Missouri, Colorado, twice in Alaska, and now in Oregon. He has served on many state and national boards, including serving two terms as the president of the Alaska Recreation and Park Association. While in Alaska, Michael was awarded the Parks and Recreation Professional of the Year, and the Association's highest honor, the Bob Robertson Service Award. He is a Certified Parks and Recreation Professional (CPRP), and in 2016 earned his master's degree in industrial & organizational psychology with a specialization in workplace wellness and leadership development. In addition to spoiling his four dogs, cat and four parrots, Michael enjoys e-biking, playing the ukulele, and making balloon animals.
Job Titles:
- Treasurer of the Board of Directors
A native Oregonian, Nicole Blizzard (she/her) is a Certified Public Accountant who currently serves as a Financial Accounting Supervisor at Moda Health. Nicole has an extensive accounting background, with experience in both public and private accounting, particularly in the healthcare industry. Nicole graduated with a bachelor's degree from George Fox University, where she was an integral member of the women's basketball team for four years, helping lead the team to a national championship matchup. Nicole's experience in sports has helped shape her professional experience and leadership. In addition to her work with The Intertwine Alliance, Nicole serves as the treasurer of the board of directors for Nursingale, a nonprofit that provides in-home, family-centered care for medically fragile children and young adults, a cause that she is very passionate about. Outside of her professional responsibilities, Nicole enjoys spending time outdoors, enjoying the many lakes, rivers, mountains and beaches that Oregon has to offer. She looks forward to combining her passion for the outdoors with her work for The Intertwine Alliance.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Board Secretary and WMPA Strategies
- Member of Policy & Strategy Committee
- Vice President of WMPA Strategies
Noah Siegel (he/him) is the Vice President of WMPA Strategies. His team offers strategic direction to public, private and non-profit organizations looking to realize significant change. Noah has direct experience in the fields of transportation, urban development, parks and natural areas, climate change and the environment, public finance, and other emerging issues. He has over 25 years of experience on stages big and small. Noah served as a Foreign Service Officer in the Middle East, Deputy Director at the Portland Bureau of Transportation, and was policy advisor to two Portland mayors and the Metro Regional Government. Noah chairs The Intertwine Alliance's Policy & Strategy Committee.
Job Titles:
- President of the Board
- President of the Board of Directors
- Member of Policy & Strategy Committee
Longtime Portland resident Owen Wozniak (he/him) is a program manager at the Land Trust Alliance, where he supports nonprofit land trusts protecting climate-resilient natural places across the Pacific Northwest. He's a founding partner in The Intertwine Alliance, former board treasurer, and board president since spring 2021. Owen is the author of several hiking and biking guidebooks, including "Biking Portland," and loves to ski, bike and explore the Portland region's parks and open spaces with his 9-year-old son.
Ross Hoover (he/him) has dedicated over 23 years to parks and community, including roles in park planning and development, recreation services management and as a department director, working in both the Seattle and Portland Metro areas. He is currently the Director of Parks & Recreation at the City of Tualatin. As a past member of the Oregon Recreation and Park Association Board of Directors, he led the development of Leadership Academy in partnership with Portland State University. Ross holds a degree in Environmental Studies from Western Washington University and is a graduate of the Senior Management Program at the University of Texas-LBJ School of Public Affairs. Ross enjoys hiking, backpacking and kayaking with his family.
Job Titles:
- Member of Policy & Strategy Committee
Job Titles:
- Co - Director
- Member of Policy & Strategy Committee
A print journalist by training, Tara has worked in nonprofit communications and development since moving to Portland in 1999. Prior to joining The Intertwine Alliance in 2014, she worked for Open Adoption & Family Services, Hand in Hand: Center for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel, and Oregon Food Bank. Tara is passionate about equitable access to nature, collaborating with partners all over the region, and cross-sector issues like houselessness.
Tara spends as much time as she can wandering outside looking for salamanders, frogs and other little creatures -- and sharing the joys of nature with her 15-year-old son. They also like to cook together, read, sing and dance, camp and paddle.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Board Member and Depave
- Co - Director of Depave
- Member of Policy & Strategy Committee
Ted Labbe (he/him) is the co-director of Depave. Prior to that he was the executive director of Urban Greenspaces Institute. He is a conservation biologist with 25 years professional experience in the public, private and nonprofit sectors delivering conservation planning, geospatial habitat mapping and assessment, community organizing, water conservation, as well as policy analysis and advocacy. Ted has worked with Tribes, and state and local agencies. He is a former member of the Portland Utility Board, and has served on numerous other public advisory bodies, as well as being the founding board member of Depave. Ted is a greywater-gardening-native plant enthusiast and enjoys trail running, bike packing, river running, and exploring wild and urban nature with his wife Kelly and daughter Maia.
Job Titles:
- Co - Director
- Member of Policy & Strategy Committee
Theresa moved from Taiwan to Oregon in 2004, and has since fallen in love with the close proximity of nature in Oregon. She has a background in Environmental Studies and Urban Planning. Before joining The Intertwine Alliance, she worked for Friends of Trees and Urban Greenspaces Institute. Theresa is passionate about bridging community members with nature, collaborating with partners to create a more equitable and greener future for the region, and equitable access to nature.