Proudly serving the Portland Metropolitan Area
Board Members
William JonesBoard Member
William M. Jones, Ph.D.: Adjunct faculty & MBA/MIM Capstone advisor in the undergraduate and graduate (MBA, MIM, MSFA) business programs; teaches Business Strategies and advises graduate Capstone Graduate Business Projects. He also is a consultant (25 years) focusing on energy and climate change. His professional, academic & research work addresses climate change and its increasing impact on business behavior and decision-making; mitigation/adaptation alternatives for water infrastructure and the built and natural environments; and the economic, regulatory, legislative, and policy risks to managing energy generation & consumption (renewable energy, and demand and supply side management). His goal is to prepare the next generation of business leaders who have the added responsibility of addressing climate change mitigation, eco-system adaptation, while raising the quality of life standards of the global poor.
Education: Ph.D. planning & economics, Columbia University; MUP, University of Oregon; BA Anthropology University of California, Santa Barbara
Brian RuderBoard Member
Brian Ruder is an entrepreneur with a background in payment systems and computer operations management. Most recently, he revamped the MBA capstone program at Portland State University, which has teams spend 10-15 weeks solving real business problems for local businesses.
In the 70's he was a Senior Management consultant at SRI International for five years, where he specialized in computer system security and controls. After that he was a Senior Vice President at Visa International for 17 years where he managed Visa's International Clearing and Settlement System, their global Traveler Check Customer Service system, and the US Customer Service Division. Brian left Visa in late 1996 to join Portland Software as VP Marketing and Acting COO, where he worked for one year before becoming an independent consultant and entrepreneur.
Chris BroxTreasurer
Chris Brox currently works in a service oriented position for Providence Health & Services. While working full time he is working on obtaining his CPA license. Chris graduated from the University of Portland in 2009 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, double majoring in Accounting and Finance.
Chris has held numerous leadership positions. While attending the University of Portland he was involved with the student government as a senator and he was a treasurer for both the University of Portland Accounting Association and Crew Team. Chris has a passion for volunteering and working with the community. While in high school, he participated in three mission trips with the organization World Changers, helping to build and repair homes for low-income families.
Della RaeFounder/Director
Della Rae is the founder of DonorsResource.org, an online nonprofit organization that connects individual and corporate donors who want to give in-kind donations with nonprofits that need them.
With more than eleven years in the insurance and finance industry, her passion to work in the nonprofit sector began with serving more than three years on the board of the North Portland Nurse Practitioners Clinic and becoming president of its board.
In 2005, Della realized the magnitude of poverty in the Portland area and co-founded Sisters of the Community (SOC) a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization with her sister, Deborah Waggoner. After distributing more than 20,000 items within 18 months, the need for an online solution was realized and launched.
April of 2007, Della formed DonorsResource.org, a registered trademark of Sisters of the Community. In 11 months, over 240 nonprofits registered and 7,007 items were claimed.
June of 2009, Della formed TimeandStuff.org, an online collaboration with Hands On Greater Portland, a local affiliate of a national nonprofit organization.
Della's professional awards include 2007 Regence BlueCross BlueShield Hero Award, 2008 Portland Business Journal 40 under 40 Award, 2008 SAFECO Foundation National Hero Award, 2009 Delta Sigma Theta's Woman of Excellence Community Service Award and, 2009 Symetra Community Champion Award.
A Portland native and jazz enthusiast, Della is passionate about bringing people together for the common good.
Advisors to our Organization
Jeff VandenHoekAdvisor
Jeff VandenHoek is currently an assistant professor and director of the Full-Time MBA program at George Fox University. He teaches and administers the Community Learning & Consulting course, which focuses on Non-Profit Management and Leadership through project collaboration with local non-profit organizations.
VandenHoek, formerly program director for Tilikum Center for Retreats and Outdoor ministries has extensive teaching, corporate team-building, and organization development consulting experience. He has worked as an independent consultant for Intentionality, LLC, since January 2006.
As Tilikum's program director, VandenHoek oversaw corporate business team facilitation activities and consultation with clients that included Intel of Hillsboro, Ore., Nike of Beaverton, Ore., Medical Teams International of Tigard, Ore., In his consulting work with Intentionality, he as worked with clients that include Mentor Graphics of Willsonville, Ore., and TriQuint Semiconductor of Hillsboro, Ore., Platt Electric of Beaverton, Ore., and Allied Waste of Portland, Oregon. He is passionate about music, both consuming and performing. He is in love with his wife of 23 years and 3 children ages 19, 16 and 10. Life is full. Life is good.
Lynn HardenA “creative pragmatist”—that’s what clients and employers often call Lynn A. Harden, thanks to her unusual ability to see program assets that may be hidden to others and creatively fashion them into foundation or donor-supported projects. Lynn founded and was the principal of L. Harden & Associates, a team of seasoned professionals, which since 1983, leveraged over $350 million in grants, contributions, and sponsorships on behalf of clients, up until she sold the firm in 2005.
Lynn has also held leadership positions with multi-county and national nonprofit organizations and is a trusted advisor to grantmakers on policy, program evaluation, and the capacity needs of grantees. Lynn has received recognition from the Ford Foundation, in the form of a grant to build the capacity for 40 nongovernmental organizations in China; the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, which engaged Lynn to facilitate the planning for creating a more youth-friendly community. Lynn's planning processes and strategies go beyond the client and have been adapted as experiential curricula at Indiana University and Ball State University Schools of Social Work to prepare students for careers with non-profit organizations. Lynn has also worked with Odyssey Networks, in New York City, where she helped to redefine the firm’s media productions to include social-justice issues, resulting in increased revenue and wider distribution. After four years with Odyssey, Lynn headed west to Portland, Oregon, to head the Regence Foundation, the private foundation of Cambia Health Solutions (formerly The Regence Group), a Blue Cross/Blue Shield Affiliate.
Lynn holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from Purdue University and Case Western University, respectively, in audiology and speech pathology.
