Advisory Council
The Chalkboard Project advisory council is a group of education and business leaders from throughout Oregon who provide ongoing counsel and feedback on key education policy issues, as well as on specific Chalkboard initiatives.
Aubrey Clark
Intel Corporation, Northwest Region Education Relations Manager
Aubrey Clark is the Northwest Region Education Manger at Intel Corporation. In her role, she is responsible for donations, outreach, and education policy development and implementation for K-12 schools throughout Oregon. Aubrey previously served as Intel Community Relations Manager and was responsible for the Intel Oregon Information Center, Intel’s in-kind donation program, and the global volunteer program—Intel Involved—which galvanized Intel employee volunteerism to over one million volunteer hours and raised over $8 million for site communities worldwide in honor of Intel’s 40th Anniversary in 2008.
Aubrey joined Intel in 1994 working in Corporate Services and transitioned into the Corporate Affairs Group in 2004. Aubrey earned a B.S. in Management from Linfield College and completed the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce Leadership Program in 2005. She serves on a number of boards, including the Business Education Compact, E3: Employers for Educational Excellence, Chalkboard Project Advisory Council and the Leadership Hillsboro Advisory Council. She is active within the community, serving as a mentor in schools and as a volunteer at community organizations with a strong passion for animal rescue.
Larry Didway
Superintendent, Oregon City School District
Rob Hess
Superintendent, Lebanon Community Schools
Rob Hess is currently the superintendent of the Lebanon Community Schools in Lebanon, Ore. He was previously the principal at Pioneer School, also in Lebanon. He has served children for more than 20 years as a teacher, principal, and superintendent at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
Randy Hitz
Dean, Graduate School of Education, Portland State University
Dr. Randy Hitz is the Dean of the Graduate School of Education at Portland State University. His administrative experience includes two other dean positions (eight years each at the University of Hawaii and Montana State University) and work in the Oregon Department of Education as the Early Childhood Education Specialist. His teaching experience ranges from preschool and kindergarten to graduate education. Dr. Hitz has published over 50 professional articles on topics related to educational policy and curriculum. He has served on a wide variety of state and national boards and committees, including the teacher licensing boards of Montana and Hawaii. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education and he is Chair of the American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education. Though he has been an administrator for over 20 years, he still sees himself primarily as a teacher and an advocate for quality education at all levels.
Sandy Husk
Immediate Past Council Chair
Superintendent, Salem-Keizer School District
Dr. Sandy Husk became the Superintendent of Salem-Keizer Public Schools in July 2006. Her leadership has resulted in the implementation of a district-wide strategic plan with an accountability system for all schools and departments. In addition, she has worked closely with the School Board to adopt a policy governance system that allows a laser-like focus on student achievement.
Prior to assuming this position, Dr. Husk served five years as the Director of Schools for the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System in Clarksville, Tennessee, where her influence resulted in consistent gains in student achievement.
She previously served as Superintendent for Mapleton Public Schools in Colorado. She also served as the Executive Director of Learning Services in Westminster, Colorado; Principal of an Elementary and Alternative Middle School, Staff Development Coordinator, Elementary School Counselor, and Teacher.
Dr. Husk earned her Ph.D. in Administration, Curriculum & Supervision from the University of Colorado, Denver; her M.A. in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Colorado, Boulder; and her B.S. in Elementary Education from the University of Georgia, Athens.
Todd Jones Council Chair
Teacher, West Linn High School
Todd teaches history and economics at West Linn High School. This is his eleventh year in public education. Prior to teaching, he worked nearly five years in government relations and public relations, including stints with Northwest Strategies and Metropolitan Group, and six years in state government, serving as an assistant to Secretary of State Phil Keisling and State Treasurer Randall Edwards. He lives in West Linn with his wife Chris, and his daughters Ellie and Katie.
Nori Juba
School Board Member, Bend-La Pine School District
Pamela Knowles
Executive Director of Industry Relations, OSU College of Business
Annette Mattson
Government Affairs/Public Policy, PGE
Annette Mattson works for Portland General Electric in Government Affairs and Public Policy. Her job entails working with local and county governments in the areas of economic development, franchise agreements, land use and transportation. She has represented PGE as Chair of the North Clackamas County Chamber of Commerce and currently chairs the Clackamas County Economic Development Commission. In her life as a elected official, Annette has served as a school board member in the David Douglas School District in outer east Portland, since 1995. David Douglas is a high growth district with over 10,000 students, a 73% free and reduced lunch rate, and one-quarter of the students speak a language other than English at home. Annette is also the President-elect of the Oregon School Boards Association (OSBA) and will become President in January 2009. The OSBA represents 1400 school board members in all K-12 districts and Community Colleges across the state. Her past volunteer work includes the Coalition for School Funding Now! and her local water district budget committee. Annette moved to Oregon at the age of 20 after growing up in Minnesota. She completed her B.S. in Human Development at Warner Pacific College after her daughters Alyson and Amanda were born, while continuing to work full time. Her stepdaughter Sarah has graduated from Portland State University, stepdaughter Tiffany has graduated from the University of Oregon, daughter Alyson has graduated from Oregon State University, and Amanda is a student at OSU.
Ford Morishita
Teacher, Clackamas High School
C. Ford Morishita is a biology teacher at Clackamas High School in Clackamas, Oregon, and was the 1997 Oregon Teacher of the Year. He also received the 1994 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching. Mr. Morishita’s work includes contributions to the K-12 Science Education Standards and Assessment Committee for the Oregon Department of Education, and two consensus study committees for the National Research Council on Testing Teacher Candidates and Evaluation of the NBPTS (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards). In 1996 he served as President of the Oregon Science Teachers Association. Recently he concluded his term as founding member of the Teacher Advisory Council for the National Research Council. Mr. Morishita received his M.A.T. in Biological Sciences and B.S. in Biology from Lewis and Clark College. He currently lives in Milwaukie, Oregon with his wife Jolene, daughter Alyssa, and son Keean.
Kevin Noreen
School Board Member, Sherwood
Julie O’Dwyer
Oregon City Parent and Stand for Children Leader
Krista Parent
Superintendent, South Lane School District
Krista Parent is a native Oregonian, born and raised in Southern Oregon. Krista came to the University of Oregon as an undergraduate in 1979 where she majored in Human Development and Performance.
Krista began teaching physical education, health, and mathematics in South Lane School District (SLSD) in 1985. In 1991, Krista became the assistant principal and athletic director at Cottage Grove High School. In 1992 she received her master’s degree in Educational Administration from the University of Oregon and moved to the district level in 1994 as the director of curriculum and instruction. After becoming assistant superintendent for SLSD in 1996, she took over superintendent duties in 2001. Krista recently completed her doctoral studies at the University of Oregon in Educational Leadership. The title of her dissertation was “Women in the Superintendency.”
Kitty Powell
Regional Director of Innovation, Providence
Kitty leads the strategic planning function and the eHealth department within Providence Health & Services of Oregon.
Prior to joining Providence, Kitty was an Internet entrepreneur and a strategy consultant working on challenging business problems across a number of industries. Kitty has earned a MBA from Stanford University and a BA from Georgetown University.
Kitty serves on the Board of Trustees for the Oregon chapter and the National Board of Representatives for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and on the State Superintendent of Education’s Business Advisory Team. Kitty enjoys spending her time outside of work playing with her four children, ages 2 to 9.
Linda Samek
Dean, School of Education, George Fox University
Karen Sue Stiner
Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, Teacher, High Desert Middle School
Karen Sue Stiner, a mathematics teacher from Bend, Oregon, is the recipient of a two-year Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship with assignment in Washington, DC. In 2005, Stiner received the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. The Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction appointed Stiner to the Oregon Educator Network in 2006, an assembly of outstanding educators that advises the state of Oregon on educational policy issues.
During her tenure with the Department of Energy, Stiner worked to further pre-professional and professional advancement opportunities for the nation’s students and teachers of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
As a Fellow serving with the Committee on Science and Technology of the U.S. House of Representatives, Stiner’s role enables her to continue to provide a classroom teacher’s perspective on STEM policy and program issues affecting K-12 education initiatives nationwide.
Stiner holds a Master’s degree from Eastern Oregon University and a Bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University. She spent six years with the General Dynamics Aerospace Division in San Diego before beginning her career as a teacher in 1997.
Ron Wilkinson
Superintendent, Bend-La Pine School District
Orcilia Zúñiga Forbes
Meyer Memorial Trust Trustee and Chalkboard Project Board Member
Orcilia Zúñiga Forbes was born in Carlsbad, New Mexico to Lorenzo and Anita Zuniga, the first of eight children. She received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of New Mexico and master’s degrees in Nursing Education and Public Health Administration from the University of Oregon Nursing School and the University of California School of Public Health in Berkeley. Her doctorate was in Educational Policy and Management from the University of Oregon. In 1965, Orcilia began a long and distinguished career in higher education administration. She has held the positions of Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs at Portland State University, Vice President of Student Affairs and Institutional Advancement at the University of New Mexico and Vice President of University Advancement at Oregon State University, retiring in 2004. She has also served on the boards of many community organizations, including the Albuquerque and Portland Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, Providence Health and Services System, National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation and Spanish Colonial Arts Society. In 1991 she received the MANA de Albuquerque, Brindis a la Mujer Hispana Award and the NAACP Martin Luther King Jr. Award. In 2009 UNM’s Alumni Association honored her contributions as an alum. Orcilia was married to the late Richard Bryan Forbes, PhD, and has a daughter Eryn and son Bryan.
