---

---

Meet the Volunteer Manangement Trainers!

Becky A. Snyder, Director, RSVP of Rogue Valley Manor Community Services
Becky Snyder was born in the Midwest, and has since lived on both the East and West Coasts. She graduated from the University of Puget Sound with a B.A. in Elementary Education, worked in Public Relations for Dow Chemical in Washington, D.C., and lived in Cincinnati, Ohio before moving to Medford, OR. in 1981. Becky has been the director of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program of Rogue Valley Manor Community Services for the past seventeen years, and took on the additional duties of the Foster Grandparent Program of Southern Oregon almost seven years ago. During this time, she has personally remained involved in civic engagement through her various volunteer activities, including the United Way of Jackson County, the Jackson County Prevention Council, the statewide Providers Council of Oregon Mentors, and as coordinator of the Take Care of Oregon Days projects in Jackson County in celebration of the state’s Sesquicentennial. Presently, she is serving as the president of the state-wide Seniors Serving Oregon Coalition (S.S.O.C.), an association comprised of the 26 Senior Corps programs in the state, and is serving on the Governors Commission on Voluntary Action and Service by appointment of the Governor.

Beth Fox, Director of Linn-Benton RSVP and LBvision Volunteer Center
Beth is in her tenth year of directing the program serving Corvallis, Albany and surrounding cities. A certified volunteer management trainer, Beth is called on frequently to address the topic of volunteerism in the community. Beth is a board member for the Corvallis Kiwanis Club, past president of the Oregon Association of RSVP Directors and involved with boards and steering committees that serve the older adult population. A life-long volunteer, Beth received her MBA from the University of Oregon in 1999, previously owning her own business for 13 years.

Betsy Warriner, Executive Director, Volunteer Connect
Betsy founded Volunteer Insights, which recently transitioned into Volunteer Connect, the regional volunteer center for Central Oregon. Previously, Betsy worked with the Volunteer Center in Portland. She also coordinated the Service-Learning programs at Portland Community College and at Seattle University. After an early career in teaching, she has led workshops and trainings in peer counseling, volunteerism, and service-learning for the past 30 years. Betsy holds an MA in Teaching degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Guidance and Counseling from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Carie Bauer, Volunteer Development Program Coordinator, Oregon Volunteers

Glenis Chapin, Volunteer Services Coordinator, Marion County
With more than 20 years of volunteer management experience in education, the 4-H Youth program and county government, Glenis currently serves as the volunteer services coordinator for Marion County, Oregon, where she created and implements a centralized volunteer program, provides support and education to county staff managing volunteers, and serves as a clearinghouse and referral network for volunteers interested in working for the county. Glenis has a master’s degree in adult education and has trained in local, regional and national venues on collaboration, volunteer engagement, risk management for volunteer programs, public speaking, Web use for volunteer programs, and training techniques for adults.

Greg Russo, DHS State Volunteer Coordinator, Department of Human Services

Greg Wallinger, Portland Co-Director, Stand for Children

Gretchen Jordan, Board President, AL!VE (Association of Leaders in Volunteer Engagement)
Gretchen earned her CVA in 2003 and has a Bachelors in Community and Human Services from Empire State College. She has been the Past President of NOVAA, Northwest Oregon Volunteer Administrators, is a member of the Oregon Commission for Voluntary Action and Service, and is currently employed as the Coordinator of Volunteers for the Office of the Long Term Care Ombudsman. She has presented at last years NCVS in San Francisco, the Oregon Civic Engagement Conference, and several workshops for NOVAA.

Jane Larsen, VISTA Project Coordinator, United Community Action Network (UCAN)
Jane Larsen has served as the program manager for the UCAN VISTA Coalition since 2003. The Coalition hosts 20 Volunteers in Service to America and serves non-profit organizations, schools, and government agencies in Douglas, Josephine and Coos counties. Jane has provided Volunteer Management training to VISTA members and to others in Douglas County since completing the Points of Light Volunteer Management Training in 2006.

Jennifer Brown, Volunteer Resources Coordinator, Oregon Public Broadcasting

Jill Nishball, Volunteer Services Coordinator, Oregon Parks and Recreation
Jill Nishball has been serving in the Salem headquarters office as Oregon Parks and Recreation Department's Volunteer Services Coordinator for the past seven years. Her work focuses primarily on training and supporting park staff and administering the agency’s large statewide volunteer park host, youth service and individual/group volunteer programs. Jill spends a great deal of her work time keeping the day-to-day volunteer operation running and communicating with potential and current volunteers. Prior to working for state parks, Jill directed statewide efforts for Oregon Project Learning Tree, a volunteer-led, K-12 teacher-training program in forestry education operating out of Oregon State University. Jill recruited and led a network of volunteer educators to develop and facilitate numerous activity-based teacher workshops focusing on Oregon’s forests, forest resources and forest management.
Jill has conducted a multitude of training sessions, designed curricula and led school groups for outdoor education programs in California, Oregon and Montana. Before landing permanent work, Jill worked seasonally for both California State Parks and for the National Park Service in Utah and Nevada as an interpretive park ranger. She holds a master’s degree in Environmental Education as well as a bachelor’s degree in Geography, and has received her Certificate in Volunteer Administration in March 2010.

Julie Martinez, Commissioner, Oregon Volunteers!
Julie Martinez is a passionate, life-long volunteer. She has served as: President of PTA and Junior League; Treasurer for Oregon Volunteers! and an American Cancer Society fund-raising group; and, a member of the Jackson County Commission on Children and Families and the Rogue Valley Community Development Council. After serving on a myriad of boards, Julie has developed a gift of networking and encouraging community engagement by generating organizational and educational needs’ forums--to form collaborative ideas to fund-raise and to consolidate and improve service. As a volunteer management trainer, she hopes to fill a gap by increasing volunteer retention and recruitment.

June Bass, Volunteer Services Manager, Multnomah County Library
June received a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Oregon State University. Her 15-year career in volunteer management and non-profit administration includes national and local organizations such as United Way, Friends of the Children First Book and the Beaverton City Library. With First Book June managed a six state western region with over 400 volunteers. At the Beaverton City Library she managed 300 volunteers and was the staff liaison with the library’s ancillary groups. June currently is the Volunteer Manager for the Multnomah County Library System overseeing a program with over 1800 volunteers at 19 library locations and 9 outreach programs. June has presented several volunteer management training workshops including Volunteer 101 and 201. In addition she served on the steering committee for the International Conference for Volunteer Administrators in 2004 and the 2008 Advanced Volunteer Management Conference held in Portland, Oregon. June is an active member of Northwest Oregon Volunteer Administers Association (NOVAA) and has held several Board of Director leadership positions including: secretary, president elect, president and past president. In 2006 received her Certificate in Volunteer Administration (CVA).

Karen E. McPhee, RSVP Director, Metropolitan Family Services
Karen McPhee heads Multnomah County RSVP in Portland. She has a diverse background having worked in developmental disabilities, behavior consulting, community social service and mental health, plus volunteer management. Karen believes the call to service of President Obama, the excellent role-modeling of Mrs. Obama, plus The Serve America Act will make it possible to broaden existing programs, spawn new and enterprising ways to engage additional Americans in service to our communities and stimulate innovation in the nonprofit sector while also drawing the private sector into collaboration. She wants to strengthen and inspire volunteer managers in problem solving skills to answer and meet the call to service that will immensely impact our country's future and values. Karen wants to facilitate support in any way possible to increase impactful volunteer engagement in service.

Karlie Wright, Administrative Assistant, Curry County Commission on Children & Families
Karlie Wright is from Gold Beach, OR and has lived in rural communities most of her life. She knows that good non-profits are an invaluable part of rural communities. Karlie currently works with the Curry County Commission on Children & Families, board member of the local food bank and has volunteered since she was 15. Karlie knows how important volunteers are to the any community, but especially to the rural ones. She looks forward to continuing to make a difference in her community!

Katrinka Easterday “Trink”, Community Outreach Specialist, Ride Connection
Trink has served for more than thirty years as an executive director, a volunteer program manager and a community relations/resource development manager in the nonprofit sector. She has participated as a volunteer and board member for a number of nonprofits. She is “passionate about the field of volunteer program management” and believes that she has been exceedingly fortunate to have been both a volunteer and a volunteer program manager in support of the “good works” of thousands of volunteers.

Kelly Diana Wessels, Program Director, United Community Action Network (UCAN)
Kelly Diana Wessels, has served as an Oregon Senior Corps Project Director and non-profit Agency Director for the past fifteen years, and possesses a BS in Education Training and Development. Currently she is also adjunct faculty to Rogue Community College Non Profit Development programs training professionals in best practices in Cultural Competencies, Volunteer Management, Organizational Work Culture Assessment/Strategic Planning and Resource Development. Possessing a passion for collaboration and innovation in programming, Ms. Wessels is committed to nurturing the spirit of community through the promotion of voluntary service, both professionally and as a personal ethic.

Khela Singer-Adams, Director, HandsOn Mid-Willamette Valley
Khela, a native of Oregon, is the director for HandsOn Mid-Willamette Valley. She served as community service learning director at Willamette University from 2004 to 2007, and an academic adviser for the University of Oregon’s College of Education from 2001 to 2004. Khela has a Master of Science degree in educational leadership from the University of Oregon. Khela has taught courses in leadership development at the university level, in addition to providing volunteer management training at regional conferences and to local volunteer management staff.

Marie Rust, PHR, CVA
Marie has 20+ years of experience as a training director and volunteer manager for three Girl Scout Councils [Michigan l Portland] and two community based mediation programs [Michigan l Beaverton]. Her extensive experience includes training both staff and volunteers in a variety of topics. In addition to the volunteer management modules as presented by Betty Stallings, Marie is an experienced trainer on conflict resolution, learning styles and train-the-trainer.
Marie served on the Northwest Oregon Volunteer Administrators 2008-09 Board of Directors as Conference Committee Chair for the 2009 Conference. Marie is a member of the Oregon Mediation Association and Portland Human Resource Management Association. She enjoys picking the banjo and listening to bluegrass music.

Marilyn Lesmeister, Volunteer Development Specialist, Oregon State University Extension Service
In the role of educator and trainer, Lesmeister has conducted workshops in four states over the past 30 years. She has taught up to 230 workshops in a given year for national and international audiences, professional volunteer managers and volunteers. Her topics have ranged from adult and teen volunteer recruitment, orientation, training, program management, evaluation, middle management, conflict management, risk management, and involving volunteers effectively in community development, boards and committees. Lesmeister applies effective adult learning principles in all workshops, plans interactive learning, and always has fun! Marilyn Lesmeister received a BS in education at North Dakota State University, an MS and PhD in understanding the adult learner at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Matt Honoré, Field Coordinator, Oregon State Service Corps (OSSC)
Matt is responsible for the needs of 51 AmeriCorps members throughout the state, many of whom manage volunteers in their day to day activities. Before OSSC, Matt managed an AmeriCorps program in Eugene, and served as a VISTA in Lane County and an AmeriCorps*State member in Massachusetts. Matt has been thrown into the fire of being both a volunteer and a volunteer manager and would like to provide the same great experiences he’s had to others.

Nancy A. Gaston, CVA, Principal, Gifts Differing
Nancy has over 20 years experience in volunteer resources management and is now a trainer and consultant. She presents on volunteer management, meeting management, nonprofit leadership, generational differences and many other topics at local, regional and national conferences and events. Nancy is a Certified Volunteer Administrator and a certified human behavior consultant with expertise in personality and leadership styles, and her passion is to help every citizen be engaged and involved fruitfully and effectively through competent volunteer management.

Robert Joy, owner, variousworks
Joy has been involved in non-profit and emergency management and program delivery for over 35 years, with experience in public education, programs for seniors, international relief and development, material management and in the private sector as a small businessman and consultant. He has served on small 501(c)3 Boards, as a program director and as executive management. His international work experience includes six countries in East Africa, Jamaica, Europe and the former Soviet Union.
Joy has an extensive history as a volunteer consultant and trainer within the Northwest and beyond He is/has been a certified instructor in program development, volunteer management, AchieveGlobal leadership training, cultural diversity and emergency management.
As a volunteer driven national organization staff member, he was responsible for planning, preparedness and operational support to state affiliates, supporting organizational development, service delivery and coaching paid and volunteer leadership and program staff. Whether as a volunteer or employee, he believes strongly in the importance of concept, principles and practice of effective and inclusive volunteer management.

Sam Likens, Program Director, Douglas County RSVP
Sam has been the RSVP Program Director for six years, recruiting, orientating, training, and placing new volunteers in over 100 non-profit organizations and government agencies in Douglas County. She is extremely proud of the 973 dedicated volunteers, who are making Douglas County a better place for seniors to live over; 400 of these volunteers have been serving 5 to 32 years. Sam completed the Oregon Volunteers Management 101 in 2006 and has continued her volunteer management training by attending conferences, workshops and on line. It is her goal to instill; self-confidence, understanding of volunteers, and enhance the perception of volunteer managers in Douglas County.

Sharon Mather, Director, Curry County RSVP
Sharon has been directing RSVP of Curry County in South Western OR for 12 years now. Before RSVP Sharon was the volunteer coordinator for the local K-8 school in her home town and she has volunteered for many organizations: The Elections Dept, Senior Centers, reading programs etc...Sharon has taken the 101 volunteer train the trainer classes and the Betty Stallings train the trainer classes.

Steven Pixley, Volunteer Program Coordinator, Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R)
Steve began coordinating PP&R’s volunteer program in 1995. He works with 72 park sites and Friends Groups to insure appropriate, meaningful volunteer opportunities for people across the City. A life-long volunteer himself, he has experience working with his Church, elementary school, little league and civic organizations. Recently appointed to the Oregon Volunteers Commission (2010), he is also a member of the Oregon Recreation & Parks Association, is a 14 year member of NOVAA and holds a CVA. He currently serves on the board of Kid’s Free Fishing Day Committee and is a proud graduate of the University of Oregon, Class of ’82.

Tamara Rosser, Director, RSVP of Lincoln County
Tamara strongly believes in that community service is a necessity. She personally volunteers for Altrusa International of Yaquina Bay, Waldport Junior League Sports, and in the local schools. Professionally she sits on the boards or advisory councils for Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments, Friends of Lincoln County Animal Shelter, the Joint Transportation Committee for Lincoln County, the ADRC of Lane County, and Seniors Serving Oregon Coalition. She attended Oregon State University for Social Service.

Tammy Baumann, CVA, Volunteer Services Coordinator, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
Tammy Baumann is a Statewide Volunteer Services Coordinator with the Oregon Parks & Recreation Department. Tammy joined the State Parks family in June of 1997 and joined the volunteer services team in December 2006. She earned her "Certified in Volunteer Administration" credentials from the Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration in 2010. Tammy holds an undergraduate degree in Communications from Marylhurst University and professional certification in Training and Development and Conflict Resolution and Mediation.
Tammy volunteers as the Committee Chair of Cub Scout Pack 122 in Salem and in the youth programs at Salem Evangelical Church. Additionally, Tammy sits on boards and committees of several professional organizations including the Greater Oregon Chapter of the Society of Government Meeting Professionals (GO-SGMP), Mid-Valley Volunteers Managers Association (MVVMA) and Oregon Volunteers Committee on Volunteerism.

Tibby Larson, Volunteer Coordinator, City of Salem Parks
Tibby Larson has been in the field of volunteer management for over 25 years. Her experience includes work at non-profits such as the YMCA and Girl Scouts of the USA as well as government, working the past 9 years at City of Salem Parks. She was awarded the 2006 Excellence in Volunteer Management Award by the National Association of Volunteer Programs in Local Government. She is a Girl Scout Trainer of Trainers, and an Oregon Volunteers! Certified Volunteer Management Trainer.

Tifani Erpelding, 'Building Bridges' AmeriCorps* VISTA Program Coordinator, Community Service Consortium

Victoria Eggleston, Volunteer Coordinator, City of Tualatin Victoria Eggleston, CVA, is the Volunteer Coordinator for the City of Tualatin. She has oversight of the City’s volunteer program and supervises three specialists. Her past professional experience included building programs in a non-profit library and worldwide relief organization. Victoria has been a Certified Volunteer Administrator for six years. She has presented workshops for Northwest Oregon Volunteer Administrators Association (NOVAA), Ombudsmen, Oregon Library Association, and libraries. She brings to her work an extensive background in volunteer management from a volunteer’s perspective. Victoria her non-professional work includes leadership in 4-H, Boy Scouts of America, and church. Victoria supports NOVAA, where she served as President and Board Member. She is currently co-chairing an advanced volunteer management discussion group. Victoria’s theme for her life is “That which you persist in doing becomes easy, not because the nature of the thing changes; but your ability increases.” John Taylor.

Wil Warren Community Development Coordinator, Oregon Department of Human Services

To set up a training in your community, fill out a Training Interest Form.