About Us > Board/Staff |
Orcas Island, Washington |
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Staff and Board of Trustees: |
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Staff:Julie Brunner has been the Housing Manager since 2002, working half time. Julie manages resident applications, mortgage financing, homebuyer education instruction, and manages the Housing Services Coordinator. In addition to working for OPAL, Julie teaches courses for the National Community Land Trust Network and works as a consultant for Common Ground. Julie has worked in the field of affordable housing since 1995 and prior to that in social service and international economic development. She has a B.A. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and an M.A. in city and regional planning from Rutgers University. Lisa Byers has been OPAL CLT’s Executive Director since January 1996. She is the only full-time staff person. Prior to working for OPAL, Lisa worked as Land Steward for the San Juan County Land Bank, and for 10 years as a land and property manager for the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now Historic New England), based in Boston, Massachusetts. Lisa has an A.B. from Vassar College and an M.B.A. in public and nonprofit management from Boston University. In 2006 Lisa was elected to serve as the first President of the National Community Land Trust Network and was awarded the Friend of Housing Award from the Washington State Housing Finance Commission. Carol Ely works 80% of full time. Carol completes all bookkeeping, database management, office organizing, receptionist services, and board meeting support, as well as helping volunteers with event production. She managed her own very successful floral business for 16 years, and prior to that was a manager in the food services industry. Carol has a B.A. from Siena Heights University. Lety Hopper works half time as the Housing Services Coordinator. Lety administers rental assistance and energy assistance, manages tenant and property management concerns, and assists the Housing Manager with homebuyer education and processing homebuyer applications. Prior to working for OPAL, Lety was the primary manufacturer for Island Thyme Natural BodyCare, a research assistant for Friends of the San Juans and a fisheries technician and research assistant for a number of marine science centers in Maine and Massachusetts. She has a B.S. from the University of Maine at Orono and a Higher National Certificate in Fisheries Science. Gabriel Olmsted is the Project Manager, whose hours average about 40% of full time. Gabriel facilitates the design, bidding, and on-site construction for all OPAL building projects. He joined the staff in mid-2002 after completing a three-year term on OPAL’s board of trustees. He has a wide range of construction experience, including constructing theater sets, working in a hardware store, and building his own home. Gabriel has a B.A. and an M.F.A. and has completed the project management course of study offered by the Neighborhood Reinvestment Institute. Suzanne Olson works half time as the Storyteller and Communications Specialist for the Community Land Trust Alliance of the San Juan Islands, a collaborative of four community land trusts (see links to other CLTs). Half of Suzanne's time is spent working for the CLT Alliance on educational projects, and half of her time she works directly for OPAL as editor for OPAL's newsletters, and providing support for membership outreach and fundraising. Suzanne joined the staff in April of 2005 after ten years of serving the non-profit sector in Portland, Oregon. Suzanne has a B.A. from Prescott College in Literature and Writing.
Board of Trustees:Helen Bee first lived on Orcas Island in the 1970s and returned in 2003 after a career as professor and author of numerous text books on psychology and human development, including The Developing Child, now in its 11th edition, and Journey of Adulthood, now in its 6th edition. She has served on numerous non-profit boards, including the Happy Valley Foundation, the Orcas Island Foundation (Camp Indralaya), the Festival Choir of Madison, and the Orcas Island Senior Center. Mary Blackstone was a part-time resident for 20 years and made the move to full-time in the mid-1990s. She owned her own marketing communications consulting firm, which she founded after 11 years as a marketing and communications manager for three firms in the Seattle area. She has an M.B.A. from the University of Washington, and since 1985 has served on the boards of three nonprofit organizations. Patty Johnson was a school teacher for 25 years and moved to the island in 1999. Since living here she has held a number of part-time jobs, including working in a real estate office, providing eldercare and working for the Orcas Island School District. She currently teaches piano lessons and sings with two choral groups on the island. She is a Lahari Ridge homeowner. Bev Leyman is a retired school teacher and administrator who moved to the island in 1999. Since her arrival, she has served on the board of Orcas Center, chaired or co-chaired numerous fundraising events for Orcas Center, as well as for OPAL, and produced, directed, and acted in numerous plays. In addition, she is a precinct caucus person for her voting district. Rollie Sauer has been a full-time resident of Orcas Island since 2004. He has had a full career, which he continues on a part-time basis, supervising clinical reseach trials. He served as President, Partner and Research Director for a number of companies based in southern California, and along the way volunteered as referee and coach for youth soccer and baseball. Today he serves the San Juan County community in a number of volunteer roles, including as a member of the county Housing Bank. Allen Smith was co-founder and served as CEO of ISX Corporation from 1989 until his retirement in 2000, and he continues to serve as board chairman. In his role at ISX, Allen helped create the artificial intelligence discipline of Advanced Concept Engineering, which is now widely used at DARPA and elsewhere. He has served on several boards, including IRobots Inc., Skoozle.com, The Los Angeles Challenger Center, the Ventura Council, Boy Scouts/Learning for Life, and the Sustainable Ecosystem Institute. Michael Whellams has lived on the island since the mid-1990s. He currently works as a real estate broker. His prior career was as a teacher and school principal in various school districts in California. For many years he participated in a self-help homebuilding program in South America, and he is on the board of the Horatio Alger Association, a national scholarship program that supports youth career development. Kari Van Gelder became a full-time resident of Orcas Island in 1998 after four years of part-time residence. She lives with her family in Opal Commons, the first OPAL neighborhood. Kari is an artist, landscape designer, gardener and cook. Since the birth of her daughter in 2001, she has focused on parenting and volunteer projects, committing her time in 2002 to Camp Indralaya as registrar and to OPAL CLT as landscape designer in 2003-2004. Kari is relaunching her artistic business career in 2005. |
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OPAL Community Land Trust | |||