2019 Conference Bios

Megan Ponder

LinkedIn

Megan is an independent consultant specializing in the rapidly evolving waste and recycling sector. Megan’s work has recently focused on waste plastics including global plastics production, recycling systems and trends, and global waste flows. She is currently working as a producer on The Story of Plastic, a documentary film on plastic by The Story of Stuff Project. The Story of Plastic documents the full lifecycle impacts of plastic and the inspiring efforts around the world to address it.

Previously, in her role at the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability at the City of Portland, she worked on solid waste and recycling policy and programs and served as the bureau’s legislative liaison. She led the development and implementation of the Portland plastic bag ban and served as the mayor’s sustainability policy coordinator. Megan is a former AOR Legislative Chair and currently serves on the AOR legislative committee. She sailed across the Atlantic Ocean with ocean conservation nonprofit 5 Gyres, documenting plastic pollution in the South Atlantic Gyre.

Megan’s presentation will focus on what she’s learned traveling with The Story of Plastic project, and how it relates to the future of waste prevention and recycling in Oregon.

David Allaway | Oregon DEQ

David is a senior policy analyst at the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s Materials Management Program. David led efforts to develop and update the nation’s first sub-national consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions inventory, served as an invited science advisor to Wal-Mart’s Packaging Sustainable Value Network, and served as an advisor to Paul Hawken’s Project Drawdown and the New York Times best-seller Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. A member of the West Coast Climate and Materials Management Forum’s leadership team, David has a BA in physics from Carleton College.

Aileen Bahena | Metro

Aileen is an intern at Metro Regional Government and going on her third year of the internship. This year, her focus has been toxics reduction, and she has learned alternatives for cleaning supplies/personal care products. She has also contributed to the creation of the PES internship program along with some peers, which has been a great journey and opportunity for all. She plans to go into the medical field, either becoming an RN nurse or nurse practitioner. Aileen also loves outdoor spaces, learning new languages, and extreme adventures.

Cheryl Baker | Buy Nothing Project

Cheryl is a dedicated volunteer with the Buy Nothing Project, a network of micro-local Facebook groups where members can post anything they’d like to give away, lend, or share among neighbors. She volunteers as a "local admin" for her own neighborhood group in Portland, has been a "regional admin" for the state of Oregon, and is now volunteering as a "global admin," helping with groups all over the world. This all-volunteer project started in 2013 as a way to encourage people to buy less stuff, to reuse/gift what is no longer wanted, and to decrease the amount of usable items going to the landfill, all while increasing neighbor-to-neighbor and community connections. She came to this volunteer position after retiring from a career as a plant geneticist with the USDA-ARS, where she was also the recycling coordinator at the ARS lab in Oklahoma. She has also been a co-chair for Sustainable Stillwater (in OK), a community garden manager, is still an avid composting enthusiast, and volunteers with Urban Gleaners in Portland.

Denise Barnes | Rogue Disposal & Recycling

Denise has worked for Rogue Disposal for 34 years and was instrumental in the development of the Jackson County Recycling Partnership, which is a consortium of local governments and waste haulers formed to address and comply with County-wide solid waste and recycling issues and mandates. Denise grew up in a small rural town on the Big Island of Hawaii where conservation, waste prevention, and reuse were a way of life.

Willa Bauman | Tool Box Project

Willa serves as Operations Manager of ToolBox Project, a nonprofit tool library encouraging repair and reuse by making hand and power tools accessible to everyone, regardless of socioeconomic or housing status. Willa is passionate about improving community access to tools and construction knowledge in order to promote sustainability, empowerment, and community resiliency. Through 2016-2017, Willa served as chair of Eugene Saturday Market's Sustainability Committee. She is currently a graduate student at the University of Oregon studying nonprofit management with a focus on food security and rural economic development. 

Sarah Benedict | Recology Davis
LinkedIn

Sarah works as the Waste Zero Specialist for Recology Davis in California. Sarah performs outreach in her community to encourage sustainable waste management practices and conducts waste audits to implement California state laws such as Mandatory Commercial Recycling (AB 341) and Mandatory Commercial Organics (AB 1826). Before coming to Davis, Sarah interned at nearby Recology Vacaville Solano and Dixon where she took on the challenge of recycling contamination—a significant issue highlighted by the Chinese National Sword. Over the course of her three-month internship, Sarah facilitated a program that lowered recycling contamination by 8.7%. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations: Global Environment, Health, and Natural Resources from UC Davis. In her free time, she enjoys gardening and “chickening” at a local community garden.

Paul Bergeman | Wild Ride Brewing

Alex Bertolucci | Washington County

Alex is a Green Business Advisor with Washington County Solid Waste and Recycling and Board Member with the Association of Oregon Recyclers. Alex has over a decade of experience in the sustainability field working in both the private and public sector. Two fun facts about Alex: his favorite color is shiny and he loves Legos. 

Elaine Blatt | Oregon DEQ

Elaine is a Senior Policy and Program Analyst at Oregon DEQ. Her primary focus is on sustainable consumption and production of materials, and she led the development of DEQ’s strategy for preventing the wasting of food. She is currently leading market research designed to inform the development of values-based messaging to encourage Oregonians to reduce wasted food. Prior to joining DEQ, Elaine worked on a variety of projects related to sustainable production and consumption, energy efficiency, and supply chain management. She has an MA in public policy from the University of Chicago and a BA in political science from Carleton College.

Dan Blue | Metro

Dan is the Planning and Stewardship Manager with Metro Solid Waste Operations. Dan has spent 20 years literally up to his knees in the region’s solid waste. Currently the Planning and Stewardship Manager for Metro’s Solid Waste Operations division overseeing MetroPaint, the closed St. Johns Landfill, and a team of solid waste planners working a variety of projects including siting and building new regional transfer stations, Dan has worked across the industry and has developed, implemented, evaluated, or regulated nearly all facets of the industry. Between 2008 and 2016 Dan was the Recycling and Solid Waste Program Manager for the City of Gresham, and for the decade before that managed Community Environmental Services at Portland State University. Topical interests include sustainable practices generally, disaster debris and emergency response, and celebrating diversity while promoting equity in our community.

Ali Briggs-Ungerer | Consultant (AOR Chair)

Ali has been working in the recycling industry for 15 years and has been an AOR Board member since 2010. In addition to serving as the Board Chair for AOR, she currently manages several projects in the plastics and electronics recycling realms. Ali previously worked with Resource Recycling, Free Geek, and Community Environmental Services. 

Pete Chism-Winfield | City of Portland (AOR Past Chair)
LinkedIn

Pete is a program coordinator with the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability at the City of Portland. Pete has served as an AOR Board member since 2011, and he’s been going to AOR conferences since the late nineties, a time where plastic ruled the youth through Teletubbies, Gameboys, and a purple talking dinosaur named Barney. After being educated at U of O with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and anthropology, Pete has worked to advance materials-related programs and policies related to waste prevention, reuse, and recycling for 20 years. Recently, Pete led the process for the City of Portland that resulted in Council passing a policy to reduce single-use plastic serviceware to add to current policies that ban plastic foam and bags.

Elizabeth Cole | City of Beaverton
LinkedIn

Elizabeth is a Recycling & Waste Reduction Program Coordinator with the City of Beaverton. She works on numerous projects from assisting Beaverton businesses with recycling and waste reduction to regional campaigns on food waste prevention as well as collaborative projects to improve recycling at multifamily communities. Elizabeth contributed to the development of Metro’s 2030 Regional Waste Plan including participation in a Vision Planning Workshop and the Education and Information technical work group. Elizabeth holds a BS in wildlife science from Oregon State University and an MBA from DeVry University.

Dave Danek | DIYcave

Dave is a co-founder of DIYcave, a makerspace in Bend, Oregon. One of his main goals is to educate people of all ages how to be self-sufficient by providing them with the skills to create the items they need and the knowledge required to repair their broken ones. Dave is greatly inspired by parents who bring their children to learn skills that they admit they were never taught and by adults he meets who wish to be more self-reliant.

Dylan de Thomas | The Recycling Partnership
LinkedIn

Dylan is Vice President of Industry Collaboration for The Recycling Partnership, working with the team there to increase both the quantity and quality of the curbside collected recyclables across the U.S. The Partnership is a nonprofit that provides grants and technical assistance to governments and recycling facilities and shares research on measurement and best practices. Previous to joining the Partnership, Dylan worked for Resource Recycling for a decade, directing and producing content for three publications and three conferences covering various aspects of the recycling industry. Dylan lives in inner SE Portland with his wife and two newly teenage daughters, one dog, one cat, two guinea pigs, four fancy rats, and four fish. They also partially lease a horse, but let's not get into that. Dylan loves recycling and loves talking about it in all its complicated glory anywhere they ask him to.

Holly Deemer | Rogue Disposal & Recycling

Holly is a graduate of Oregon State University, with a degree in crop science. She joined the Rogue Disposal team in May 2007, and has been the Customer Service Supervisor/Billing Manager for nine years. The heart of Holly’s daily tasks the past year and a half was the challenge of educating customers about the changes in Rogue’s recycling program, navigating through contamination protocol, and being a liaison between customers and recycle drivers. Married, with two handsome teenage boys, 20 and 16 years old, Holly enjoys spending time with them, and watching their sports activities. When not doing that, she enjoys playing sports, traveling with her husband, and team roping (feel free to ask her what that is, if you don’t know).

Yaquelin Garcia-Delgado | Metro

Yaquelin is a first-generation college student and works coordinating internships for the PES department at Metro. Yaquelin is currently studying psychology to later become a recreational therapist or art therapist. Yaquelin is a strong believer that there are good people all around you and if you can't find one, then be a good one. Some of her hobbies include poetry, spending time with family, and meeting new people.

Justin Gast | Oregon DEQ

Justin is an Operations and Policy Analyst with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Over the last 14 years, Justin has provided technical assistance to municipalities and organizations across the U.S. working for the likes of Resource Recycling, the Washington County Solid Waste and Recycling Program, and The Recycling Partnership. A proud University of Oregon Duck, Justin is a former AOR board member and a current member of the organization's legislative committee. He resides in Portland with his wife, Terra, and their beyond-spolied goldendoodle, Alice.

Jeanette Hardison | Corvallis Sustainability Coalition
LinkedIn

In response to alarming research about wasted food and to the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition’s call for movement on the issue, Jeanette founded the popular No Food Left Behind-Corvallis (NFLB), a residential prevention program. NFLB is based on the EPA’s national campaign Food: Too Good to Waste. Jeanette has worked 25+ years on waste prevention and recycling issues, managing and co-managing countless education and outreach programs and events. She served as AOR Education Chair back when AOR ran separate Education Conferences and received AOR’s Individual Recycler of the Year award. This Oregon State alum now uses up all her leftovers, and still loves to sing about recycling.

Nicole Hernandez-Marrs | Metro

Nicole is an Education Specialist with Metro’s Property and Environmental Services, and develops and implements a range of school-based resource conservation presentations and programs for youth in grades K-5 while also leading the ZooQuest food waste prevention behavior change and volunteer development program in collaboration with the Oregon Zoo. Nicole previously worked for The Children’s Museum at La Habra in California as well as multiple zoos and wildlife education centers developing curriculum; delivering presentations; and coordinating visitor, school, and community programs. 

Karyn Kaplan | UO Zero Waste Center

Karyn is the Zero Waste Program Manager at the University of Oregon. As a student, Karyn worked with a student group to institutionalize recycling at the University of Oregon. The University of Oregon’s Campus Recycling Program was founded in 1990 and re-branded as the UO Zero Waste Program in 2012. The UO Zero Waste Program is one of the only programs in the country that is student staffed. Over the years the program has employed over 1,000 students and diverted countless materials from the waste stream. The program has grown to encompass a current staff full time staff of seven, ~40 student employees, and a current recovery rate of 52%. The program is a cornerstone of campus sustainability and has continued to grow with a Materials Management focus. Karyn has co-authored “Recycling and Beyond: A College Primer” and the “Zero Waste Campus Toolkit.” With an eye on the future, Karyn is dedicated to zero waste and empowering students to make a difference in the world

Ani Kasch | Central Oregon Environmental Center

Ani has spent many years working in environmental education and food systems. She has served coffee, rolled burritos at the base of a ski slope, ran a galley on a 100 year old 130’ wooden schooner, and spearheaded the Rethink Food Waste Challenge of Deschutes County. Her current position as Rethink Waste Project Program Manager with The Environmental Center in Bend, Oregon, allows her to share her passion around wasted food in addition to educating around other aspects of waste. She is also a big proponent of bicycle travel in all its forms.

Sydney Kelly | Metro

Sydney is a student at the University of Oregon studying public relations and business administration. She has been an intern at Metro for three years now and has helped co-create a three-year internship program in the Department of Property and Environmental Services. Her career goal is to have her own PR firm one day and to work in the fashion industry.

Sara Kirby | Metro

Sara is a Senior Solid Waste Planner at Metro, the regional government in greater Portland, Oregon. Her work currently focuses on a range of topics including multifamily recycling efforts, contamination reduction, and long-term planning efforts. Sara has more than 18 years of professional experience in education, outreach, and program and project management, and has been with Metro for 10 years. She is a graduate of Arizona State University where she studied biology.

Laura Kutner Tokarski | Trash for Peace
LinkedIn | Trash for Peace LinkedIn

Laura is the founder and Executive Director of Trash for Peace. She is a Peace Corps alumna and native of Portland, Oregon. She holds a BA in anthropology and Spanish from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Portland State University. She is fluent in Spanish and has over 10 years of experience in sustainable community development, especially as it relates to providing hands-on, sustainability education to youth and families in multi-family, affordable housing sites through Trash for Peace's Sustainability Education Program. Since its incorporation as a 501(c)3 in 2012, Trash for Peace has gone on to serve over 300 youth and families and divert hundreds of pounds of trash from the landfill every year, and was recognized with an Excellence in Community Driven Programming Award from Home Forward in 2018. Laura is also an instructor at Mt. Hood Community College and received a distinguished teaching award in 2016. In her free time she loves to read, go on adventures with her family and friends, and explore the outdoors.

Andrea Lai | Cascadia Consulting Group

Andrea is an Associate at Cascadia Consulting Group. She conducts research, technical writing, and data analysis to support diversion projects, working to ensure that new plans and programs are well-supported by known best practices. Her work includes research and review of commercial and multifamily code from jurisdictions throughout the West Coast and analysis of multifamily program data to identify building characteristics and outreach activities that correlate to strong food waste collection system outcomes. Andrea has a BS in engineering from F.W. College of Engineering.

Leslie Lanzar  | Recology Western Oregon
LinkedIn

Leslie is a Waste Zero Specialist at Recology Western Oregon, since 2012. She is also an Oregon Green School Regional Coordinator and Washington County Master Recycler. She has a Bachelor of Science in social science from Portland State University. Leslie will be presenting video recordings of Elders from The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. The Elders will be telling stories about how they, or generations past, would reduce, reuse, and recycle. She is grateful to the Elders for allowing her the honor of sharing their wisdom at the AOR Conference.

Bernie Lee | Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries
LinkedIn

Bernie is the Commodities Research Analyst for the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), a nonprofit trade association representing the for-profit recycling industry. After joining the staff in the fall of 2016, he has pushed to expand ISRI’s market reporting and analysis on non-metallic recyclables and the international trade flows of scrap, establishing a database of international exports and imports of major scrap recyclables. Bernie enjoys speaking on the myriad of factors that play a role in the efficient functioning of scrap markets and has made presentations at the 2018 Fiber Recycling Course at Western Michigan University’s Pilot Plants and was a panelist on the future of recycling markets at the 2018 RISI Asian Conference in Shanghai, China.

Kristin Leichner | Pride Disposal (AOR Conference Chair)

Kristin is the President of Pride Disposal & Recycling Company, in Sherwood, Oregon. She has worked for Pride since 2004 and is the fourth generation of her family to work in the solid waste and recycling industry. Kristin was Secretary for the Association of Oregon Recyclers from 2012-2018 and is now serving on the board as the Conference Chair. Kristin is also Secretary of the board for the Oregon Refuse & Recycling Association (ORRA). 

Brennen Matherly | Strawless Oregon

Brennen is an 8th grade student from Eugene, Oregon. He started Strawless Oregon almost two years ago.

Strawless Oregon started as a classroom assignment to write a letter to the local paper’s editor and legislatures, and he chose un-recycled single-use plastic straw waste and their damage to marine life, people, and the environment.

Next he got his school and many friends and local businesses to commit to be plastic straw free. He volunteered at the Plastics Round Up last year and this year to help recycle plastics at the Lane County Glenwood station. Brennen worked alongside Master Recyclers to recycle and compost food and waste at the Piscah Mushroom Festival and Whitaker Thanksgiving Diner. He held a screening of STRAWS, the documentary about toxic single-use plastic waste at a local Eugene business, Bier Stein. He invited Lane Country Waste Management, Master Recyclers, BRING Recycling, and other breweries and distilleries that went strawless. Brennen created the #SUCKLESS movement with stickers, website, and social media. There were over a thousand concerned citizens that signed his petition to ban single-use plastic straws and make non-plastic straws on request only. He turned the petition signatures in and lobbied at the state capital to have non-plastic straws on request only. He continues to speak publicly at Eugene City Council for an ordinance and in Salem to State senators and legislatures to end automatically handing out plastic straws. Environment Oregon recognized his work as a concerned Oregonian and featured him and Strawless Oregon on their website.

Jon Mayer | Metro

Jon is the Education Programs Manager for Metro’s Property and Environmental Services and provides guidance and support for a range of youth and adult education/development programs focusing on resource conservation, garbage and recycling, toxics reduction, and career development programs. Jon has 18 years of experience leading youth and adult education programs with organizations such as University of Florida, Oregon State University, National 4-H Council, USDA, USFS, USFWS, and Oregon Department of Forestry.

Marta McGuire | Metro
LinkedIn

Marta is a principal planner for Metro, where she served as the project manager for the development of the 2030 Regional Waste Plan. She is also a faculty instructor in Portland State's Civic Leadership Minor, teaching classes in civic engagement and public service. She served two terms on the City of Wilsonville’s Planning Commission advising city council on legislative and land use matters. Marta holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning and is finishing her Ph.D. in public policy at Portland State University, writing a dissertation on how utilization of an equity lens may counteract planning practices that maintain inequities for historically marginalized communities.

Jenna McInnis | City of Kirkland
LinkedIn

Jenna is the Recycling Coordinator for the City of Kirkland, where she helps residents and businesses figure out how to reduce waste and recycle and compost the right way. She works directly with multifamily properties to improve services and increase recycling and composting. Jenna also serves on the board of the Washington State Recycling Association. Before joining City of Kirkland, worked with the King County Housing Authority. Jenna's background is in sustainability and urban planning, and she has degrees from the University of Washington and California Polytechnic State University.   

Rob Nathan | Metro
LinkedIn

Rob is a solid waste planner at Metro leading community engagement initiatives focused on reducing illegal dumping around the region. He also oversees Metro’s Community Enhancement Grants, a program designed to increase the benefits solid waste facilities offer their neighboring communities. Prior to working at Metro, Rob was a member of Metro’s Regional Waste Plan’s Equity Work Group where he helped develop the principles of the 2030 Regional Waste Plan. Rob has been working with nonprofits and government agencies to advance equity and sustainability for the past 10 years.

Gary Panknin  | PakTech
LinkedIn

Gary is the Sustainability Officer at PakTech, coordinating and driving initiatives, both internally and externally, related to environmental sustainability and serving as the lead spokesperson on quality, sustainability, and regulatory compliance. He is a successful business professional with a degree in business administration serving in numerous management roles for over 25 years in the plastics industry. It is Gary’s firm belief that a sustainable, healthy environment and economy are entirely possible and feasible with hard work, diligence, ingenuity, and the will to succeed.

Chris Parta | Parta Oregon, Inc.
LinkedIn

Chris is the founder and Principal of Parta Oregon, Inc., a government relations firm based in Beaverton, Oregon. As a government relations consultant, Chris represents a variety of clients including multiple environmental/natural resource organization and higher education faculty associations by advocating for them in the state legislature and administrative agencies. Chris began his government relations career working with C and E Systems and Kristen Leonard beginning in 2008 before opening his own firm in 2014. During his tenure at C and E Systems Chris worked with a wide array of clients including legal associations, environment groups, human service providers, and land use advocates, building lasting relationships with legislators and key policymakers in Oregon. Chris attended the University of San Diego where he graduated magna cum laude with a BA degree in ocean studies, emphasis in political science with a Pacific Rim focus. He has worked as a Sea Grant State Fellow in the California Senate, and IT administration and as a government contractor for the US Navy. In 2008 Chris graduated from Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, earning his Juris Doctorate with a certificate in environmental law. He is a current member of the Oregon State Bar Association.

Katie Pearmine | Oregon Food Bank
LinkedIn

Katie grew up on a farm in the North Willamette Valley, and has worked in agriculture since childhood. As the Strategic Sourcing Manager for Oregon Food Bank, Katie leads a team responsible for procuring food for people experiencing hunger in Oregon and Clark County Washington. Katie’s previous work includes: field work and outdoor education in rural Oregon, 10 years in publishing and marketing, and five years with Oregon Department of Agriculture. Katie spends her free time on food access and land use issues, and is chairing Oregon State University, Food Innovation Center’s advisory board and acting a Commissioner for Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development.

Pete Pearson  | World Wildlife Fund
LinkedIn

Pete is a Sr. Director and leads WWF work on food loss & waste, helping businesses and communities understand agriculture’s impact on wildlife and habitat conservation. Pete has 10 years of technology and grocery retail experience with companies including Hewlett-Packard, Accenture, and Albertsons; has worked with public schools and hospitals as a sustainability and zero waste consultant; co-founded a sustainable agriculture non-profit in Idaho; and co-produced a documentary film on local and regenerative agriculture. Pete currently lives in Washington, DC, and enjoys fly fishing, sailing, skiing, and exploring the outdoors with his family.

Pam Peck | Metro (AOR Legislative Chair)

Pam is the outgoing Legislative Chair for the AOR Board of Directors and previously served as AOR’s Education Chair. Pam works for Metro where she oversees waste reduction and recycling policy and planning projects. Prior to her current position, she managed communications and marketing for Metro’s waste reduction and recycling programs. Pam is a graduate of the University of Vermont where she studied political science and communications, and she recently completed Portland State University’s collaborative governance graduate certificate.

Alicia Polacok | City of Portland

Alicia has worked at the City of Portland for 16 years, where she is part of the sustainable communities’ team - engaging Portland residents through community building, events, tabling, social media, and publications. She works on Be Cart Smart, the curbside collection program; Resourceful PDX, a thoughtful consumption program; and Community Collection Events that offer funds to community groups for proper disposal of bulky household waste and recycling and reuse options. She also helps organize free repair café events with Repair PDX.

Eben Polk  | Clackamas County

Eben manages Clackamas County’s Sustainability and Solid Waste Program. We develop initiatives that reduce and prevent waste and lead the county’s efforts to tackle climate change and wasted food. Together with eight public libraries in the County, we are developing Libraries of Things. Eben has been an ecologist, environmental consultant, and policy analyst with diverse organizations such as the Nicholas Institute at Duke University and the UN Environment Program in Geneva. He enjoys camping and gardening with family, and is an enthusiast for local food, environmental ethics, and theology.

Wendy Popkin | Education Foundation, Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association

Wendy has a 35-year hospitality career which includes roles such as Director of Sales/Marketing for Timberline Lodge, Marketing Director for a multi-unit hotel and restaurant management company, and Convention Sales Manager for Travel Portland. She also owned a company whose focus included citing and opening new hotel and restaurants. As ORLAEF’s Executive Director, Wendy is involved with the Food Waste Stops with Me partnership in alignment with the nonprofit foundation’s mission, which is supporting the hospitality and tourism industry’s workforce educational opportunities and training needs.

Jocelyn Gaudi Quarrell​ | Go Box PDX

Jocelyn is the owner of GO Box, a reusable takeout food and drinkware service working to eliminate the need for single-use plastic disposables. After spending nearly a decade working on sustainable transportation solutions, including launching bike share programs across the U.S., Jocelyn is a believer in the positive power of sharing systems. She is excited to leverage that experience to help launch and scale GO Box-powered reuse systems around the world. Jocelyn is committed to building a triple bottom line business, utilizing the principles of circular and inclusive economies. GO Box is a 1% For the Planet business member and is working toward their B Corp certification. Jocelyn holds a BA in business administration and marketing from the St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas.

Eadaoin Quinn | EFS-plastics
LinkedIn

Eadaoin is the Director of Business Development and Procurement for EFS-plastics, a plastics recycling company focused on recycling #3-7 mixed plastics and plastic film. Eadaoin has worked in the recycling industry for the past eight years, formerly working with Sims Municipal Recycling in New York City and Canada Fibers in Toronto.

Jamie Rosenthal | Recology Ashland (AOR Regional Liaison - Southern Oregon)

Jamie is a lifelong Oregonian who grew up on the coast, and has lived in Southern Oregon for over two decades. She graduated from Southern Oregon University with a degree in communications. Jamie is a City of Ashland Conservation Commissioner and a Waste Zero Specialist for Recology. She is a 2019 CrossFit Open World Champion who lives in Ashland with her 12-year-old son, Jackson, her sweetheart, Rob, and her four-legged hiking friend, Saya.

Jay Simmons | NORPAC

Jay has worked for NORPAC for over 42 years. He started in the research & development department in Weyerhaeuser working on recycle and paper-making technologies and supporting new product development for the fine paper and newsprint business sectors. During the late 80s, he was a key technical resource on the design and startup team for the new NORPAC deink facility that started up in 1991. Additional lead for projects for the deink facility included the development of NORPAC raw material quality measurement practices and reporting criteria. Over the many years he has managed raw material purchases, quality, strategies, process improvement projects, cost reduction, and quality improvement. Current responsibilities include: Manager Packaging Product Development, interface to sales strategies for new grades, Manager Chain of Custody, environmental department support, technical process design support for planned new recycling facility, and process improvements & projects.

Vinod Singh | Far West Fibers (AOR Markets Chair)

Vinod is the Outreach Manager at Far West Recycling. Vinod has been working with the Far West Recycling team for 25+ years. Over the years, he has worked at and managed multiple Far West Recycling locations, learning company operations from the ground up as well as observing the industry and company from various perspectives. He serves on the Association of Oregon Recyclers Board as the Markets Chair. Far West Recycling operates three facilities in Oregon: two processing facilities that handle a variety of mixed and source segregated materials and a facility focusing on metals and electronics recycling.  

Peter Spendelow  | Oregon DEQ
LinkedIn

Peter first worked on litter and recycling issues through work on a Washington bottle bill initiative in 1978, conducting a litter study in Oregon and Washington in 1979, and as a founding board member of Washington Citizens for Recycling (now Zero Waste Washington) in 1980. For the past 34 years, Peter has been a natural resource specialist in what is now the Materials Management Program of DEQ, working on materials management issues, including DEQ’s Plastics Recovery Assessment Project in 2014.

Sanne Stienstra | Oregon DEQ

Sanne is a material recovery specialist with Oregon DEQ’s Materials Management Program, where she works on a range of projects, including multitenant recycling and food waste prevention. She enjoys working in sustainable materials management because of the potential to transform how society thinks about our use of natural resources and what it means to “live well.” Prior to joining DEQ in November 2018, Sanne was the green business coordinator for Washington County Solid Waste & Recycling for 3+ years. Sanne holds a master of public administration from the University of Washington and when she’s not at work, she volunteers as the board chair of the Bus Project, a nonprofit organization that increases youth access to democracy.

Holly Stirnkorb | Metro

Holly has two decades of experience working with the public and private sectors on a wide range of materials management issues. As a Senior Solid Waste Planner at Metro, the regional government in the Portland metropolitan area, she is responsible for leading projects, implementing policies, and collaborating with others to advance efforts to reduce food waste. Her work includes collaborative partnerships with industry and non-governmental organizations to connect food service businesses professionals to resources and technical assistance as well as the development of the Food Waste Stops With Me campaign. Holly has a degree in industrial engineering from Oregon State University.

Serilda Summers-McGee | Workplace Change, LLC

Serilda is the Owner of Workplace Change, LLC, a company that exists to help organizations achieve workplace excellence. She is also author of the book Change the Workgame: Building and Sustaining a Diverse Workforce, which instructs readers on the best and worst practices of recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce using case studies from Serilda’s consulting experiences.

Prior to launching her company, Ms. Summers-McGee held previous roles as the Human Resources and Workforce Development Director for the Portland Development Commission, Human Resources Director for the Oregon Department of Education, Talent Planning Manager at Kaiser Permanente Northwest, and she was the first executive director for Partners in Diversity, an affiliate of the Portland Business Alliance, where she worked with human resources departments at companies throughout the region on strategies to recruit and retain executives of color. She has more than 15 years of experience in government, higher education, and corporate environments with experience across a broad range of HR practices.

Ms. Summers-McGee received a Bachelor of Science degree from Grand Valley State University, a Master of Arts in student affairs administration from Ball State University, and a Master of Business Administration from Willamette University. She is a board member of Meals on Wheels Oregon, Stand for Children, and Willamette University’s Atkinson Business School. In 2014 she received the Portland Business Journal’s Forty Under Forty award for professional excellence, leadership, and community commitment. And in 2018 she received the Portland Business Journal’s Women of Influence Award for blazing a trail personally and professionally for other women to follow.

Lake Thelen | Metro

Lake works with Metro’s Property and Environmental Services Department as a secondary education specialist engaging middle and high school students in free, interactive presentations about waste reduction and recycling, natural resources, and climate change. Prior to Metro, Lake worked as an outreach educator with the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership’s outdoor and classroom programs, and has a medley of education experience in both formal and informal contexts including leading nature camps, mentoring youth, and teaching high school science in Spanish.

Angela Wallis | Seattle Public Utilities

Angela has been dedicated to waste prevention and recycling in Seattle since 2005. As a former sustainability manager for King County Housing Authority, she started one of the country's first comprehensive multifamily recycling programs for low-income residents. She joined Seattle Public Utilities in 2017 as senior program manager to help implement Seattle's solid waste collection contracts and ensure developer compliance with solid waste code for proposed buildings. Angela served on the WSRA board from 2010-2016. She has a BA in environmental studies from Dickinson College and an MPA from the University of Washington.

Scott Youngblood | Embassy Suites by Hilton Portland Washington Square
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Scott manages the Embassy Suites by Hilton Portland Washington Square, one of Oregon’s largest conference hotels. Scott and his team have been honored as leaders locally, regionally, and nationally for their sustainability and waste reduction efforts over the past five years. Examples include the segregation of 18,973 pounds of used bar soap and recyclable single-use plastic amenity bottles. These products are sent to Clean the World, who has converted them into 56,510 bars of recycled soap distributed worldwide to communities where infant and childhood mortality rates have improved 60% due to the efforts of Clean the World. Scott’s culinary and food service teams’ combined efforts to eliminate food waste from their compactor have resulted in annual waste reduction of 208 tons or 63%. And conferences held at Scott’s Portland-area hotel can receive a custom carbon saving report based on their use of low-waste catering menus, 100% post-consumer recycled banquet furniture, and conscientious efforts to divert as much as possible from the waste stream.