Staff profiles

HOMER WILLIAMS CHAIRMANOREGON HARBOR OF HOPE Homer Williams has been engaged in real estate development for more than forty years. He has been instrumental in the success of the Pearl District and South Waterfront redevelopment projects in Portland, Oregon, as well as numerous development projects in downtown Los Angeles, California. Over the past decade, Homer and his affiliated companies have developed over $2.5 billion worth of real estate. Homer’s unique skills sets include the ability to form instrumental public/private partnerships. This includes the South Waterfront Central District partnership between North Macadam Investors, Oregon Health & Science University and the City of Portland, which has led to the largest urban development in the State of Oregon’s history. Homer also sits on the board of the Oregon Harbor of Hope, a non-profit organization created to address the rapidly raising population of homeless people in Portland.  Homer was born in Walla Walla, Washington and raised in La Grande and Portland, Oregon.

With years (and years and years) of consumer and business-to-business marketing experience, Laurie has been responsible for creating and delivering marketing and advertising campaigns, developing launch strategies, building new product teams, managing co-marketing engagements, and developing innovative customer strategies for some of the most exciting companies in Oregon, including Intel, Nike and Tektronix. Laurie is known for creating unique, never-seen-before marketing campaigns, all geared to deliver a memorable customer experience.  With industry experience in marketing, advertising, sales, product development, training, and customer service, Laurie focuses on integrating the entire business process from idea creation to connecting with the customer. After retiring from Intel, Laurie turned her adjunct teaching role into a fulltime Executive in Residence position at George Fox University. She has been at George Fox for over 9 years and loves being in the classroom and working with students to prepare their journey from the classroom to the conference room.  She has created curriculum for several classes within GFU’s College of Business, including Introduction to Business, Principles of Marketing, Marketing Communications, Marketing Research, Consumer Behavior, Product Development, Entrepreneurship, Consumer Engagement, “Intern U”, and “Idea Ninjas”.  At home, Laurie surrounds herself with her family, friends and two adorable Golden Retrievers. And, whenever the opportunity arises, you will see her speaking at conferences and marketing events, including New York Ad Week, IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) Summit, New York University, Intra.NET Reloaded Berlin, and more.

Board Member since 2016 Paula Stewart, a native of Massachusetts, received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Art Education from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst), post graduate work in Art Therapy at Pratt Institute in New York and a Master of Arts degree from the George Washington University in the District of Columbia, with a Therapeutic Recreation major and a concentration in Gerontology.  Prior to managing both the Sherwood Senior Center in Sherwood and the Juanita Pohl Center in Tualatin for the Meals on Wheels People, Paula was the Director of Adult Services for the Mittleman Jewish Community Center in Southwest Portland and had also worked for the Urban League of Portland to establish their first Senior Center in Northeast Portland.  She is currently employed by the City of Hillsboro as the Manager of the award winning Hillsboro Community Senior Center. Throughout her career with older adults, she has consistently demonstrated great leadership along with innovative partnership. She has a talent for addressing difficult situations while strongly advocating for equitable outcomes. Since relocating to Oregon many years ago, Paula channeled her creative energies into her work as a Fiber Artist with specific interest in liturgical handweaving. She has received well deserved recognition locally and internationally for her exhibited work and has been a published author as well as a commissioned artist. You can often see how her creativity transcends into her everyday career and personal life. She is excited to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Rice Museum.