About Us - Meet the staff
Please contact the staff at (503) 335-8202 or e-mail info@jvcnorthwest.org with any questions, comments, or for more information about Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC) Northwest!
STEPHANIE BARR, Lead Area Director
After graduating from Santa Clara University in California with a degree in Philosophy she began her journey with JVC Northwest. In 2002-2003 she volunteered as a Women and Children’s Advocate at the Domestic Violence Resource Center in Hillsboro, OR. A year together wasn’t enough, and Stephanie left for Bethel, Alaska with three of her community members to do a second year, where she ran a recreation program for adults with developmental disabilities and mental illness. From Alaska she moved to Dublin, Ireland to study Gender Studies at Trinity College. This is her fourth year working with JVC Northwest and she is excited to continue being a companion to volunteers. In her spare time, she reads, knits, and hikes. To get to know Stephanie better, speak to her in Italian, invite her to play Euchre, or ask her about my beloved dog Tulip!
BRUCE BROWN, Area Director
Bruce spent the majority of his youth in Colorado and Alberta. From Colorado, he followed his sense ofadventure to the California coast. After receiving his education in English and history, he traveled to Alaska to join a JV community in Juneau, Alaska. It was in this physical and social environment that he began to truly appreciate his connection with everything around him. The ecological beauty he found there taught him hisresponsibility to a larger community. His exposure to a second year of JVC Northwest in Portland, Ore., added to his passion for adventure and appreciation for peace and justice. He is the area director for Ashland, Billings, Hays and Missoula, MT communities.
DIANE BLANKENSHIP, Business Coordinator
Diane was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and lived there until she was a freshman in high school when her familymoved to North Dakota. She graduated from high school in North Dakota and came to college at the University of Portland, where she met her future husband, Larry. They were married after her junior year. Together they have five children and three grandchildren, all of whom live close to them. Diane's position at JVC Northwest for the last 3 years has been and continues to be challenging, both in stretching boundaries and using many of her skills. She does a myriad of tasks including bookkeeping, ordering supplies, updating the database, orienting new employees to the office and doing most of the human resource paperwork. She shares that it continues to be a great place to work.
RACHEL FORTE, Recruiter
Rachel is a northwest native; one of the few on staff! She grew up skinning her knees on hikes throughout the western part of Washington State and attended an all female catholic high school in Portland, Oregon where her interest in history, philosophy and spirituality was nurtured. After graduating from Gonzaga University with degrees in History and Philosophy, Rachel began a year of service with JVC Northwest in Billings, Montana. Montana was the perfect setting for a year which deepened her appreciation for the nature world and social and ecological justice. The opportunity to travel the country and share experience and the gifts of a commitment to the four values of JVC Northwest drew Rachel to the recruiting position after she completed her JV year. The relationships she formed and the community she built with staff, faculty, and young people on campuses and the FJVs who offered her their couches or spare bedrooms are what kept her on staff for a second year of recruiting for JVC Northwest.
JEANNE HASTER, Executive Director
Jeanne is happy to be starting her sixth year with JVC Northwest as Executive Director! Her JVC Northwest journeybegan in 1981-82 when she was a JV in Fort Worth, TX working with undocumented workers, families and women at a Latino community center. Her husband, Jim, and her were Support People for a San Antonio JV Community and she served very briefly on the JVC: South Board of Directors. Her family is a great support to JVC Northwest as well – they include Jim, and her children, Katie and Ben. Jeanne's life has been changed by many years of living, working with and learning from Indigenous people in Guatemala and Australia and refugees from Central America and around the world; earning two masters degrees in the Theologies of Justice and Peace from Maryknoll School of Theology in New York; and teaching - all ages from junior high social studies to post graduate theology courses. She shares, "JVC Northwest is part of the transformation we need in our world and I’m excited to be a part of it!"
EMILY JENDZEJEC, Area Director
My story starts in a small seaside town in the great state of Maine. It was onthesnowy mountains andalong the rocky coast that my love for the outdoors blossomed growing up near the "other Portland". Drawn to the Jesuit tradition through my involvement with my high school youth ministry, I decided to attend Boston College. It was at BC that my eyes were opened to the radical messages of liberation theology and the peace movement. Experiencing intentional community through the Catholic Worker and Agape Communities in Massachusetts, I wanted to go deeper with my call to service and faith through action. I served as a Jesuit Volunteer in Sacramento, California working with children in an emergency transitional school setting. After my year in Sacramento, I spent time teaching in Guatemala. I joined the JVC Northwest Staff in June 2008 and feel so lucky to have the privilege of working with the communities of Omak, Boise, and Spokane. Outside of work, I am always up for a bike ride, love to go hiking, and find joy in gardening, dancing, and bluegrass music.
SARAH KINSEL, Area Director
Sarah grew up in the Midwest, formed for service and loving justice by her Church of the Brethren heritage andQuakereducation. After college, eager for adventure, she moved to Portland, Ore., for two years of AmeriCorpsservicedoing environmental restoration and education. These years were filled with experiments in simple living and ever-deepening discoveries of interconnection. While seeking tools to heal the world and make it whole, she went back to Indiana, to earn a master 's degree in divinity at Earlham School of Religion. She sees poetry as a vehicle for transforming the human heart, and loves to read and write with others for the empowerment of all. New to JVC Northwest in July 2007, Sarah is excited to serve as the area director for Portland Morris and Gresham, OR and Yakima, WA communities.
LYDIA MANN, Development Coordinator
A loyal New Englander, Lydia moved to Portland for an adventure after graduating from Smith College with a degree inAfro-American Studies and a minor in Sociology. With a long history of volunteer work with AIDS prevention groups, equal marriage rights, and at-risk youth, she is a firm believer in the power of fundraising as the foundation for all good service work. She has enjoyed her first year at JVC Northwest and she is looking forward to the second! When not in the office, she can be found at various Portland city parks and potlucks.
MARTHA MCELLIGOTT, Administrative Assistant
A native Oregonian and sister of a former JV, Mary Pat McElligott (Nome, Alaska. 1976 to 1978), graduated from the University of Portland with a bachelor's degree in social work with minors in gerontology and theology. She comes to JVC Northwest with a history of working with the frail, elderly, disabled and low-income populations. When not at work, she enjoys reading cookbooks, cooking, sewing, engaging in outdoor activities and being involved in the kids' school. She and her husband try to keep up with their very active children, Zach and Zoey.
LEAH NUSSE, Recruitment and Alumni Coordinator
Leah's childhood was spent in Montana’s largest city: Billings. She was first introduced to Jesuit spirituality whilepursuing her undergraduate degree in Public Relations at Gonzaga University. The Jesuit values instilled in her through college sparked her interest in service and inspired her to spend one year as an AmeriCorps volunteer, doing public relations work for a nonprofit family center in Spokane, WA. After that, Leah worked with college students at the University of Portland, serving in different roles for both the Office of Residence Life and the Office of Career Services. Currently, she is a board member for Portland’s Community Nonprofit Resource Group (CNRG), as well as a marketing outreach committee member. To know her better, ask her about her husband John, her son Joey, her love of violin, tennis, the great outdoors, and good coffee.
JAMIE SMELAND, Area Director
Jamie grew up all over the U.S. and graduated from Saint Louis University in Missouri with bachelor’s degrees in Spanish, Sociology, and International Studies. She was a Jesuit Volunteer (JV) in Portland, OR from 2006-2007, serving at Proyecto UNICA as an advocate for Latina survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Since completing her JV year, she has worked as an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse, coordinated benefit events for JVC Northwest, facilitated support groups for youth in the Dominican Republic, and assisted at a drop-in center for individuals living on the street. She loves being active outside and sharing meals with friends, and she is working towards her Registered Yoga Teacher certification. She shares that she is honored to be a part of the dynamic JVC Northwest community as the area director for the Anchorage, Bethel, Juneau, and Sitka, AK communities.
BRETT UHLER, Area Director
Brett was born in Chicago and spent his youth in the ‘Land of Lincoln’ before travelling to California to play soccer at the University of California Santa Cruz. He graduated from UCSC with a BA in Community Studies and a focus on health care inequalities. This program emphasized the theory and practice of social justice, providing an opportunity for independent field study, and led him to Montana to work for the Helena Indian Alliance as a Patient Advocate. After moving back to California and graduating from UCSC, he worked for the California Prison Health Care Receivership serving California’s overflowing inmate population and their right to quality, accessible healthcare. Brett has since traveled extensively through Asia and Eastern Europe, organized for political campaigns, and worked on wild land fire crews in Montana. He shares that he is thrilled to be the new JVC area director for the Seattle Mercy, Seattle Cherry Abbey, and Tacoma, WA communities.
