Facilitators and Speakers

Facilitators

Jessica Mole Heilman

Executive Director, Center for Women's Leadership

Jessica Mole Heilman (she/her) joined the Center for Women’s Leadership team in 2020. As a first generation college graduate, born and raised in Cherry Grove Oregon, Jessica has dedicated her career to tenacious, student centric problem solving in complex organizations. Jessica is committed to organization culture and systems change work that utilizes strategies of co-creation, collective power, and non-extractive collaboration.

Prior to joining the CWL Team, Jessica worked with the Center for Public Service managing the Executive MPA program and Interim Coordination of The Executive Seminar Program in Natural Resource Management. In addition, Jessica has over a decade of experience in program development, collaborating on experiential learning for adult learners, and navigating chaotic programming environments.

Jessica holds an MS in Education: Education Leadership and Policy, specialization: Post-Secondary, Adult and Continuing Education concentration, certified in Teaching Adult Learners, and completed her B.S. in Health Studies all from Portland State University.

Jessica lives with her husband, baby and Squash the cat in Clackamas County. She is an outdoor enthusiast who loves spending time on her motorcycle, backpacking, kayaking, camping and meeting new people across the state.

Heidi

Executive Director, Rural Development Initiatives (RDI)

I'm the Executive Director at Rural Development Initiatives (RDI) where I have the privilege to work collectively with a vast network of rural people, one of the region’s best employee teams, and a web of committed partners to strengthen rural people, places, and economies in the Pacific Northwest.

I grew up in a rural logging town in Southern Oregon at the height of changes in the region’s timber industry that pitted various communities, industries, and interest groups against one another. I have passionately served rural communities for 23+ years and am particularly committed to broad and ongoing development of diverse, skilled, and connected local leaders as the “silver bullet” solution to rural economic and community revitalization. I advocate for the elevation of rural voices, increased rural investments and resources, and policies that specifically meet and address the unique needs and issues of rural communities.

My education is in Planning, Public Policy & Management, with an emphasis on rural development and nonprofit management. My experience includes facilitating the development of rural community visions and strategic plans; authoring and delivering RDI’s Rural Community Leadership program; starting and supporting a 600-person rural volunteer training corps; and launching the WealthWorks Northwest and RuraLead initiatives.

Vicki Reitenauer

Faculty Co-Director, Center for Women's Leadership

Associate Professor: Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies - Portland State University

Vicki Reitenauer joined the faculty of Portland State University in 2000 and teaches core and elective courses in the Women, Gender and Sexuality program, as well as Capstone service-learning courses in the University Studies program. Before coming to PSU, she worked as an advocate in the domestic violence field, a counselor and medical assistant in women's reproductive health clinics, and a sexuality and community health educator. The co-author of Learning through Serving: A Student Guidebook for Service Learning across the Disciplines (Stylus, 2005) and numerous articles on pedagogy, reflective practices, and service learning, Vicki also writes and publishes poetry and creative nonfiction, serves as a writing and creativity coach, and works as a freelance editor.

Kendra Schaffer

Program and Communications Coordinator, Rural Development Initiatives (RDI)

Kendra was born and raised in rural Oregon. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Willamette University in 2013. She has professional experience in youth programming and development, service learning, trip planning, social work and resource connection, wilderness therapy, and social media and web design. She continues to grow her interests in sustainable living and has an educational background in sustainable tourism and home horticulture. Kendra is excited to be a part of the Turn Up Your Voice team and looks forward to connecting with strong female leadership spanning across Oregon. She is an avid runner and outdoor enthusiast. She loves traveling, playing board games, and connecting with people through food.

2024 Guest Speakers

Dr. Elizabeth Marino

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; Associate Professor of Anthropology

Elizabeth Marino is an associate professor of anthropology and sustainability at Oregon State University - Cascades. Her research focuses on the relationships among climate change, vulnerability, slow and rapid onset disasters, human migration, and sense of place. She is also interested in how people make sense and meaning out of changing environmental and social conditions; and how they interpret and respond to risk. This includes how individuals and communities construct, use, and interpret information in the public square.

Elizabeth is co-founder of the Laboratory for the American Conversation: https://osucascades.edu/lac

She is a lead author on the forthcoming Fifth National Climate Assessment, and was a White House appointed scientist delegate at the Second Arctic Science Ministerial. She has worked with the Humboldt Forum in Berlin on representations of climate change and disasters, and has worked with the Emmet Environmental Law and Policy Clinic at Harvard Law on issues of environmental refugees and displaced peoples. Elizabeth has also worked with the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) on migration, climate change and humanitarian crisis issues. Her book "Fierce Climate, Sacred Ground: an Ethnography of Climate Change" was released in 2015.

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