Get together, share ideas, listen, think, grow.

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People

Our current staff & directors

Staff
Cara Ungar

Executive Director

Alicia Crawford

Program Coordinator

Annie Kaffen

Program Coordinator

Carole Shellhart

Director of Finance and Operations

Eloise Holland

Communications and Development Coordinator

Jennifer Allen

Director of Programs

Kamla Hurst

Development Director

Kathleen Holt

Communications Director
Editor of Oregon Humanities magazine

Kristy Athens

Office Manager

Sarah Van Winkle

Program Coordinator

Directors
John Frohnmayer

Chair

Christine Dupres

Vice Chair

Paul Duden

Treasurer

Barbara Mahoney

Secretary

Sona Andrews

Ed Battistella

Stephen Beaudoin

Susan Cox

Miriam Feuerle

David Gutterman

Jeremy Kaye

Win McCormack

Robert Z. Melnick

Jennifer Viviano

Rich Wandschneider

Dave Weich

About us.

 

Oregon Humanities connects Oregonians to ideas that transform communities.

If you’ve ever learned something that motivated you to write a letter to the editor, volunteer for a nonprofit, start a book group, talk to a neighbor about something you don’t see eye to eye on, or treat someone more compassionately, you know how powerful ideas can be in changing your life and your community.

At Oregon Humanities, we bring Oregonians together to share ideas, to listen, think, and grow. We hope that this experience gives people pause, changes them, and helps them move forward, because a thoughtful, open, curious, active Oregon is also a healthy Oregon.

We value:

  • Curiosity
  • Creativity
  • Inquiry
  • Participation
  • Openness
  • Inclusiveness

Inside

 

Staff
Cara Ungar
Cara Ungar
Executive Director
c.ungar@oregonhumanities.org | 503-241-0543 x114

Cara has been executive director of Oregon Humanities since 2007. An avid bike commuter and wannabe avid yoga practitioner, Cara lives in North Portland with her two sons. Inspired by the power of conversation and ideas, she believes that the humanities can change the world.

Alicia Crawford
Program Coordinator
a.crawford@oregonhumanities.org | 503-241-0543 x117

Alicia joined Oregon Humanities in 2011 as a program coordinator supporting Happy Camp, Think & Drink, and Teacher Institutes. Alicia strives to integrate her work life with participation in movements for social change. She lives in Southeast Portland, protecting her herb gardens from her cartoonish terriers.

Annie Kaffen
Annie Kaffen
Program Coordinator
a.kaffen@oregonhumanities.org | 503-241-0543 x116

Annie joined the staff of Oregon Humanities in 2007. She coordinates the Conversation Project and provides support for public and responsive program grants. She lives in Southeast Portland with her husband, Aaron, and enjoys cooking and running.

Carole Shellhart
Carole Shellhart
Director of Finance and Operations
c.shellhart@oregonhumanities.org | 503-241-0543 x113

Carole’s position with Oregon Humanities combines the love of ideas, words, and logic that help define her. Following an upbringing in small-town Iowa, Carole graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute and started a balancing act of art, financial career, marriage, and motherhood. Twenty-five years ago, she moved to Oregon, where she fell in love with the varied landscape, met her husband, and started her family.

Eloise Holland
Communications and Development Coordinator
e.holland@oregonhumanities.org | x123

Eloise joined Oregon Humanities in 2011 and supports both the development and communications directors. She received her undergraduate degree from Emory University in Atlanta and her MFA in creative writing from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. She lives in Southeast Portland with her partner, Melissa.

Jennifer Allen
Jennifer Allen
Director of Programs
j.allen@oregonhumanities.org | 503-241-0543 x118

Jennifer has been with Oregon Humanities since 2004, first as education program director and currently as director of programs. She oversees all Oregon Humanities programming and is the primary contact for Think & Drink, Public Program Grants, and organizational partnerships. Jennifer lives in Northeast Portland but hits the road, and rivers, as often as possible.

Kamla Hurst
Kamla Hurst
Development Director
k.hurst@oregonhumanities.org | 503-241-0543 x111

Kamla Hurst joined Oregon Humanities in October 2009, bringing nearly ten years of experience raising funds for the arts and humanities in Chicago and the Pacific Northwest. As development director, she oversees all of the organization’s fundraising activities, including grant writing, special events, and donor and foundation relationships. She lives in North Portland with her husband, Mark, and energetic toddler, Lukas.

Kathleen Holt
Kathleen Holt
Communications Director
Editor of Oregon Humanities magazine
k.holt@oregonhumanities.org | 503-241-0543 x115

Kathleen has been with Oregon Humanities since 2001, first as the editor of Oregon Humanities magazine and then, in 2007, becoming communications director. In addition to editing the magazine, she oversees all of the organization’s communications efforts, including printed and online material, audience and media outreach, and marketing activities. She lives in Southeast Portland with her husband, Alex, and their young children, Stella and Emmett, in a century-old, always-under-construction house.

Kristy Athens
Office Manager
k.athens@oregonhumanities.org | (503) 241-0543 x110

Kristy has contributed to Oregon Humanities magazine since 2003 and joined the staff as office manager in 2011. She supports the executive director, board, and staff, and coordinates the State of Oregon’s Poet Laureate program. She is the author of Get Your Pitchfork On! A No-Romance Country Primer, forthcoming from Process Media.

Sarah Van Winkle
Sarah Van Winkle
Program Coordinator
s.vanwinkle@oregonhumanities.org | 503-241-0543 x112

Sarah Van Winkle has worked at Oregon Humanities since 2002, during which time she has supported programs by managing the office and been the project assistant for the re-publication of the Oregon Humanities book The First Oregonians. In 2008, Sarah was promoted to the position of program coordinator and now works on education programs. Sarah and her husband, Thomas, live in Southeast Portland with their dog, Persephone, and first child, Penelope Anne.

Directory

Links for this section

From the blog

 

Theater as an Act of Communion

June 03 2011
Kathleen Holt

The act of gathering together to worship is nothing new. Sometimes that worship takes the form of praising a higher power. Sometimes it takes the form of humans role-playing the lives of other humans. Portland... More

Getting to Know Our Places

May 27 2011
Kathleen Holt

In Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape, desire path is defined as “the route people have chosen to take across an open place, marking a human pattern upon a landscape.” Desire paths are... More

The Secret of Life

May 23 2011
Eric Gold

In Roald Dahl’s short story “The Hitch-Hiker,” the title character is coy about his line of work, initially telling the narrator only that he is in a skilled trade. “The secret of life,” the Londoner... More

Tireless Poetry Traveler

May 19 2011
Kathleen Holt

Paulann Petersen, Oregon’s poet laureate, has been on the road for nearly two weeks, traversing the state in an effort to visit as many communities during her tenure as possible.

Petersen was appointed to a... More

How We Got "Here"

May 16 2011
Kathleen Holt

People often ask how we come up with themes for Oregon Humanities magazine. We find inspiration everywhere, including in our own programs and those of other organizations. For instance, with the Fall/Winter 2011... More

Recommended

Selected by staff and colleagues 

The Wire

David Simon

The Wire

Picked by Annie Dubinsky, Program and Development Coordinator

Gilead

Marilynne Robinson

Gilead

Picked by Annie Dubinsky, Program and Development Coordinator

Border Café

Kambozia Partovi

Border Café

Picked by Jennifer Allen, Director of Programs

Bird by Bird

Anne Lamott

Bird by Bird

Picked by Raina Hassan, Communications Assistant

The Road

Cormac McCarthy

The Road

Picked by Annie Dubinsky, Program and Development Coordinator