SVP ANNOUNCES FOUR NEW PARTNER FELLOWS

Corporate Executives and Business Owner to serve Friends of the Children, Impact Northwest, The Shadow Project and PSF’s Cradle to Career Partnership.

PORTLAND, OR. – August 25, 2011.

Paul Speer, Fellows Program Director, is pleased to pre-announce to our Partners that SVP has placed its next four Partner Fellows.

  • Bonnie Gilchrist joined the team at The Shadow Project on August 1 in the role of Communications & Resources Director. She is being sponsored through an anonymous private Fellows program donor.
  • Jim Agin will begin his Fellowship with The Portland Schools Foundation’s Cradle to Career Partnership September 15 in the role of Continuous Improvement Facilitator. He is being sponsored by SVP as one of its first investments supporting its 2021 Community Goal of ensuring all Portland-area kids are prepared for Kindergarten.
  • Eileen Drake will be the Strategic Planning Manager at Impact Northwest starting October 1 and will be sponsored by PCC Structurals, Inc.
  • Wendy Weissman will be joining the team at Friends of the Children on October 11 in the role of Human Resources Fellow. Her former employer, Hewlett Packard Company (HP) has been a founding sponsor of the fellowship program.

The addition of these Fellows takes this year’s cohort of SVP Partner Fellows to seven following the placement of former Hewlett Packard professionals Cheryl Edmonds and Matt Reimann at Metropolitan Family Service (MFS) and New Avenues for Youth, respectively.

Learn more about the new Fellows:

  • Jim Agin has lived in the Portland area for over 30 years and views the Pacific Northwest as home. Jim’s professional background includes management of development teams, partner programs and customer technical support. Jim also has extensive international experience supporting customers and partner companies throughout Asia and Europe. Jim’s career included time at Intel, Integrated Measurement Systems, Credence Systems and Verigy. Jim volunteers as a coach at Oregon Technology Business Center (OTBC). Jim has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and an MBA in Technology Management. Jim recently obtained his Six Sigma Black Belt certification. Jim and his wife enjoy camping, hiking, traveling and spending time with family and friends.
  • Eileen Drake has been a familiar face in the Portland business scene for many years as the Vice President of Administration and Legal Affairs at PCC Structurals, Inc. and significant roles with Portland Business Alliance and Oregon Business Council. At PCC Structurals, Eileen has been responsible for human resources, safety, environmental and legal matters. Prior to serving in this position, she was a partner with Stoel Rives LLP and was named in The Best Lawyers in America. Eileen has worked with non-profit organizations for over 40 years as an employee, board member, pro bono lawyer, and trainer, mostly related to at-risk and disadvantaged youth. She serves on the Board of DeLaSalle North Catholic High School and Portland Business Alliance and has served as Board Chair for Morrison Child and Family Services and a Director of Riverdale School District. He earned her Juris Doctorate from University of Michigan and a bachelors degree from Mundelein College in Chicago. She also completed the “Governing for Nonprofit Excellence” series with Harvard Business School’s Executive Education Program.
  • Bonnie Gilchrist, most recently president and creative director of Gilchrist & Associates, a marketing communications firm, has spent more than 30 years in advertising and public relations. After several years with agencies in Seattle and Portland, she established her own firm with clients ranging from small start-ups to Fortune 500, assisting them with strategic marketing plans and the creation of everything from corporate identities and packaging to all forms of collateral, advertising campaigns, website development, annual reports, tradeshows and event management. Active in the nonprofit community, she has served on the board of several organizations focused on creating opportunities for children and in support of the arts. She has also been a member of the adjunct faculty at Portland State University and Marylhurst University.
  • Wendy Weissman, originally from Palm Springs, California, moved to Eugene, Oregon, where she raised her daughter and managed a series of large research projects focused on children, families and high risk behavior at the Oregon Research Institute.. As her daughter graduated from high school, Wendy moved to New England for a six-year series of HR assignments with General Electric in their Aircraft and Plastics businesses, focused on process improvement, leadership and team development. Wendy later returned to the northwest to work for HP in their Inkjet Supplies business in Corvallis and then the Inkjet Printer Group in Vancouver, Washington. During her 10 years with HP, she provided coaching and facilitation to engineering and marketing teams for new market and product explorations. Since leaving corporate life in 2004, Wendy has been an organizational and management consultant for a variety of for-profit and non-profit organizations in the region. Along the way a mid-life romance resulted in her marriage to Michael and a new blended family. Wendy loves to cook, is an avid container gardener and in the summer months can be seen running errands in her NW neighborhood on her scooter. Wendy holds a BA in Psychology from San Diego State University, where she also did graduate work in Clinical Psychology. She has an MS in Industrial Relations from the University of Oregon, and has been an adjunct instructor and guest lecturer in the U of O’s Lundquist School of Business.

The Partner Fellowship program drives deeper impact in our portfolio of nonprofit Investees and areas of community concern. The program connects retiring or retired business professionals with nonprofit organizations for a paid fellowship to manage a high-impact, high-priority project in the organization. The Fellows program adds considerable heft to SVP’s dual mission of strengthening local nonprofits to better serve vulnerable children and youth and of promoting engaged philanthropy. By leveraging the Encore Fellowship Network’s successful model, SVP maximizes its unique local impact while benefiting from a broader network of operators.

Learn more at our Partner Fellows webpage or contact Paul Speer, Partner Fellows Program Director, at paul[at]svpportland.org or 503-222-0114.


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