Staff & Teams

Our team is small, but mighty! SVP Portland has a talented and dynamic group of people, working together to achieve our goals. Learn more about this dedicated team below.

  • As Executive Director of SVP Portland, Lauren leads a partnership of engaged professionals whose efforts go beyond traditional philanthropy. Prior to her appointment as Executive Director in 2019, Lauren was SVP’s Senior Vice President for Community Impact for seven years, where she was charged with providing strategic direction and oversight of SVP’s capacity building partnerships.

    Before joining SVP, Lauren was a Program Officer at Thrive Foundation for Youth (now King Philanthropies). Her focus was studying research on how to help young people thrive, translating it into practical application, and coaching youth development organizations on how to adopt best-practices on thriving. Lauren also brings experience as a Schools Uniting Neighborhoods (SUN) Program Manager, a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Case Manager, and as a Kindergarten teacher in Chile. Her Psychology degree from Williams College has been foundational to all of her work.

    Born and raised in Portland, Lauren has the pride and appreciation endowed from being a fourth-generation Oregonian. She believes our home is one the best places to live and work in the world, and one in which we must diligently invest for the success of future generations.

    When Lauren’s not hard at work for SVP, she’s usually hard at play in the beautiful Pacific NW. She’s passionate about distance running, hiking, road biking and camping in the summer months; when the rain arrives, you’ll still find her running in elite races across the U.S., as well as reading, baking, cross-country skiing or traveling internationally.

    Contact Lauren

  • Carolina was born in Mexico City, raised in Guanajuato, and she moved to Oregon in 2012 to complete the second year of her Master’s degree at Southern Oregon University. She started her career as a mental health counselor, providing support to families with children with disabilities living in poverty and later to high school students. She worked as a behavioral health coach at a rural federally-qualified health center, serving low income people, Latinx, and undocumented communities living with chronic health and mild mental health conditions. She became a wellness program manager in 2015, developing an integrative medicine program that provides holistic healthcare services.

    In 2018-2022, Carolina served as the Chief Operating Officer at Hacienda CDC, a Latino-led Community Development organization and one of our Community Partners. In that role, she oversaw the operations necessary to drive the activities of the organization that include affordable housing development, homeownership support, economic advancement, early childhood, and educational opportunities. She also founded her own coaching and consulting business to support leaders and nonprofit organizations committed to social justice. She is well-versed in understanding community needs and driving programs that advance diversity, equity, and inclusion.

    Carolina enjoys spending time with her young daughter, Yara, and smooching her little cheeks, as well as walks in nature, watching horror shows, dancing and exploring Portland’s gastronomic, arts, and music scenes.

  • Jenn Luevano-Brummett was born in the small fisherman village of Winchester Bay, Oregon. Community leadership, popular education, and restorative justice have been the cornerstones of her career. Throughout university, she led and participated in multiple service learning trips to India, China, and Central America. After completing her undergrad with a double major in Spanish and Social Science she moved to Nicaragua and worked as a service learning coordinator. Shortly after Nicaragua, Jennifer embarked on a journey around the world to dive deeper into what it meant to be a global citizen.

    Currently, Jenn is pursuing a Master’s in Conflict Resolution and has just graduated with a certificate in Collaborative Governance at PSU. Jenn is a trained equity-based mediator and brings a foundation of non-violent peacebuilding and de-escalation tools in the face of conflict. In her free time you can find her pursuing a certification as a yoga teacher, writing her thesis at local coffee shops and dancing the night away. She is a proud adventure cat mama and a dedicated life long learner.

  • Ursula joined SVP in July 2023 as the Encore Program Coordinator, and has since expanded her role to also grow our resources through leadership of SVP's Partner recruitment and engagement.

    Previously, Ursula worked in Human Resources in the tech sector for almost 25 years, including most recently as a Talent & Diversity Manager, a Leadership Development coach, and the Director of Manager Experience programs. Ursula’s nonprofit experience includes prior and current service on the Board of Trustees of the Oregon French International School, where she has previously served as Secretary, Vice-Chair, and Chair.

    Ursula was born and grew up in South Africa, before moving to France and then the United States in pursuit of graduate studies. She came to Oregon in 1996 and now considers herself a real Oregonian, from her love of rainy weather and forest hikes to her obsession with Birkenstocks. Her two children were born in Portland, and now attend the University of Oregon in Eugene. They do their best to keep up with their mom’s many projects, including flower arranging, art, home remodeling, baking, cooking, and reading.

    Contact Ursula

  • Dylan joined SVP Portland in the spring of 2022. As Relationship Manager, Dylan focuses on attracting and stewarding our Partners who enable our capacity-building work. Through regular contact and the cultivation of authentic personal relationships, he helps Partners identify and achieve their goals for connection, learning, engagement, and impact. He was drawn to SVP because he found alignment with our values and wants to contribute to the success of our mission to build community capacity to solve problems together.

    Dylan brings decades of sales, marketing, and management experience to SVP, having previously worked at AT&T, Midland Manufacturing, and EOS North America. He also has a broad range of skills and interests that connect him to Portland and the work we do at SVP Portland, including event production, community development, and project coordination. Dylan founded a nonprofit arts organization, Paint the Town, that builds diverse community and economic opportunities for artists through intersectional creative collaborative projects and events.

    Dylan is a fourth generation Portlander, a proud father of two daughters, and an active resident of the Old Town Chinatown community. When not hard at work at SVP, Dylan can usually be found attending or helping produce local music and art events, or strolling the streets of Downtown Portland where he loves spending free time thinking, dreaming, and finding inspiration in the city and its beauty.

    Contact Dylan

  • LB joined SVP Portland in the fall of 2022. As Finance & Operations Manager, LB manages our financial systems and operational needs to ensure we have systems, processes, and reporting in place to carry out our mission and support our nonprofit partners.

    LB recently left the Oregon Symphony where she fulfilled controller functions and played a key role in operationalizing and formalizing processes, as their Director of Business Operations. Before she moved to Portland in June of 2019 for this position, she was the Director of Finance and Operations at the Oregon Symphony in Salem. She has an MBA in Strategy and Management, and experience in bookkeeping, business modeling, and technology management gained through twenty years of experience across sectors. LB also has experience in anti-racism work, and is committed to approaching projects with a DEI mindset.

    LB loves listening to loud music while cooking really elaborate meals. She also enjoys playing long and complicated tabletop board games like Terraforming Mars and Wingspan. She is a diehard Seattle Seahawks fan, and when she isn’t being an active 12th Man, she creates abstract art for fun.

    Contact LB

  • Ebony Ross, SHRM-CP, is the Managing Principal and Founder of Mesh Business Advisors. A New York based bookkeeping and human resources management agency. Ebony is a seasoned professional with a diverse skill set spanning multiple domains. With a decade of experience in bookkeeping, she has honed her expertise in financial management and record-keeping. As a member of the National Association of Bookkeepers, she stays updated with industry best practices and standards.

    In addition to her proficiency in bookkeeping, Ebony brings over 15 years of experience as a Human Resources Generalist. Her extensive background in HR equips her with a deep understanding of employee management, compliance, and organizational development.

    Furthermore, Ebony is a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, demonstrating her proficiency in utilizing QuickBooks software to streamline financial processes and enhance efficiency. With her comprehensive skill set and dedication to excellence, Ebony Ross is a valuable asset in both financial and human resources management.

    Ebony serves on 5 Advocacy groups, mentorship programs and leaderships councils. She is a member of the Minority Technology Mentors Initiative, the New York Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs group as well as HR Think Tank NYC and the former co-chair for the NY Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (NYSHRM) Diversity Equity and Inclusion Special Interest Group. She also devotes 50 hours a month in local community-based outreach. She also helps her local community through business awareness meetups and webcasts exploring the resources open to small local businesses of color to grow and scale thereby upbuilding the community.

  • Margaret joined SVP in October 2023 as an Encore Program Coordinator, facilitating matches and managing the relationships between Cogenerate Encore Fellows and nonprofit host organizations.

    Margaret worked in the tech sector for more than 25 years, having had 17 roles across eight business groups. Most recently, she was an HR Leadership Partner, responsible for executive talent planning and implementing strategies for the talent planning process. She is also an entrepreneur–she created a small business that designs and sews bridal gowns, and she later added a retail business that has supported hundreds of weddings over 17 years. Margaret is passionate about life-long development of herself and others, and she is a professionally certified Leadership & Transition Coach.

    Margaret earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business & Administrative Studies at Lewis & Clark College, an Entrepreneurial MBA at Babson College’s Olin School of Business, and a Strategic Decision Making & Risk Management Certificate at Stanford University.

    Margaret is a self-described “Renaissance Woman, talent architect, life-long learner, and systems thinker.” She is a part of a very musical family–she plays flute, cello, and piano, and sings in the St. James Cathedral Women's choir. She is a marathon and ultramarathon runner, and just completed her 273rd marathon/ultra distance! Her other superpowers include parallel parking, sense of direction, puzzles of all kids, and sewing!

    Contact Margaret

  • For his Encore Fellowship with SVP Portland, Scott is leading SVP Portland’s Business Model Dynamic Team, which is reviewing and assessing our current resource generation strategies – both financial and human. Based on their findings, he and the team will make recommendations on how to innovate and update our business model to maintain a strong financial position and build the Partner power that allows us to invest in our Community Partners and high-performing staff.

    Scott recently retired from the tech sector after more than 30 years in senior leadership positions. He earned his MBA from the University of Oregon and his undergraduate finance degree from Brigham Young University. His professional experience includes setting ambitious goals, establishing effective strategies, creating powerful partner plans, building healthy teams, developing deep relationships, and delivering outstanding results. He has worked on overseas assignments in Japan, Europe, Mexico, and Central America. He also had a stint as a small business owner. He is dedicated to serving the community as a volunteer and on advisory boards, and he enjoys outdoor activities like boating with his family.

    Contact Scott

Teams

In 2022, we evolved our governance structure beyond the Board of Directors to decentralize our decision-making, be inclusive of diverse lived experiences, and share power with community leadership in meaningful ways.

Decision-making power is vested in standing teams that engage subject-matter experts relevant to the issue. This allows our teams to be collaborative, nimble, and responsive to both organizational and Community Partner needs. 

The Board of Directors provides leadership for SVP Portland’s mission to mobilize the time, money, and influence of our Partnership for investment in our community. They focus on strategic priorities to move the organization forward. Five to eight Directors serve either one- or three-year terms (determined at election), staggered to maintain continuity.

The Equity Team (also known as “E-Team”) is focused on culture-building to more deeply integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion into SVP’s identity and operations. The Equity Team is composed of an Equity Learning Cohort that meets regularly for meaningful discussions, and an Equity Action Team that helps provide perspective and make key decisions in the organization as necessary.

The Portfolio Management Team makes decisions about who we partner with in the community and how we allocate resources to those partners. They oversee and monitor SVP’s capacity building investment portfolio, including stewardship of time, expertise, dollars, and influence.

The Marketing & Development Team helps plan strategy for communications and fundraising, ultimately ensuring that how we talk about SVP Portland is accurate, accessible, and compelling.

The Finance Team is accountable for the prudent monitoring and stewardship of SVP Portland’s financial position and resources. They review monthly financial reporting, and help improve procedures and practices.