Les Perkins

Chair

Les grew up in rural Hood River county and attended Hood River Valley High School. He is in his sixth term as a Hood River County Commissioner, having served since 2001. He represents the rural south end of Hood River county. He has a background in water resources, energy, and timber related issues. Les is the General Manager of the Farmers Irrigation District which serves about 6,000 acres of farmland in lower Hood River Valley. The irrigation district has in-conduit hydropower which combines two of Les’s passions: wise use and stewardship of water resources and small-scale renewable energy/community-based energy. He is also enthused about local programs that expose middle school students to career opportunities in natural resource related fields.

Prior to managing the Farmers Irrigation District, Les worked as a Business Development Director for the Farmers Conservation Alliance for 10 years, and, prior to that, as a microbiologist for Wyeast Laboratories for over 10 years. He is a graduate of Lewis & Clark College with a BS in Biology. Les's past board experience includes: Board Chair of Community Renewable Energy Association (2015 to present), Mid-Columbia Housing Authority (2001-2018), Mid-Columbia Economic Development District (2001-present) and Mid-Columbia Council of Governments (2010-2016).

Sarah Gray

Vice Chair

After growing up in Massachusetts, California, and Arizona, Sarah is happy to have planted roots in Oregon. For more than a decade, she has been working and playing at the intersection of people and the outdoors. Some of her professional roles include educator, interpreter, program coordinator, evaluator, and administrator across the non-profit, state government, and federal government sectors. Currently, Sarah serves as a Program Assistant with the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Portland, OR-Vancouver, WA Urban Refuge Program. She has been supporting the Gray Family Foundation’s Environmental Education Program as a grant reviewer since 2015. Sarah lives in the Portland area with her husband, two young kids, and a rambunctious shepherd mix. On the weekends you can find her playing outside, reading, walking her dog, practicing yoga, or trying a new recipe.

Zavier Borja

Treasurer & Secretary

Zavier Borja, who goes by Zavi, is a first-generation Mexican-American, born in Redmond, OR, grew up in Madras, and currently lives in Bend. Zavi is an outdoor enthusiast, a brother, a son, an advocator, and a community connector. He founded the non-profit Vámonos Outside and the local chapter of Latino Outdoors. He has the pleasure of serving as an elected official for Bend's local Parks District (Bend Parks and Recreation District) as well as a handful of other boards and committees. His educational background consists of a B.A. in Management and Organizational Leadership from George Fox University and Piloted Oregon State University's Outdoor Leadership Certificate - Outdoor Leadership & Economics. Currently, Zavi works for the City of Bend as the Community Relations Manager.

Traci Rossi

Traci is the Executive Director of Friends of the Children-Portland. Traci, who was born and raised in Oregon, has over 20 years of nonprofit leadership experience with an emphasis in education, community outreach, and service to girls, women, children, and families. Traci was recently named a 2020 Woman of Influence by the Portland Business Journal. She volunteers on local boards in alignment with her personal and professional commitment to youth success and equitable access to services and systems to foster a more equitable Oregon. Traci currently sits on the Oregon State Bar’s Board of Governors, The Gray Family Foundation Board, is a founding member of the Women’s Foundation of Oregon Board and an American Leadership Forum Fellow.

Lisa J. Watt

A lover of art and history, Lisa started her professional career 40 years ago in the world of museums. After a stint at the Smithsonian Institution, she landed in Oregon on the Warm Springs Reservation in 1990, where she helped raise the money to open The Museum at Warm Springs. Oregon has been her home ever since. For nearly two decades, she was an independent consultant working with Indigenous communities and museums across the country. In 2018, Lisa became the director of the Indigenous Leadership Program at Ecotrust where she elevated the many contributions and achievements of Indigenous communities and tribal leaders from northern California to southeast Alaska through the Indigenous Leadership Awards. A passion for storytelling led her to create a companion webinar series about the impact of Indigenous leadership and feature several truly inspiring tribal leaders as speakers. Currently, she serves on the board of the Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts and the Native advisory boards of the Portland Art Museum and Nesika Wilamut. She is a former board member of the Oregon Historical Society and the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute as well. An enrolled citizen of the Seneca Nation of Indians, Lisa’s home is the Allegany Reservation in western New York State, but she resides in Portland with her husband, Joel. She loves the rain.

Jon Finney

Based in the Portland metro area since 2001, Jon presently serves as a Managing Director of Research within the US Wealth division of the Bank of Montreal. He formerly served on the Finance & Investment Committee of the Gray Family Foundation, from 2014 to 2022. He has spent multiple decades researching public and private investment opportunities globally. He developed his firm’s impact investing practice and within that context, worked closely with the State of Oregon to align its investments with its mission of enhancing the economy statewide. He has remained actively involved with the Oregon Capital Scan - a biennial report on the accessibility of capital to Oregon businesses - since its inception in 2012. Jon received a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Davis and holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation.