Les Perkins

Chair

Les grew up in rural Hood River County and attended Hood River Valley High School. He was appointed to the Oregon Public Utility Commission by Governor Tina Kotek in February 2024. Prior to his appointment, he represented the rural south end of Hood River County as a Hood River Country Commissioner since 2001. He has a background in water resources, energy, and timber related issues. Les was previously 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. Les also 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 (2001-2024) 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 is currently the Destination Stewardship Director for Visit Bend. Zavi previously served the Oregon Governor’s Office as the Regional Solutions Coordinator, where he advanced cross-sector partnerships to address complex regional challenges in Central and South Central Oregon, connecting state, local, Tribal, and business leaders. 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.

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 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 boards of Advantis Credit Union, the Gray Family Foundation, and the Portland Children Levy's Allocation Committee and 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 began her career over 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, Lisa is the Interim Executive Director for Magic Canoe, building a bioregional movement across Salmon Nation through storytelling. 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.

Sage Hatch

Born and raised in Siletz, Oregon and currently residing in Eugene, Sage is a Citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz. His primary experience is working with Indigenous youth across several states. Currently, Sage is a Ph. D Candidate in the Critical & Sociocultural Studies in Education program at the University of Oregon. He is also the Teaching & Learning Designer for the Traditional Ecological Inquiry Program (TEIP), which works with Indigenous youth between the ages of 11-23 in Traditional Knowledges and offers resources to connect them with aspects of their diverse cultures which they then gift back to their Tribal communities. Sage has recently been the Curriculum Development team lead for the Speak/Sing Native project for Southern Oregon Educational Service District (SOESD), developing a K-12 arts-based curriculum that centers Indigenous voice and presence. His passions are working on the land and education. In his free time, he enjoys target archery, fishing, walking his dog, traveling, presenting his research at conferences, and writing (he recently co-edited and contributed to his first book.)