Season Two Podcast Episodes
Explore the latest in rural philanthropy on the Funding Rural podcast with show host Erin Borla.
Episode # 19 | Season 2: Ben Winchester “The Rural Brain Gain”
Narrative plays a critical role in what funders support, and unexamined narratives can create unintended consequences. We often hear about the brain drain in communities as young talent leaves, but Rural Sociologist Ben Winchester offers facts around an alternative narrative—the brain gain— a demographic that is moving back into rural communities. Ben works in the Department of Community Development at the University of Minnesota Extension and he’s fascinated by all things rural.
Episode # 18 | Season 2: Robert Duehmig “Building Rural Healthcare”
Across vast stretches of rural America and particularly in the West, emergency care—or even basic routine healthcare—can be hard to come by. People drive hours for eye exams, to give birth, have their teeth cleaned, or get therapy. Robert Duehmig, director for the Oregon Office of Rural Health, works towards solutions that fit rural and remote communities in Oregon. He discusses what’s working, what needs work, and how philanthropy can support healthcare in these communities.
Episode # 17 | Season 2: Sunny Spicer: “Sparking Early Learning”
The Children’s Museum of Southern Oregon in Medford, which operates a dynamic museum and expansive preschool program, is a beacon of connection for children and families. They are scaling up their museum and preschool operations and expanding to another rural Southern Oregon community. Executive director Sunny Spicer speaks to the value of these ‘third spaces’ in a community, places curating connections like schools, museums, and libraries, and how philanthropy can best support them.
Episode # 16 | Season 2: Bobbie Conner: “Handmaidens of our Ancestors”
Bobbie Conner is a cultural leader and enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR). For nearly 30 years, she has been the director of the Tamaslikt Cultural Institute on the Umatilla Reservation in Eastern Oregon. She works to preserve the languages and rich cultural heritage of the Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla, Nez Perce and other Indigenous nations from this region of the west. She offers funders insights into funding Native American causes and projects—spoiler alert—casino income isn’t making these tribes wealthy.
Episode # 15 | Season 2: Dreama Gentry “Demographics are not Destiny”
When we talk about pathways to success for young people in rural and Indigenous communities, what does that look like? Dreama Gentry of Partners for Rural Impact shares that it can look many different ways. Dreama grew up in Appalachian Kentucky and has had a long career working with young people. Today, her organization works to empower and uplift young people across several regions of the US.
Episode # 14 | Season 2: Andy Mink “Belonging Insecurity”
The Smithsonian Institution has a long history as an iconic museum and hub of research, knowledge, and history in our Nation’s Capital and beyond. Nowadays, the Smithsonian has grown to encompass 21 museums, 40 research centers and the national zoo. It’s the world’s largest education and research community - and it is really inspiring to see this important institution prioritizing collaborating with rural America and giving back. Andy Mink is their first director of rural initiatives and he joins the show to share his vision of the democratization of storytelling, belonging insecurity, and mutual respect.
Episode # 13 | Season 2: Gina Zottola “We Need More Magic”
There are food deserts and childcare deserts throughout America—places where services are few and far between and in much of rural America, there are similar gaps with philanthropy. With so few philanthropic organizations based in rural parts of the country the geographic responsibility for each organization can be vast. Gina Zittola of Humboldt Area Foundation and the Wild Rivers Community Foundation knows this space well. Her regional footprint stretches broad areas of rural southern Oregon into northern California. She’s a natural networker, a connector, who has done amazing things by bringing non-rural philanthropic organizations into the places she cares about, and helps them see the great things that can happen when they expand their horizons.
Episode # 12 | Season 2: Lee Kounovsky “Career Technical Education Supports Communities”
In recent decades, we’ve seen a steep drop off of young people going into the trades, but that trend has started to reverse. Lee Kounovsky has played a big role in steering young people in Oregon toward meaningful and lucrative careers in tradework - from construction to electrical work and beyond. He is the Lane County Construction Trades Specialist, working with students at the community college, high school and middle school levels. After the devastating wildfires of 2020, he inspired students—who had lost everything—to rebuild for others through a program called Sheds of Hope. That program has grown into a statewide initiative called Constructing a Brighter Future, impacting close to 4,000 students last year. These types of programs illuminate the need to reduce barriers to career technical education — for as Lee points out, these students are learning more than job readiness.
Episode # 11 | Season 2: Greg Weatherford “Fostering Service”
There’s a stereotype these days that young people don’t get involved and serve their communities—that they’re not volunteering; they’re on their phones or computers all the time instead. If you talk to Greg Weatherford, that stigma couldn’t be further from the truth. Greg started his first nonprofit when he was just 12 years old, and it was that work that inspired his career in philanthropy. He is now the Managing Director of the AllState Foundation Social Impact Team and oversees their philanthropic work across the country, including their work in youth empowerment.
Episode # 10 | Season 2: The Science of Curious Brains with Bill Griesar, PhD
When artists and scientists put their minds together, novel things can happen. Participants in these gatherings benefit from a heightened sense of curiosity — a trait that can spark innovation in communities. Recognizing the combined potential of the arts and sciences, neuroscience professor Bill Griesar, PhD and his colleague, artist Jeff Leake, formed an all-volunteer run nonprofit twelve years ago called Northwest Noggin’. Griesar offers ideas on how philanthropists can get more curious and support regional innovation by bringing more diverse people together for impactful conversations.
Episode # 9 | Season 2: Community Colleges as Rural Economic Drivers with Kate Kinder
Community colleges are meeting a growing set of needs in rural spaces: they’re boosting economic development, providing education equity, and they’re training skilled workers. Kate Kinder, executive director at the National Council for Workforce Education, discusses how community colleges reflect and amplify the economies where they’re located with programs designed to support the needs of local industries. They play a critical role in sustaining communities through education efforts that reflect the economies of the regions they serve; but are philanthropic organizations catching on and throwing their weight behind community colleges?
Episode # 8 | Season 2: Putting Things in Balance with Shirod Younker
Indigenous artist and educator, Shirod Younker, reminds philanthropists that investing in art is much more than art for art’s sake. Younker is a traditional carver and sculptor originally from Coos Bay, Oregon and is an enrolled member of the Coquille Indian Tribe. He’s an asset to Indigenous Youth, offering programs through universities as well as the Changing Currents Tribal Water Leadership Program. His work illuminates the interconnectedness of art, environment and community.
Episode # 7 | Season 2: Youth Development to Bridge Divides with Uriel Aguilar Torres
Funding Rural | Episode #7 | Season 2: Youth Development to Bridge Divides with Uriel ... READ MORE
Episode #6 | Season 2: Libraries as Democracy Drivers with Stephanie Chase
Stephanie Chase is the Executive Director of nonprofit Libraries of Eastern Oregon, which serves and supports 39 public libraries in rural Oregon. She also serves on the executive board of the American Library Association and has spent years learning about community programming and library systems. She recognizes the critical role a library plays in its community by curating informed citizens, providing a place to gather, and offering much more than books on the shelves.
Episode #5 | Season 2: Housing as the Hub of the Wheel with Chris Estes
In the world of philanthropy and sustainability, the Aspen Institute has been a thought-leader for decades. Chris Estes, co-executive director of the Community Strategies Group at the Aspen Institute, shares his background in housing and how he’s worked to elevate rural people and places. He and several others helped to develop the Thrive Rural Framework: a tool for communities to support their own equitable rural prosperity.
Episode #4 | Season 2: Find the Folks Moving Mountains with Casey Pearlman
Less than 1% of national philanthropic dollars go to Indigenous communities, programs and projects in the United States. How can philanthropy show up for these communities in a manner that is meaningful, lasting, and respectful? Casey Pearlman, the new executive director of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians - Economic Development Corporation, shares her experience making connections with Tribal leaders, and offers advice on honoring cultural protocols and leveraging more philanthropic tools in Native spaces.
Episode #3 | Season 2: Building Communities for Health with Allison Myers, PhD
Allison Myers, PhD leads the community health program at Oregon State University Extension based in Corvallis, but her work takes her across the state. Allison has a Masters in Public Health and a PhD in Health Behavior - and is passionate about serving people and bringing health knowledge to rural, underserved communities. This episode delves into mental health topics and suicide prevention. If you or someone you know are experiencing thoughts of suicide, call or text the national helpline at 988. Folks in agriculture or forestry who need help, can call the Agristress Helpline at 833-897-2474.
Episode #2 | Season 2: Everybody’s Gotta Play with Tim Marema
One of the key vital signs of any community is its local journalism, but as we have all heard, the newspaper industry has consolidated and retreated from much of rural America. Journalists and news outlets are now mainly concentrated in urban places. That has led to so many downstream effects - division, mistrust, and lack of accountability at the level of local leadership. In this episode, Tim Marema, founding editor of the Daily Yonder discusses the news site which focuses on the people, places and policies that matter for communities that are outside larger urban areas.
Episode #1 | Season 2: Giving Your Gift Away with Jaime Arredondo
When we close our eyes and envision ‘rural’ often-times we think of an idyllic setting with a cute downtown or an open field with a tractor. With that, there can be a misconception that rural America looks a certain way - namely that it’s predominantly white. That’s certainly not the case in many rural communities. In this episode, Jaime Arredondo speaks about the work his organization, CAPACES, is doing to reconnect LatinX folks in Oregon with their traditional foods and culture while building community and supporting them with training and other services.
Season 2 Podcast Guests
The Roundhouse Foundation is grateful to all the Funding Rural Podcast guests who generously shared their time, their stories, and their passion for rural communities on the show. Their perspectives are as diverse as the rural landscape. Host Erin Borla spoke with folks who work with Indigenous children, who work in linguistic academia, and guests who work the land. All of them opened their hearts and shared their voices so that the future of rural funding may be more trusting and more informed.
Stephanie Chase is the Founding Principal of the Constructive Disruption consultancy and the Executive Director of the Libraries of Eastern Oregon, a resource sharing cooperative covering nearly 60,000 square miles in rural Oregon. Previously, Stephanie was the Director of Libraries for Hillsboro (OR) and the Director of Library Programs and Services for The Seattle Public Library. Stephanie is the founder of the Green Mountain (VT) Library Consortium, a founding member and inaugural chair of national advocacy organization LibraryReads, has served on the Public Library Association Board of Directors, and is a member of the American Library Association’s Executive Board.
The Tamástslikt Cultural Institute serves three goals: to provide accurate representations of Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla cultures and histories;
to perpetuate tribal knowledges; and to contribute to the Tribal economy.
It is the only tribally owned interpretive center on the Oregon National Historic Trail and one of a handful on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.
Bobbie is Cayuse, Umatilla and Nez Perce, a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla, andcurrently serves on the Oregon Historical Society Board of Trustees and Ecotrust, Oregon Community Foundation, and Nez Perce Wallowa Homeland Project Boards of Directors. She is a former chair of the National Museum of the American Indian Board of Directors.
Chris Estes is Co-Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group. He’s a national rural development leader focused on equitable, sustainable, and holistic approaches to strengthening rural communities. Chris has strong policy expertise and practice experience at the community, state, and federal levels on poverty, housing, disaster and community development. He has co-led the creation of CSG’s reports on Natural Disaster, Outdoor Recreation, Funding Flexibility, Aligning Rural Health & Development as well as numerous case studies all featuring the voices and wisdom of rural development practitioners. His previous work includes a 20 year career in NC leading local, regional and statewide nonprofits and over a decade at the national level on community development policy and practice. In his free time he is on his bike or in the woods, hiking, mountain biking, or skiing with his wife Cherie.
Dreama Gentry is founder and CEO of Partners for Rural Impact (PRI), a national intermediary that mobilizes rural leaders, strengthens capacity of rural organizations, and activates policy makers and philanthropic partners to ensure the 14 million children and youth living in rural America are on a path to upward mobility. Partners for Rural Impact has eight offices across the country, 350+ employees with an annual budget of $60+ million.
Dreama is the architect of the nation’s first rural Promise Neighborhood, and the designer of a rural-focused Full Service Community School model built upon the essential framework of community schools. Under Gentry’s leadership, PRI has implemented and sustained four rural Promise Neighborhoods in Appalachian Kentucky and is leading more than 130 Full Service Community Schools in rural areas of Kentucky, Texas and Missouri.
A graduate of Berea College and the University of Kentucky College of Law, Dreama serves on the Economic Mobility Alliance Steering Committee and the National Comprehensive Center Advisory Board.
Dreama has deep roots in rural Appalachian Kentucky. Her family arrived in Harlan County 200+ years ago. They left Harlan under interesting circumstances and settled in Crab Orchard 120+ years ago on land that is still in the family. Dreama and her husband, Hasan Davis, have lived in Paint Lick for more than 30 years. They are the extremely proud parents of Malcolm, founder of Affrilachian Arts, and Christopher, who is completing a degree in cybersecurity leadership from Dakota State University in South Dakota.
Lee is originally from the small, rural town of Bastrop, Louisiana. He is a graduate of Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, LA. Lee is a Spring 1999 initiate of the Alpha Sigma Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Lee is also a member of the Leadership Louisiana Class of 2012 and a graduate of the Delta Leadership Institute’s BEST class, The CLASS of 2018.
Kate Kinder is a passionate, student-centered leader with over 20 years of experience expanding college and career opportunities. Currently, she serves as the Executive Director at the National Council for Workforce Education (NCWE), where she supports a national network of community colleges and their partners to advance workforce education programs, partnerships, and policies that propel economic opportunities. Previously, Kate served as the State Strategies Director at National Skills Coalition (NSC), where she led postsecondary technical assistance projects and supported efforts to advance worker equity in California and New Mexico. Prior to NSC, she worked at Portland Community College (PCC) for close to 18 years, serving in multiple student-serving and administration roles, most recently as a dean of Career Pathways. While at PCC, Kate developed and led Oregon’s nationally-recognized Community College STEP (SNAP 50/50) Consortia and Pathways to Opportunity initiative–two statewide consortia amongst all 17 community colleges and human service and workforce partners aimed at closing opportunity gaps. Her ability to collaborate and mobilize coalitions led to the passage of Oregon’s landmark Benefit Navigator Bill that reduces basic needs insecurity and funds benefit navigators at all public community colleges and universities.
Throughout her career, Kate has focused on centering lived expertise, and lifting up solutions driven by those closest to the issues. She has worked to break down silos, to reimagine systems that work for people and advance racial equity, economic mobility, and rural opportunity. She is a deep believer in the transformative power of community colleges, effective partnerships, and shifting the narratives that hold us back collectively.
In addition to his service with Lane ESD, Lee serves as an Instructor at Lane Community College for Apprenticeships 101. Lee also sits on the Oregon Association of Career and Technical Education Board.
Lee brings over 30 years of classroom experience and support for the 16 school districts across Lane County. Lee is one of the founding teachers for Future Build, Constructing a Brighter Future and Team Oregon Build. Teaching students and engaging students in rural community service projects is one of the most rewarding parts of his job.
Lee lives in rural Oregon and is the father of 4 boys. Lee spent many years with them coaching Football, Soccer, Baseball and Basketball.
Tim Marema is a founding staff member of the Center for Rural Strategies and edits the organization’s news platform, the Daily Yonder (www.dailyyonder.com). Tim manages a nationwide network of correspondents (both paid and volunteer) who report on rural people, places and issues. The Daily Yonder’s news operations include a weekly commercial radio news broadcast called the Yonder Report and the weekly podcast Rural Remix.
Tim grew up in rural Eastern Kentucky and started his journalism career at a weekly newspaper while a student at Berea College. He served as editor of the daily Chapel Hill (North Carolina) Herald and as zoned-editions editor of the Durham Herald-Sun. He is the former development director of Appalshop, the Appalachian arts and media collective.
Tim holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina. He is married, has two adult children, and lives in Norris, Tennessee, a town of 1,600 located in the Tennessee Valley between the Great Smoky Mountains and the Cumberland Plateau.
He joins the Office of the Undersecretary of Education after seven successful years as the vice president of education at the National Humanities Center (NHC). Recognized as the world’s only fully independent non-profit research center for humanities scholars, the center lacked a comprehensive education program. Under his leadership, the NHC served nearly 4 million K–12 and post-secondary educators in all 50 states and internationally each year through a variety of virtual and in-person programs and events.
Mink began his career in higher education in 2001 when he was hired as the director of education and outreach with the Virginia Center for Digital History at the University of Virginia. As access to digital resources transformed education, he worked throughout the nation to provide professional development that integrated emerging educational technology into hands-on, inquiry-based instruction.
He later served as the executive director of LEARN NC in the Peabody School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This non-profit center provided educators with collaborative long-distance learning and teaching opportunities with a focus on teacher leadership, inquiry-based instructional design and place-based education models. This work capitalized on the emergence of Open Education Resources to address issues of equity and access in rural and underserved communities of the state.
After earning degrees in history from the University of Virginia and the University of South Carolina, he taught in a public middle school in central Virginia for 10 years. Mink has been named National K–12 Educator of the Year by the National Society of Experiential Education and Outstanding Support for Geography Education by the National Council for Geography Education during his work as an educator. He is currently listed as a Distinguished Lecturer by the Organization of American Historians.
Finally, Mink is a dedicated service leader. He has served on numerous local, regional and national Boards of Directors, including multiple terms on the National Council for the Social Studies, National Council for History Education and North Carolina Outward Bound School.
This background and wide-ranging set of professional experiences inform his deep commitment to community-based education.
A native of rural eastern Virginia, he lives in Durham, North Carolina, with his partner, Monica, and two children.
Allison is the Associate Dean for Extension and Engagement within the College of Health (2022-present), and in that role also serves as program leader for Extension Family and Community Health (FCH) (2021-present).
As FCH program leader, Allison oversees statewide health extension programming including SNAP-Ed nutrition, physical activity and gardening; Coast to Forest behavioral health promotion; food systems, security and safety efforts; disaster preparedness interventions and more. During the Oregon 2023 legislative session, Allison partnered with a broad coalition towards the successful passage of Senate Bill 955, and implementation of the free and confidential crisis line for the agriculture and natural resource communities, AgriStress Helpline© for Oregon (available 24/7 at 833 897 2474).
Allison began work at Oregon State University in Fall 2018 as the first full time director of the Oregon State University Center for Health Innovation (OCHI) which connects external organizations and Oregon State University faculty in the discovery of innovative solutions to pressing health and wellness issues, and builds workforce capacity in public health and human sciences. Prior to her work at Oregon State, in 2017-2018, Allison served as Health Policy Fellow to U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. From 2011-2017, Allison co-founded and led Counter Tools, a non-profit technology startup dedicated to advancing place-based public health through Citizen Science, data visualization, and policy advocacy. Early in her career (2005-2011) she led market research and strategy development for health and health care organizations at Innovation Management, LLC.
Allison earned her BS in environmental resource management from The Pennsylvania State University, and her MPH and PhD in health behavior from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Gabon from 2000-2002.
Casey Pearlman, Inupiaq and mixed settler descent, is the Executive Director of the Affiliated
Tribes of Northwest Indians Economic Development Corporation (ATNI-EDC). She is an alum of the Rematriating Economies Apprenticeship, the Treasurer of the board for Underscore Native News, and a board member-at-large for the Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship and the Oregon Innovation Foundation. She graduated from Portland State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Business Management and Human Resource Management. She identifies as an ‘entrepreneur enthusiast’ and is thrilled to serve Native businesses and support their growth. She has worked in various industries such as cleantech, venture capital, cannabis, biopesticides, food & beverage, social entrepreneurship, mental health and more. Her decade+ of experience working with diverse founders and funders in emerging industries inspires her to build new paths of economic development in Indian Country.
With a deep commitment to children and families, Sunny has been instrumental in expanding the Center’s reach and impact across Southern Oregon. She has overseen transformative projects. This includes an extensive collaboration with the Medford School District to provide early learning classrooms on-site in local elementary schools, the creation of the Outdoor Adventure and Outdoor Classroom Pavilion, as well as recently partnered with Dutch Bros to expand into Grants pass with another Children’s Museum and Preschool. Her dedication to inclusivity and accessibility ensures that the Center serves families of all backgrounds and abilities, providing scholarships and fostering partnerships that strengthen the safety net for underserved communities
Sunny is a member of the North West Youth Museum Association, a member of the Jackson County Community Health Improvement Plan Steering Committee, has presented at the Association of Children’s Museums Interactivity Conference, The Oregon Governor’s Conference on Tourism, The Western Museums Association Conference and more. She has been awarded the Jefferson Award for Community Service, The City of Medford Parks & Recreation Award for Community Service, Downtown Medford Association’s Pioneer Award among others.
Uriel is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in information technology at the Oregon Institute of Technology (Oregon Tech) and is the newly elected student government President for the Klamath Falls campus. His academic and leadership positions are supported by his professional experience as the IT Manager of Material Flow where he has played a crucial role in fine-tuning of vital business solutions, efficient communication and management of strategic IT projects that have increased organizational efficiency.
Besides technical skills, Uriel has a passion for solving social problems. In the end of his first year at Oregon Tech, he wrote and submitted a detailed technical paper on rural broadband to Dr. Basil Gooden, the Under Secretary for Rural Development of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The recommendations provided in the report provided tangible solutions for the extension of broadband internet in the rural areas, proving the commitment of Uriel in the pursuit of closing the digital gap.
From his work in IT management, leadership, and advocacy, Uriel’s passion is clear in his desire to bring change and growth to the technology and agriculture industries. He strives to make a difference in the society in every opportunity he gets to work.
Greg’s career began at age 12 when he started his first nonprofit to provide youth the knowledge and resources to create their own service-learning projects. At 18, he was recruited by a Fortune 100 company to lead an annual $5 million philanthropic initiative. He also created a sports and enrichment programming company to provide thousands of families with affordable summer camps nationally.
In July 2022, he joined The Allstate Foundation to lead and reimagine their youth empowerment pillar. A few months later, he successfully proposed shifting the pillar’s focus. Since then, he has built a robust and comprehensive national strategy focused on empowering youth (ages 5 – 25) to serve and improve communities. In less than two years, the Foundation and its partners are being recognized for contributing meaningful work to the field.
Some highlights of this work include: building Service Stars, a partnership with TIME and TIME for Kids that provides youth with resources and inspiration to make the world a better place; creating an innovative K – 12 grant program with DonorsChoose that has awarded more than $796K to 1,500 classrooms to help educators incorporate service; and providing more than $1M to colleges, universities, and HBCUs to increase student-led service on their campuses.
Shirod Younker is a Citizen of the Coquille Indian Tribe and is of Upper Coquille, Miluk,
Umpqua, and Filipino descent. He grew up on the South Slough in Coos Bay, Oregon.
He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Oregon State University. He has over 30-years
of experience as an Artist and Educator, and nearly 15-years as a Business Owner.
Art Education: For the past 20+ years, Shirod has managed and now advises the
Journeys in Creativity: Explorations in Native American Art Program. Formerly at the
Oregon College of Art and Craft, now hosted at the Longhouse Education and Cultural
Center at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. The Journeys Program
is an Indigenous Teen residency program that promotes and perpetuates indigenous
arts in Native communities and is a college pathway program for Native Youth.
Natural Resource Education: Shirod is also the Co-Director of the Changing Currents:
Youth Tribal Water Summit that is a residency and virtual program for Native American
student leaders. Changing Currents is an initiative to foster deeper, collective dialogue
about water protection & its importance to tribal communities. The Youth Tribal
Water Summit is a leadership development and education program designed for
students ages 15-19 years of age in high school or early-college.
Artist: Shirod is a sculptor, carver, and arts instructor. He works to facilitate the
perpetuation of indigenous aesthetic sensibilities in a contemporary context. His art
practice works to recognize, foster and study those values from which art they were
inspired by. Further, much of Shirod’s art is done in the spirit of collaboration with other
Indigenous artists and businesses. His pieces can be viewed at various locations such
as the Nasomah Memorial in Bandon, Oregon; The Mill Hotel and Casino; The City of
Portland Building, The Halle Ford Museum of Art; Forest Science Complex and the Ina
Haws at Oregon State University; Oregon Historical Society Museum, Crows’ Shadow
Institute of the Arts, Longhouse Education and Cultural Center, and in a various cultural
arts collection in New Zealand. Shirod is also an artist with the Inspired Natives
Program at Eighth Generation Wool Blankets.
Shirod resides in Portland and Warm Springs, Oregon with his wife and two dogs.
Gina’s efforts in rural philanthropy aren’t about funding or money; they’re centered around authentic relationships that embody the spirit of shared learning, deep listening and meeting community and people where they are at and at their pace. Collective stewardship and keeping regional people at the center of the work helps enrich and foster generosity and inclusion.
With deep generational ties to rural, Gina’s role is to facilitate national engagement, showcasing the narratives of the regions’ inhabitants and fostering stakeholder collaboration. The recognition as “Woman of the Year” by the California State Senate underscores her shared commitment with HAF+WRCF in elevating rural perspectives and the transformative power of community-centric philanthropy.
The Funding Rural Podcast is a project of the National Center for Family Philanthropy Fellows Program.
Funding Rural podcast cover art, “Juniper Mosaic,” was painted by Kathy Deggendorfer on a visit to the Hatfield Ranch in Eastern Oregon.
Podcast Producer: Ashley Ahearn
Landscape photo credit: Erin Borla
