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Board of Directors

Luke Ross

Board Chair

Mark Wardlow

Vice Chair & Treasurer

Chris Brewer

Secretary

Becky Boyd

Board Member

Carly Carmichael

Board Member

Gavin Hepp

Board Member

Erick Petersen

Board Member

Katherine Rowe

Board Member

Sarah Stevens

Board Member

If you’re interested in getting involved, please contact Deschutes Children’s Foundation Executive Director, Brad Beckwith.

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Image of Luke Ross in a suit smiling

Luke Ross

Luke Ross is an Asset Manager and Broker with Compass Commercial Real Estate Services. Born and raised in Bend, he graduated with a bachelor of science degree in business administration and a minor in economics from University of Oregon.

Luke hopes to use his professional expertise to help grow and develop DCF for many years to come. “DCF is an amazing organization because of its broad reach, helping so many other nonprofits throughout the area.”

In his spare time, Luke and his wife Brandie enjoy hiking, golfing, camping, backpacking, and mountain biking.

Luke has been on the board since 2017.

Mark Wardlow

Mark Wardlow

Mark Wardlow is retired after a 36- year career in banking culminating in being Chief Credit Officer for Umpqua Bank, a $22 billion institution headquartered in the Pacific Northwest. Originally from California, he has lived in Bend for the past 12 years.

Mark graduated from California State University, Sacramento with a degree in Business Administration. He formerly served on the Boards of Directors for California Bankers Association; Volunteers of America; Modesto Symphony and Pacific Coast Banking School.

He currently enjoys spending time in the outdoors with his wife, children and three young granddaughters who all live in Redmond, Oregon. He has always been impressed with the very important role DCF plays in the well-being of families and children in our community and is excited to be part of an organization with a vision to grow and expand on its services to the families in our region.

Mark joined the board in 2021.

Chris Brewer

Chris Brewer is a financial advisor with The Brewer Team at Morgan Stanley in Bend, Oregon. Dedicated to serving the specialized needs of professionals, business leaders and families in the Pacific Northwest, Chris works closely with his clients to solve their financial challenges by building a sustainable financial plan with an eye toward the future. 

Growing up in a household dedicated to serving the needs of local families in Central Oregon, Chris is honored to continue that tradition by sitting on the DCF Board, and applying his deep financial expertise to guide the organization on a sound path for years to come.

Chris and his wife Alicia enjoy raising their two young children, Weston and Madeline, in his hometown of Bend and taking advantage of all that Central Oregon has to offer.

Chris joined the board in 2020.

Becky Boyd stands outside and smiles. She's wearing a scarf and earrings.

Becky Boyd

Becky Broderick Boyd has been fortunate enough to call Bend home her entire life. After earning her BA from the University of Puget Sound, she returned to the community where she is now raising her family.

Becky runs a boutique advertising firm, specializing in generating excellent, attention-grabbing creative for a wide range of clients. She also does voiceover for a large roster of national brands. Committed to ensuring children and families in Central Oregon receive support and resources to be safe and successful, Becky has previously served on the Board of the Education Foundation and as a committee member for AdFed and City Club. She says “from the moment my children were born, it struck me so strongly that the playing field for kids is anything but level. It’s extremely important to me to raise awareness for organizations like DCF and the vital role they play in ensuring each child in our community is valued, nurtured and lifted up.”

Becky joined the DCF board in January 2019 and has served on our Development Committee since 2017.

Image of Carly Carmichael smiling

Carly Carmichael

Carly is the Assistant Vice President, Business Client Advisor at Summit Bank, a local community bank focused on business banking and lending. She has lived in Bend since 1999, and is a strategic thinker, evaluator, and planner who builds and maintains client relationships through effective business development and a strong client focus. Offering nearly 20 years of experience in business and financial management, corporate communication, marketing, and public relations, she earned her ​bachelor’s degree from University of Portland and her ​juris doctor/master’s of business administration from University of Oregon. Carly is also a board member of the Central Oregon Food Cluster.

Carly enjoys all the beauty Central Oregon has to offer along with golf, basketball, yoga, and spending time with her husband and two boys.

 

Carly has been on the board since 2018.

Gavin Hepp

Gavin Hepp is the Co-Owner and Sales Manager of Webfoot Painting Co. Webfoot was founded in 2003 while Gavin was attending business school at the University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business. In 2006, Webfoot moved from the Portland area to Bend. In 2015, Webfoot Painting was named the Large Business of the Year by the Bend Chamber of Commerce.

Gavin is a born and raised Oregonian, enjoying all the fun and outdoor pursuits that Central Oregon offers. He met Deschutes Children’s Foundation in 2011 when DCF was the recipient of Webfoot’s annual giveaway, receiving a free exterior paint job at Rosie Bareis Community Campus. In the coming years they would unite again for additional painting and carpentry projects. 

Gavin brings expertise in facility maintenance, business planning, and marketing to the organization. 

Gavin joined the board in 2017.

Erick Petersen is standing against a stone wall wearing

Erick Petersen

Erick Petersen is an experienced entrepreneur with a proven track record of building businesses and high-performance teams across a range of industries, most recently renewable energy. He has a deep passion for company culture, employee engagement, and customer experience. Erick is a Board Advisor to early stage companies in the renewable energy industry, a Principal Advisor with the Larta Institute, and an Executive in Residence with the Technology Association of Oregon. He was a co-founder of the Bend Venture Conference, is an active Angel Investor, and has served on non-profit boards for the last two decades. Erick has called Bend home since 2003.

Erick joined the board in 2020.

Katherine Rowe

Katherine Rowe is an attorney with Bryant, Lovlien & Jarvis. Though she has called Bend home since 2017, she has long-standing ties to Central Oregon. She has a bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Barbara and a law degree from Tulane University.

As an attorney and a mother, Katherine has seen first-hand some of the challenges that face children and families in Deschutes County and the difference that access to resources can make. Katherine hopes to use her professional and parental experience to support the DCF and its collaborative mission with the belief that a community with healthy, supported children can flourish, and a community that works together can better achieve that goal.

Katherine enjoys the outdoors, including hiking, fishing, paddle boarding, and camping in moderation, so long as her husband does most of the work preparing and setting up. She also enjoys partaking in indoor pursuits while her husband takes their young daughter out on adventures.

 

Katherine joined the board in 2022.

Sarah Stevens is smiling outside. She's wearing a short sleeved, v-neck blouse.

Sarah Stevens

Sarah Stevens is the Director of Human Resources with Knife River Corporation – Northwest. Sarah has been with Knife River since 2005. She is responsible for the overall development and maintenance of Human Resources policies and programs. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a minor in business and public administration from University of Puget Sound, and a master’s degree in business administration from George Fox University. She also has her Senior Professional in Human Resources Certification (SPHR).

Sarah was born and raised in Bend and moved back to Central Oregon after a decade away to raise her son, Aksel, in her hometown. In addition to serving on the DCF board, Sarah was a member of Leadership Bend Class of 2013, formerly the Chairwoman for the Funds Distribution Committee, a board member of United Way of Linn County, and served on the Women’s Advisory Board for MDU Resources.

Sarah has volunteered for DCF for years and is excited to continue working with this great organization to fulfill its collaborative mission of promoting a community of services for children and families.

Sarah joined the board in 2013.

Emily Wommack

Emily, a local board certified Emergency Medicine trained physician, grew up in Bend and  has been working at Summit Urgent Care since 2015 when she returned to Bend to raise her family. She earned a BS in Philosophy at OSU, her MD at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx and did residency at UC Davis. She has a passion for health in our community and is currently also pursuing a certification in health coaching in order to better help those in our community maintain and achieve all around health.  Her passion for health is not limited to medicine and her belief that strong community support for a wide range of programs build better quality of life in our area are what drew her to DCF.

Emily enjoys cooking, meditation, running, mountain biking, skate and back country skiing, camping, hiking and adventures with her husband and three kiddos.

Emily has been on the board since 2021.

Laura Breit

Laura is the Owner and CEO of Bend-based company ColeBreit Engineering. She is a Professional Engineer with a Bachelor of Science degree from UC Santa Barbara and a Masters of Science degree from Georgia Tech. Laura has had the privilege of calling Bend home since 2007.  


Laura brings her experience in facility design and construction and passion for our community’s nonprofits to assist Deschutes Children’s Foundation in ensuring a well-functioning organization.


Laura and her husband Jeff have three beautiful daughters that keep life outside of work very interesting. Their family loves music, history, travel, glamping, and of course, their beloved Bernedoodle.

Laura joined our board in 2021.

Tia Lewis

Tia Lewis has over 16 years of practice in the areas of real estate, land use, permitting and due diligence in assisting clients throughout Central Oregon. Her experience includes all aspects of development permitting and approval, from conceptual approval through land divisions and project development; including approvals through the complex administrative permitting systems of federal and state governmental agencies such as ODOT, DEQ, the U.S. Forest Service, Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, as well as city and county governmental bodies. ​Tia has substantial experience with urban growth boundary amendments and annexation, both legislative and quasi-judicial. She has significant experience in obtaining industrial, commercial, and residential entitlements, managing consultants and project team members to utilize collaborative efforts and streamline overlapping requirements with all regulatory jurisdictions and agencies. She has successfully represented clients in land use appeals before the Court of Appeals and the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA).

In addition to her private law practice,​ Tia also served for five years as a Deschutes County Hearings Officer, giving her a unique decision-maker’s perspective to the development approval process. Tia is also an active member of the Rotary Club of Bend.

Carolyn Eagan

Carolyn Eagan serves as the City of Bend’s Economic Development Director.  As director, she is responsible for the Bend Municipal Airport, Affordable Housing, Urban Renewal, Tourism and the Business Advocacy program which includes regional economic development partnerships. She took this position in May 2015 after serving as the City’s Business Advocate for three years.

Prior to joining the City, she was the Regional Economist for the Oregon Employment Department for Central and South Central Oregon where she was responsible for the unemployment rate for three and half years during the Great Recession.

She has worked in the public, private and non-profit sectors in community and economic development for over 20 years. She has a degree in Economics and Mathematics from LaSalle University in Philadelphia and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from Portland State University.

Carolyn is a Philadelphia native and has lived in Oregon since 1999. She lives outside Bend with her husband, 9 year old daughter, and black Labrador retriever.

Carolyn joined the board in 2021.

Ken Craven stands against a wall in a button-up shirt, smiling.

Ken Craven

Ken Craven is the Operations Manager at his family’s business, Big Country RV. After attending primary school in Bend, Ken attended University of San Diego where he received a degree in economics. After graduation. he worked for OMD and Ignited, two advertising companies based in Los Angeles.

Ken returned to Bend to work for the family business shortly after his wedding in 2013.

He enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife Mackenzie hiking, biking, camping, and kayaking.

Ken has been on the board since 2016.

Kristin Bell Doan

Kristin is the Vice President of Customer Success at Salesforce, a global cloud-based company that is the leader in customer relationship management. In her role with Salesforce, Kristin leads a remote based team that is responsible for delivering value, driving growth and inspiring digital transformation for global Enterprise customers.

Kristin was raised in Toronto, Canada where she received her Master’s Degree in Political Science.  She has a passion for equality, diversity and inclusion.  She has volunteered with several organizations locally and around the world that have the common thread of empowering women and children who have had limited access and opportunity to succeed.

Kristin has lived in Oregon since 2005 where she and her husband Scott are raising their teenage daughter and son.  Serving on the Board for DCF is an honor for Kristin.  As a lifelong learner, she is eager to collaborate, listen, and contribute to both incremental and monumental community success.

Kristin joined the board in 2021.

Megan Norris

Megan Norris works as the Forward Planning Manager for Hayden Homes doing due diligence on properties and working with local governments on project approvals in Central Oregon.  Prior to Hayden Homes, Megan served as the Central Oregon Childcare Accelerator leading a diverse coalition of non-profits and Central Oregon businesses to help solve the child care crisis and create desperately needed spaces for Central Oregonians.

Megan graduated with a degree in Political Science from the University of California, Davis in 2000.  She then served for 3 years in the Peace Corps in Senegal, West Africa doing community outreach and organizing around rural health care issues and promoting girls education. 

After the Peace Corps, she worked on several political and advocacy campaigns, including national and statewide campaigns.  Megan then went to work as a legislative aide in the California State Senate, where she worked on legislation around affordable housing and homeless issues.  At Housing California, Megan led a statewide campaign with an affordable housing non-profit for a permanent source of funding in California.  At Sierra Club California, Megan organized statewide campaigns for cleaner vehicles and habitat preservation. 

As Vice President and partner at Riverview Capital Investments, Megan co-developed a 352 single family home community in Sacramento’s urban core and three large scale utility solar projects throughout the Central Valley in California. 

Megan lives in Bend, Oregon and enjoys spending her time with her family (2 girls 10 and 6), exploring the outdoors, and volunteering for causes close to her heart.

Megan joined the board in 2021.

Trisha Plass

Trisha Plass is the owner and principal at Plass Design Company. Trisha established her design company in 2019 as a certified WBE interior design firm, focusing on providing interior design, space planning, and project management. She has been practicing interior design and providing expertise to clients in Washington and Oregon for over 15 years.

Trisha hopes to use her professional experience and expertise to help provide our community’s nonprofits with efficient and supportive facility design. She is also thoroughly excited to be involved in such an important part of Bend’s nonprofit community by serving on the Board of Deschutes Children’s Foundation.

When Trisha is not busy fulfilling her career passion for design you can find her enjoying the Bend, OR outdoor lifestyle with her husband and two kids. Most weekends are enjoyed on a hike, bike ride, or sipping a microbrew in the sun. Other hobbies, likes and goals include swimming, camping, international travel, visiting National Parks, and learning to play golf.

Tricia joined the board in 2021.

Stephanie McVey

Stephanie is the Chief Financial Officer of SmugMug and Flickr, two global platforms founded in 2002 to help photographers protect, share, and sell their photos. Stephanie is an enthusiastic person who takes a creative approach to a company’s financial position by offering innovative ideas to solve problems and drive change. She leads a team responsible for financial planning & analysis, reporting, treasury management, and compliance. Previously, Stephanie was the Chief Financial Officer at Crux Fermentation Project, a Bend based brewery.

Stephanie was introduced to the Deschutes Children’s Foundation as a member of the charity committee at Crux Fermentation Project and was inspired by the impact the foundation is providing the community. She is excited to serve on the board and contribute to the positive influence the foundation provides our communities children and families.

Stephanie lives in Bend with her husband and two children. She enjoys traveling with her family, reading, Peloton rides, cross country skiing, and hiking.

 

Stephanie joined the board in 2022.