The LOEB Fellowship

My year as a Loeb Fellow at Harvard had a profound impact on my life and my career. I came back to Portland with both a greater commitment to making a positive change in the community and with greatly enhanced skills for doing so.  That year has shaped what I have done – and continue to do – since then.

Prior to my Fellowship year, I had worked for many years as a building contractor, I was the second executive director of REACH Community Development – Portland’s first CDC – and later worked for the Oregon Community Foundation to help grow similar CDCs in other Portland neighborhoods.

When I returned to Portland in 1995 after my Loeb Fellowship year, I worked for the developer who bought the 40 acres of old railroad yards that became the heart of Portland’s Pearl District. I later worked briefly for the Housing Authority of Portland to transform an 80-acre public housing development into New Columbia.  In 2002, I started my own development company focusing on mid-rise affordable housing in the central city.

In 2012, I put my business on hold for two years to work on development and urban renewal issues for the Mayor.  In 2017, I sold my partnership interests and retired – at least for now – from active development.

I have been and continue to be active in civic, environmental, and land use activities.  I’ve served on the Board of Directors of BRIDGE Housing Corporation and a number of local housing committees. I’m now going back to my roots by building houses one day a week with Habitat for Humanity.