Board
Gerard has worked in non-profit leadership in the past, including wtih Great Outdoors Academy, where he combined his love of the outdoors and working with youth. Through GOA he met Bruce Livingston who brought him back into the service world to sit on the board of PlayWrite, Inc. Gerard brings great skill to the board with his professional experience in business development with marketing and advertising, entertainment, travel and tourism. He’s currently the Vice President of Business Development at Vacasa, one of the leading companies in the emerging vacation rental industry. He loves being a dad, and during his free, time he plays music with friends and enjoys outdoor adventures.
Kyle Podd joined the PlayWrite board in 2009. In addition to serving on the board, Kyle is also a member of the finance committee. Kyle has a business background having attained a Bachelors degree in both finance and accounting from the University of Arizona. He is a CPA with the local firm of Geffen, Mesher & Company and specializes in taxation. Kyle joined Geffen Mesher in April 2008 after moving to Portland from London, England. Outside of work, Kyle enjoys spending time with his wife and keeping up with their busy seven-year-old son and three-year-old daughter. He also enjoys traveling, sports, games and other outdoor activities.
Brian Lindstrom's award-winning documentaries profile people society puts an "x" through and aim to reduce stigma and reveal the humanity of those living on the margins. Alien Boy: The Life & Death of James Chasse, about the death of a non-violent man with schizophrenia at the hands of the Portland Police, is available on Amazon and iTunes and is distributed by Breaking Glass Pictures. Finding Normal follows longtime addicts trying to rebuild their lives with the help of Central City Concern's Recovery Mentor Program. Mothering Inside chronicles the Family Preservation Project, an innovative program at Coffee Creek prison that helps inmate moms establish and maintain healthy bonds with their children. Writing Myself follows a workshop of Playwrite Inc. These films are distributed by Dark Hollow Films.
Timothy Anderson is a nonprofit outreach professional at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound, a youth mentoring organization focused on one-to-one mentoring. Previously, Timothy has worked for non-profits and higher education always with the focus of community outreach and education for at-risk youth. He is a graduate of Global Business at Tacoma Community College and earned his Bachelor of Science in Marketing Management at Western Governor’s University. Timothy loves helping youth unlock their potential and this is why he is drawn to PlayWrite. He likes how PlayWrite’s intensive workshop, one-to-one coaching and self-expression through art, enable participants to face themselves in a creative and direct way.
Bruce has been connecting youth at the edge with theatre since 1996. He established PlayWrite to pursue this passion, combining established theatre practices and neuroscience research with engaged and invested coaches to best serve the needs of youth. Bruce holds degrees from Reed College and the University of Chicago, both in Anthropology. He lived and taught in Shiraz, Iran from the late 60’s until the 1978 revolution. In 1980 he entered the culinary world in Paris, and adventures with food occupied him for the next decade and a half. In 1996, he was invited to write a play for a child in the Haven Project, and ever since has been passionately involved in connecting young people with theatre. He served as Managing Director of the Haven Project from 2000 through April 2003, and founded PlayWrite in November of 2003.
After moving to the NW, Matthew sought out an organization that would allow him to make an impact in the lives of kids. He found that in PlayWrite. After attending a number of PlayWrite events including a performance, he decided to join the Board and is excited to help the organization grow. Matthew was born and raised overseas in Kingston, Jamaica, and has lived in Florida and Texas. He holds a BA from the University of Florida (Go Gators!!) and a JD from UT-Austin, and currently works at Nike.
Teri is a founding partner of Fitch Associates, a management-consulting firm, with offices in Portland and San Francisco. She's worked with a range of clients over the last 15 years including Apple, Adobe, Kaiser Permanente', Oracle, and others.
Beyond her work, Teri has committed herself to working as a board member and volunteer for organizations she's passionate about. She coached women and minority job seekers at the groundbreaking Career Action Center in the Bay Area. At Cornish Institute in Seattle, Teri built the Inter-Arts Collaborative Group at Cornish Institute for the Arts bringing together artists of different disciplines to create unique works of art with a mission to shine a light on injustice, and inequality and to give voice to issues that were being ignored.
As a member of PlayWrite's board, she's focused on helping the organization build capacity and replicate it's amazing success in working with youth at the edge in Portland. Utilizing the resources of Portland Equity in the Arts, her goal is on continuing to enrich the board's capacity, representation and connections with the diverse communities of Oregon.