Portland State Magazine Fall 2011

2011 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI SERVICE WINNER AMBER FOWLER '98, MPA '00 Helping women Dress for Success From Nike to the Trail Blazers, Amber Fowler made her mark in corporate marketing. But it's her work helping low-income women in Spokane, Wash., reinvent their lives that established her in the world of nonprofit entrepreneurism. While at PSU, Fowler worked as the fund administra– tor for Spirit Mountain's Community Fund. Fowler cites one of her greatest achievements at Spirit Mountain as the creation of the Hatfield Fellowship, which places an individual in a Washington, D.C., congressional office representing the Pacific Northwest and its recognized native tribes. Fowler was nearly 40 when she graduated from PSU, where she took a life-changing class in nonprofit management. She decided to challenge herself to recast her own life and future, and credits professor Ron Cease for increasing her interest in public service. After careful research-and equipped with her degree and instructor Kay Sohl's The Oregon Nonprofit Corporation Hand– book-Fowler founded Dress for Success Inland North– west in Spokane. She now works with 600 economically disadvantaged women through this international nonprofit. Her company recently was named " Rookie of the Year" by the national Dress for Success. Fowler has also created the Amber Fowler Public Administration Scholarship for low-income and disadvan– taged women in PSU's Public Administration program. 26 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE FALL 2011 Torrey Nyborg '99 received the first earth science doctor– ate at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California. He also received the university's president's award for outstand– ing research and community service for his dissertation. Leila Aman '99 has been elected to the PSU Alumni Association Board of Direc– tors. Aman is a development project manager in the Transit Oriented Development Program at Metro, the Portland area's regional planning government. She lives in Portland with her husband, Robert Glase '00. Greg Fredetta '99 is the prin– cipal and managing partner for Sacumo Design, a company chat provides website development to the legal industry in Portland. Rebecca Horvat '99 is a con– troller for Ferguson Wellman Capitol Management, an invest– ment advisory firm in Portland. She is also a board member for Marathon Education Part- ners, a Portland nonprofit chat matches children to mentors who provide college funds and encouragement. 2000-2011 Krystin Bassist '00 is a real estate broker with Windermere ronin and Caplan Realty Group in Portland. Bassist is a volunteer with the ALS Associa– tion Oregon and SW Washing– ton chapter. She I ives with her husband and two children in Portland. Mark A. Holman MBA '00 is a compliance specialist for Bonn– eville Power Administration in Portland. Lore Christopher MPA '01 was elected to her third term as mayor of Keizer. Christopher became the city's first female mayor in 2001. She also works as human resources director for the Oregon Legislative Admin– istration. Her daughter, AJexis Diann Tate '04, is also a P U alumna. Jesse Cornett '01, MPA '03 and his wife, Molly Aleshire, are owners of The Guild Public House, a pub on Ease Burnside in Portland. Margaret "Meg" Kilmer MS '01 has been awarded the Les Adkins Award for Career Guidance Excellence for 2011. Kilmer is the college and career center director at Parkrose High chool in Portland, where she has worked for more than 18 years. Sunny Petit '01, MS '07 is the associate director for che Center for Women, Policies, and Policy at PSU and a recipient of the Tokyo Foundation's Interna– tional Trade and Development Fellowship for research on women's political development in Turkey. She serves as acting chair of the Oregon Commis– sion for Women. Petit lives in north Portland with her hus– band, Peter Noordijk MS '06, and their two children. Sean Krug '02, MIM '07 is a logistics inventory planner and kaizen leader for Sanofi-Aventis, a pharmaceutical company in Tokyo, Japan. Chad Ramberg '02 is general manager of FrX Auco Sunset in Portland. Ramberg has been working with auto shops across the country on rhe develop– ment of the Toyota Production System for auto body shops. He writes, "I have been able to advance the development for our hop in Portland based on rhe education char I received at p U." Daniel Tracy '02 is a found ing pa rcner of orrhwest Imaging Analyses, a print and copier contract consulting firm in Portland. Tracy and his wife, Megan , have one son.