ANA BOARD 2024-25

ANNETTE BENDINELLI, Chair/Newsletter editor

BEC LAWSON, VICE CHAIR

TERESA ST. MARTIN, TREASURER

MICHAEL RICHMAN, sEcretary

MARCELLE FURROW-KIEBLER, BOARD MEMBER

MICHAEL HALL, BOARD MEMBER

ANDY KYLER, BOARD MEMBER

PASTOR ERIN MARTIN, BOARD MEMBER

ROBERT MCCONVILLE, BOARD MEMBER/NECN REPRESENTATIVE

CAROLE ORLOFF, BOARD Member

We are currently recruiting new members to join the ANA Board. If you are interested in serving on the board please email alamedapdx@gmail.com.

 

Annette Bendinelli, Chair/

Newsletter Editor

I’m a lifelong Oregonian, and my husband, Mark, and I have lived in Alameda for over 30 years. Our two sons attended Alameda Elementary, Beaumont, and Grant, and we feel fortunate to have such outstanding schools within walking distance of our home. We also love being just a short walk from the Alberta and Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhoods, with their vibrant dining and shopping areas. Besides its great location, Alameda is a friendly place where people are always out walking their dogs or working in their yards – something I also like to do in my spare time. My professional background is in advertising, and I was an active PTA volunteer during the years our kids were in school. I’ve been the editor of AlamedaPDX since 2018 and enjoy keeping readers up to date on community news and events, and sharing stories about all the interesting people and places in our neighborhood. There’s always something new to discover!

Bec Lawson,

Vice Chair

My husband and I met, married, and raised four kids in Solana Beach CA. After a brief stint in the San Francisco Bay Area, we decided to follow two of our kids who had settled in northeast Portland. We took our time looking for the right neighborhood, and have been delighted to find Alameda such a charming, warm and wonderful place to live. My professional background is in technology and marketing. I retired in 2021 and have been busy fixing up our house, walking my dogs, and discovering the bounty that is PDX. I lead an active life with friends, the dharma, yoga, pickleball, crafts, hiking and camping. I have been active on tech boards and civic and school commissions in the past, and am delighted to now be on the ANA board serving as vice chair. I firmly believe that a well-connected neighborhood is foundational to a strong civic culture, and I look forward to serving my community as part of the ANA board.

Teresa St. Martin, Treasurer

I moved into the Alameda Neighborhood in 2019 after 20+ years in SW Portland. Together with my husband, Dan, and our two tiny tigers, we inhabit a special 92-year-old home. Some of my favorite activities include both ball and disc golfing, dragon boating, and paddle boarding. Having worked internationally for many years, I enjoy seeing new places and new cultures for fun. My office at Windermere Realty Trust is just a few minutes from home, and I work as a Principal Broker with a specialization in Sustainable Living. I speak Japanese and am an amateur glass artist. I served on the City of Portland Planning and Sustainability Commission for 4+ years and am actively engaged with a number of non-profit and community organizations. I love the tree-lined streets and friendly neighbors here in Alameda.

Michael Richman, Secretary

My husband and I moved to Alameda in 1985. We lived in that “first” Alameda home for 36 years, moving across the street (literally!) just 18 months ago. The time had come for us to downsize, and we wanted to stay in the neighborhood we had grown to love. We’re fortunate that our four grown children (all Grant “Generals”) live within a few miles of Alameda. They have produced ten wonderful grandchildren, several of whom are (or will be) Generals! More personally, I’m a knitter, a needlepointer, and a fledgling quilter. I’m also a recently retired social worker, having worked part-time at the Children’s Program for 26 years. Volunteer work has always been a large component of my life – for the Alameda, Beaumont, and Grant LSACs and PTAs, for our synagogue, as a Girl Scout leader, and as the Alameda PYSA Registrar for over 23 years. When the chance to join the Alameda Neighborhood Association Board came along, it felt like a new shift in the direction of my volunteer “career” as we all strive to make this livable neighborhood of ours even better.

Marcelle Furrow-Kiebler,

Board Member

I am an Army brat and spent most of my childhood in Germany. I have moved to Portland three times, first in 1993 and most recently in 2016, returning with my family in tow. My husband is a pilot, and my son attends Grant High School. I am an elementary school teacher, not currently teaching, but plan to return to it in a year or two. We spend our free time walking our two dogs through the neighborhood, hiking and camping throughout Oregon, and chatting with many of our friendly neighbors. We feel very fortunate to have found the Alameda neighborhood, and particularly fortunate to have landed in the house we did. We have neighbors who have become family, and this is a gorgeous place to live and build community. I am happy to serve on the Alameda Neighborhood Association Board and build stronger ties within the community, while also working to accentuate all the wonderful things about the place we call home.

Michael Hall, Board Member

My wife, our son and I moved to Alameda in 1995. Our son’s schooling included Alameda, Beaumont and Grant. We love our neighborhood, and feel fortunate to be a part of the Alameda community. I served as Dean of Student Services at Pacific Northwest College of Art until my retirement in 2013. For six years, I was also the college’s representative on the Pearl District Neighborhood Association Board, where I came to understand the positive change that neighborhood associations can influence. I’m trained and certified as a volunteer in the City of Portland’s Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET) program, and I’m also co-chair of Quiet Clean PDX, a volunteer organization working to eliminate the noise and pollution in our community caused by gas leaf blowers. My hobbies include photography and much gaming, with poker, bridge, chess, pool and backgammon being high on the list. A favorite quote from Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” I hope to do a great job as a member of the Alameda Neighborhood Association Board.

Andy Kyler,

Board Member

For the past 37 years my wife, Barbara, and I have lived in the Alameda neighborhood, raising two daughters. A fourth-generation Portlander, I received my bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Portland and an MBA from Portland State University. After a 42-year career in health care, I am interested in contributing to the well-being of the local community in other areas. I bring with me experience leading multiple non-profit organizations and associations, and serving on boards. In retirement I enjoy traveling, volunteering at the preschool where my daughter teaches, woodworking and playing senior softball. My wife and I fell in love with Alameda when we moved to Portland from Southern Oregon in 1986. Our kids attended Alameda, Beaumont, and Grant, where they made many lifelong friendships. We really appreciate our neighborhood and neighbors.

Pastor Erin Martin, Board Member

I was born in Monterey, California, but I have deep ties to NE Portland. My grandparents lived on NE 34th Ave. and Going St., and my mother attended both Kennedy School and Grant High School. My husband and I have lived in Alameda since 2019. I have two adult daughters, and two sons. Our oldest son just graduated from Grant, and the youngest attends Beaumont Middle School. We love Alameda. It's a beautiful neighborhood for walking our dog, Milton. We have wonderful neighbors, and we love being close to Alameda Elementary School. We are inspired to both enjoy the residential community, but also to do the hard work of knowing the restrictive history of Alameda and working for positive change. I joined the ANA Board because I believe in the power of community. Namely, we can do so much more together than we can apart. After three years of a debilitating global pandemic, we need community now more than ever. I hope the ANA will take the lead on developing a common life for us to gather to have fun, to grow and learn, and to create a better world for us all.

Robert McConville, Board Member/NECN Representative

My wife and I met in North Carolina and we made our way to Portland from Salt Lake City in 2018. My wife, daughter, son, our cat and I are happy to make Alameda our home. I have a background in healthcare policy and administration and work for CareOregon. In my spare time, I like to bike, jog, enjoy time with our neighbors, and spend time with my family. We have wonderful neighbors who are generous and welcoming and we are grateful for the many who have become our friends.

Carole Orloff, Board Member

My parents moved to Portland when I was in high school and with the exception of college and graduate school, I’ve lived in Oregon most of my life: Corvallis for 29 years, Salem for 6, and the rest in Portland. I moved to my wonderful old Portland bungalow in 2014 and have been lucky enough to live in a fabulous, “neighborhoody” neighborhood. I am a classical pianist and perform chamber music house concerts for fun and for fund-raising. I love to walk and garden, also. I have been on lots of boards, mostly in the arts, I also served for several interesting years on the Oregon Humanities board. Now that I’m retired, it occurred to me that serving on the board of the ANA would be a good way to help my community and to meet others in the area who don’t live on my block.