Directors and Advisory Board

Healthy Democracy Oregon is fortunate to have such a great team of dedicated and talented individuals serving on its Advisory Committee and Board of Directors.

Healthy Democracy Oregon's Advisory Committee

Kappy Eaton 

Kappy’s has a long history of being an advocate, serving in these roles:

Kappy has a long history working with the League of Women Voters of Oregon. Currently Governance Coordinator, she has also served as President. Since 1961, she has also volunteered her time as a Citizen Advocate.

Kappy worked with the United States State Department as University Women Supervisor of Bosnia Elections (1997, 2000),  as well as a member of the Voter Education Team, training of Hungarian officials prior to 1994 free elections.

Kappy served on the Oregon Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Steering Committee, Womens' Rights Commission, National Camp Fire Board, and the Virginia Gildersleeve International Fund Board.

Kappy is a University of Oregon Associate Professor Emerita, and has been President of the Oregon American Association of University Women, Executive Vice President of the National America Association of University Women, Editor Pacific Northwest Library Association Journal, Head of Public Affairs Library. She has also worked with the Oregon Library Association, as well as the American Library Association Council.

Kappy has received numerous awards for her commitment to democracy and public service, including UO Distinguished Service Award, National Secretary of States Medallion Award, and the Eugene City Club Turtle Award.

Jeff Golden

Jeff Golden attended Harvard University as a National Scholar during the height of the Vietnam War and decided to swap the Ivy Halls for 20 acres in the backwoods of Oregon and a used chainsaw. He chronicled that journey in the book Watermelon Summer (Lippincott & Co, 1971).

After a decade building homes, guiding whitewater river trips, and working in the forests of the Cascade Mountains, Jeff dropped back in to earn a Masters in Communications degree from Stanford University.

Golden has spent the last 25 years in politics, broadcasting, editorial journalism , and organizational consulting. His political career includes service as a Jackson County, Oregon Commissioner, Chief of Staff to the Oregon Senate President, and Environmental Policy Aide to the City of Portland.

During his years in the political arena, he wrote Forest Blood (Wellstone Books, 1998), the pre-eminent novel of the Northwest timber wars. His stand for responsible forestry earned him the first nomination ever from the State of Oregon for the JFK Profile in Courage Award and inspired his newest book, Unafraid: A Novel of the Possible.

For ten years he hosted The Jefferson Exchange, a popular daily NPR talk-show on a network of northwest stations. Jeff lives in Ashland, Oregon, and makes a decent effort at staying balanced with cycling, rafting, softball, music, acting, and unpredictable adventures with his grown son and daughter.

Mike Greenfield

Mike Greenfield has a long history as a public servant in the State of Oregon.

Mike currently serves as Chair of the Oregon Inmate Work Program Advisory Committee, the Department of Justice Internal Audit Committee, and the City of Portland Budget and Management Advisory Committee.

Mike’s background in serving the State of Oregon also includes time as Director of the Oregon Department of Administrative Services, Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, Deputy Secretary of State, Legislative Administrator, and Deputy Director of the Oregon Department of Education.

Mike sat on Oregon’s Progress Board as an ex officio member, served as the chair of the Oregon Commission on Children and Families, and acted as a board member of Howard Street Charter School in Salem. Presently, Mike runs the consulting firm, Process Shift, LLC.

Phil Keisling

Phil Keisling currently serves as the Director of the Center of Public Service at Portland State University, which is located within the Mark O Hatfield School of Government. The Center’s mission is to connect the faculty, students, and other resources of the Hatfield School with the real world needs and challenges of public and non-profit sector leaders and managers in local, state, federal, tribal, and international settings.

Keisling’s career has also included politics and journalism. He served nearly a decade as Oregon Secretary of State (1992-99), where he focused on greatly expanding performance auditing, campaign finance reform, and making Oregon the nation’s first (and still only) all Vote By Mail election system. Keisling also served as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives from SE and SW Portland (1989-91), legislative staff assistant to then Oregon House Speaker Vera Katz (1985-88), as well as working a brief stint as a campaign aide to former Governor Tom McCall (1978).

Keisling’s career in journalism included nearly 6 years as an investigative reporter and editor for Portland’s Willamette Week (1978-81). He also reported for The Washington Monthly Magazine in Washington D.C. (1982-84).  

From 2000 to 2009 he worked in the private sector as a senior executive with CorSource Technology group, a Beaverton, Oregon-based software services company. During that time he served on the Board of the Software Association of Oregon, and led an unsuccessful ballot initiative to create a fully “Open Primary” election system.

Keisling grew up in the Beaverton area and received a B.A. in American studies from Yale in 1977. He and his wife, Pam Wiley, live in SE Portland and have two children, Ben and Katy.

Andi Miller

Andi is a 20-year veteran of the non-profit sector. She has served as Director of Public Affairs for the Alzheimer’s Association Oregon Chapter, Executive Director of Common Cause Oregon and Senior Policy Analyst for Oregon Business Association. Serving as a lobbyist in Salem for the three organizations, she developed expertise in the areas of health policy, education, good government and transportation.

Her most recent accomplishment is fulfilling a long-time goal by establishing her own public affairs business to provide affordable public relations services to non-profits. She currently acts as a consultant for the G.A.P.S. Foundation, the supporting foundation for the Northwest Regional Education Service District.

Andi earned her B.A. in Psychology from Northwestern University and her M.S. in Education from Indiana University.

In addition to her participation as an advisory board member for Healthy Democracy Oregon, she also serves on the board of Community Health Advocates of Oregon (CHAO), the Saling Foundation Board and the City Club of Portland’s Advocacy & Awareness Board.

Fred Neal

Fred Neal has held various government-related positions in Oregon over a 32-year period. He retired in July 2006 as campaign finance manager for the Oregon Secretary of State's Office, Elections Division, a position he held for 11 years. Neal began his career as a deputy legislative counsel for the Oregon legislature. As executive director of the Sate Court Finance Action Committee, he was instrumental in passage of the 1982 State Court Reform that reorganized the trial court system under state administration and funding. For five years, he served as Legal Counsel for the League of Oregon Cities and was then the intergovernmental relations officer for Multnomah County for seven years. Since his retirement, he served four months in 2008 as Interim County Clerk for Clatsop County, and oversaw the special school district merger election in Klamath County in March 2009. He is in his sixth term as the Oregon ACLU Affiliate's representative on the American Civil Liberties Union national board, where he serves as the National Affiliate Affirmative Action Officer. Neal has also served on the board of directors for the National Association of Counties, the Agri-Business Council of Oregon, and the Right to Privacy PAC.

Norma Paulus

Norma Paulus was raised in Eastern Oregon. After receiving her law degree from Willamette University, she has committed her life to serving the state in a variety of important roles.

Norma first held political office as a representative in the Oregon House of Representatives, and then became the first woman to hold a statewide elected office in Oregon when she became Oregon Secretary of State in 1977.

Norma later served as Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction for nine years. In 1996, she was named to National Assessment Governing Board. In December 2000, she was appointed as the Executive Director of the Oregon Historical Society and served in that position until 2003. Since April 2000, Paulus has served on the Oregon State Capitol Foundation Board. She also serves on the boards of the High Desert Museum in Bend, the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, and the City Club of Portland.

Norma has been conferred with honorary degrees by Willamette University, Whitman College, Lewis & Clark College, and Linfield College, and has received University of Oregon’s Distinguished Service Award.

She now lives in Portland with her husband, Bill. She is involved with several non-profit groups and continues to work on the Oregon electoral process.

Harvey Platt

Harvey Platt is the Chairman of Platt Electric Supply and is serving the community through a wide array of community organizations and foundations including the Oregon Business Association, Portland Business Alliance, Citizen’s Crime Commission, Beaverton Education Foundation, Portland Community College Foundation the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Broadway Rose Theatre Company, the Clackamas County Fire District Foundation, the Portland Baseball Group, the Sunset American Legion Baseball, the Beaverton Police Chief's Advisory Board, and the Sunset Legacy Project.

 Harvey is married to his wife Sandy (of 37 years), has two daughters Jennifer and Melissa, and has a Bichon, named Molly. 

Jack Roberts

Jack Roberts brings a wealth of knowledge and a keen understanding of Oregon politics to the team.

Jack grew up in Eugene, where he graduated from the University of Oregon School of Journalism and the University of Oregon Law School.  After ten years as an attorney in private practice, Jack was first appointed and then twice elected to the Lane County Board of Commissioners.  In 1994, he was elected State Labor Commissioner, an office to which he was re-elected in 1998.

Jack has been the Executive Director for Lane Metro Partnership since 2003.  In this role, Jack provides the leadership necessary for economic development efforts throughout Lane County.  As director of this organization, his primary focus is fostering business investment through recruitment, retention, and expansion.  The Lane Metro Partnership is helping to create new job opportunities for our citizens and a more diverse and stable economy.

Jack and his wife, Tammy, live in Eugene with their three sons, John, Joe, and Jake.

Ron Saxton

Ron is an Executive Vice-President at JELD-WEN, Oregon's second largest company and a worldwide leader in manufacturing and marketing of doors and windows. Ron’s duties include Chief Environmental Officer for the company, as well as overseeing other areas like public policy, government relations and public affairs, legal, corporate development, risk management, and employee and shareholder relations. He also is a member of JELD-WEN’s Board of Directors and serves as Corporate Secretary.

Prior to joining JELD-WEN, Ron practiced law for over 25 years and co-founded the Ater Wynne law firm, serving as the firm’s Chair from 1990 to 2001. His practice focused on business, regulatory and energy law, with emphasis on major corporate initiatives, regulatory issues, project development, manufacturing, public-private partnerships, and counseling senior management.

Ron was the founding president of the Portland Schools Foundation, the state’s largest public education foundation, was elected to the Portland Public Schools Board in 1997, serving as chair from 1998-2000.

Ron currently serves on several business boards, including the National Association of Manufacturers, Green Building Initiative, Window and Door Manufacturers’ Association, Associated Oregon Industries and Oregon Business Council. He has also served on the boards of a variety of charitable and educational foundations and non-profit organizations, including Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Ron appeared on the KATU (ABC television affiliate) evening news as a political commentator, wrote a regular column for the Medford Mail Tribune, and was a lead consultant to the Chalkboard Project on education reform.

Ron was the 2006 Republican nominee for Governor of Oregon.

Ron has received a variety honors, including: Outstanding Lawyers of America, City of Portland Mayor's Award, Willamette University Distinguished Alumni, National Conference of Editorial Writers, Portland Chamber of Commerce Award for Public Service, and admission to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar.    

Ron Saxton is a fourth generation Oregonian and lifelong resident of the state. Born and raised in Albany, Ron graduated from West Albany High School, Willamette University and the University of Virginia. He is married to Lynne Hume Saxton, Chief Executive Officer of Christie Care.

Healthy Democracy Oregon’s Board of Directors

Patricia Benn

Scott Borduin

Ned Crosby

Susan Edwards

Mick Mortlock (Board President)

Tyrone Reitman