Emily Swensen
President
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I started life on the drier side of the state, in The Dalles. Rural life was not for me, and attending college at Lewis & Clark let me try out urban living, which definitely suited me better. I’ve not since been able to break free of Portland’s gravitational pull.
After graduating I spent about 9 years working in nonprofit administration, focusing on all aspects of fundraising and volunteer coordination. I ended up back at my alma mater in the early ’90s as part of the development team assembled to launch a $50 million campaign and earned my law degree at the same time. I currently work for the legal department of the Portland Development Commission and am proud to be even a small part of work that has such a dramatic effect on the city I love so much. My public law experience enables me to provide guidance as the board reviews its policies and governing documents to make sure Trillium is in compliance with state and federal law.
I am the mother of 13-year-old twin boys, Monroe and Parker, who attended Trillium for the past two years. Each made the decision to move to different schools this year, but my passion for Trillium’s teaching philosophies and its incredible, inspiring community led me to join the board and contribute all I can as the push toward charter renewal continues. There is a mountain of work to be done this year, and I want to encourage everyone to find a place where he or she can contribute. Whether you have tons of time or hardly any, whether you’re a jack of all trades or an expert at just one thing, no matter what your Myers-Briggs or enneagram profile is, there’s a place for you to notch in and make a difference.
Jennifer Jardee-borquist
Board Secretary
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I am a proud sixth-generation Oregonian, with two children at Trillium Charter School. I grew up in West Linn, but yearned to move to the big city. After telling my grandfather this, he informed me “You’re going to end up at the bottom of the Willamette!” With that vote of confidence, I moved to Portland, and still have not ended up in the Willamette. My husband and I have lived in Seattle twice, but I missed our friends and family in Portland so much that we decided to come back here for good in 2001.
I started volunteering with my neighborhood association about 10 years ago, and served on the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhood board for several years. My children have been attending Trillium since preschool (in the old building), where I started chaperoning field trips and helping out in the classroom. I served on the Steering Committee for the Capital Campaign for the new building. I became a member of the Food Team and joined the board during the 2010/2011 school year. My goal is to see Trillium renew its charter and continue to evolve into a school that fulfills its mission.
Christian Nielsen
Treasurer
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I’ve been enjoying the Trillium community for 7 years. I have two boys in middle and lower school and have enjoyed participating in campouts, field trips and performance nights. This past year’s monumental achievement of getting the PPS charter renewal was a result of a dedicated core of administration, staff, many volunteers and especially the Trillium Board of Directors that has set us on a positive course forward. Inspired by these events and repeatedly inspired by the staff and volunteers I chose to join the board to engage in the ‘service to the community’ that is in the school’s teaching mission.
I arrived in Oregon during high school and graduated from University of Oregon with two bachelor degrees in Chemistry and Biology. I worked in several University related laboratories in Eugene and Portland metro involved in basic biochemistry research, then jumped to Environmental Testing for 5 years. I decided to take a break from Science in the mid 90′s and caught the “this old house” bug by working and living in several old homes in inner northeast Portland. This led to 12 years as an insurance home inspector. Currently I work for a small green home re-modeler BauHans Construction, and am pursuing an accounting certificate to improve the office management for the business.
Trillium has recently hired a dedicated accountant and bookkeeper who have put us on the right track financially. We now have a clear and accurate picture of the school’s accounts and clarity moving forward. We are still underfunded like many primary schools across the land, but if we pull together and donate early and often with time, money, and our hearts, we
will get stronger each year, and can increase the offerings of this most unique and progressive school we are lucky to have.
Jeff Cavener
Board Member
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I am a proud parent of a Trillium third-grader in her fourth year here. School-wise, I taught Adventures in Learning classes to kids in improvisation with the synthesizer and exploring the Internet. I’ve also taught various college courses in computer science, and industry classes. I have consulted world-wide, and hold a BSCS and MSCS from the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Oregon State University.
