Our Team
Lynny Brown—Willamette Partnership (WP)
Lynny Brown is the Health Partner at Willamette Partnership where she gets people outside to improve health and wellbeing. Lynny works alongside local community organizer and extraordinaire, Jamie Hurd, to engage Madras’ diverse community in the Community Schoolyard project. Lynny comes from a health background (and recently got her Masters in Public Health!) and has extensive experience working with children and families as an Early Head Start home visitor, environmental educator, and afterschool climbing coach. Don’t expect emails from her on Fridays — she’s out climbing, surfing, or strolling outside with her pups. ¡Hablo español!
Amanda Craig—Trust for Public Land (TPL)
Amanda Craig is the Project Manager for the Oregon Rural Community Schoolyards Program at Trust for Public Land, managing the schoolyard project process for all three pilot schoolyard projects. Amanda is a Pacific Northwesterner with deep connections here in Oregon on the central coast and currently lives in Sisters. She has a background in environmental monitoring & stewardship, environmental education and project planning, and management with Tribal communities here in Oregon. She holds a BA in Environmental Studies and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Oregon. In her free time, Amanda loves to spend time with her pets (Pita and Buffy), listen to music, cook, and go to the movies.
Jamie Hurd—Madras Community Coordinator
Jamie Hurd serves her community in so many places — school board, 4-H, Every Child, the Community Event, Madras Sister City program, coaching Little League Baseball, the Jefferson County Fair, Madras Runners Club — and with so much heart and energy. She is passionate about seeing growth and prosperity for the residents of Jefferson County. She believes we all have responsibility to help others. It's a value she works to instill in youth through mentorship programs. She works toward a goal to help youth be forward thinking and independent so they can go out and be community leaders. Her background as a wildlife biologist has given her experience and knowledge of healthy natural resource management. She is an alumna of Colorado State University with dual majors in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology. She gains energy and health from time spent in the great outdoors. She embraces a variety of outdoor recreational activities from gardening and running to hunting and backpacking. When the weather forces her inside, she enjoys peaceful music on her cello, while her home, that is inhabited by her three spirted sons, husband and spunky dog, erupts in an environment of chaos around her.
Emily Irish—WP
Emily Irish is the Communications Partner at Willamette Partnership, and will be working to support community engagement in Riddle, Oregon. Emily’s role at the Partnership is to create the foundation for good communication and effective collaboration through strategic planning and design. She leads communicative design and facilitation with partners across sectors to build thoughtful and strategic engagement with communities and partners. She holds a BA in Environmental Studies and Graphic Design. In her time outside of work, she loves adventuring around the Pacific Northwest and perfecting the next bread recipe.
Ashley Ludwig—ABLE Studio
Ashley Ludwig is the founder of ABLE, a landscape architecture practice based in Seattle, Washington dedicated to crafting enduring, resilient, and regionally specific landscapes. Her work bridges scale from large urban waterfronts to rural schoolyards and focuses on connecting people to place by revealing ecological and cultural narratives within the everyday built environment. Ashley is a registered landscape architect in Oregon and Washington.
Art Ochoa—Community Engagement Specialist
Art Ochoa is the Community Engagement Specialist for the Oregon Rural Community Schoolyards Program and most recently was the community coordinator for the Chiloquin Elementary School Green Playground Project. The Chiloquin Elementary School Project was an opportunity for Art to give back to the school and community where he lived until leaving to pursue a college education. He has enjoyed his experience as a public-school teacher, coach, and administrator all of which he served in Oregon. Art is a Native Oregonian and a member of the Klamath Tribes. When he’s not working in the community or on his ranch, Art enjoys reading, being outdoors, coaching girls’ basketball, and watching his grandkids play sports.
Barton Robison—WP
Barton Robison is the Organizational Development Partner at Willamette Partnership, and he’ll be working to help support the community engagement process in Ontario. He was one of the partners of the Chiloquin Green Schoolyard pilot project and has worked throughout Oregon to improve health equity through getting people connected to a healthy environment. He received both his Masters of Public Administration and Certificate in Tribal Relations from Portland State University. Outside of work, Barton loves playing board games with his husband, walking his pug (Eastwood) around the park, and nerding out about music.
Sarah Luft—Riddle Community Coordinator
Sarah Luft is the Community Coordinator for the Riddle Schoolyard Project. She lives in Riddle, Oregon with her husband and children. She is also the Project Manager for Riddle Roots Community Projects, works part time doing state reports for Riddle School District, and volunteers in various community and youth organizations. She loves spending time with her family outdoors, especially warm afternoons at the river. Sarah is passionate about helping bring much needed spaces, programs and services to Southern Douglas County communities and providing youth with pathways to break free from the cycle of generational poverty.
Tammy Vogt—Ontario Community Coordinator
Tammy Vogt is the Community Coordinator for the Ontario Schoolyard Project. She lives in Ontario, Oregon where she has raised her family, held multiple community leadership roles, and started two successful non for profit organizations. In addition to her role as Community Coordinator, Tammy is a Life Coach and a Spiritual Director. It is her passion to create safe spaces for people to share and process their life journeys. She loves to sing and write on her blog. A sunny summer day will find her on her paddle board on a lazy river. While she has a strong appreciation for her home, she also has an insatiable desire to travel and see the world.
