President

Dennis has lived in Ashland since 1977.  He has had three careers during that time, first in the hotel business, then as a CPA and finally as an educator at SOU. Dennis has an undergraduate degree and an MBA  from SOU. Dennis has served on numerous community boards including the Ashland Chamber of Commerce, the inaugural  SOU Board of Trustees, and the Ashland City Council for two terms. Raised in the Bush of Alaska among the Native People, Dennis has a deep appreciation for communities helping each other and finding effective solutions to take care of those most impacted. Dennis is married to his best friend, Sandra, and together they enjoy being involved in many different paths of service to the community.

Vice-President

Cathy retired to Southern Oregon with her husband in 2018. Her career in the health insurance industry spanned 26 years working for Anthem Blue Cross and Cigna as an Account Management Executive responsible for negotiating renewals for large corporate clients in California. Prior to that, Cathy was Vice President of Personnel for a large privately-held company in Pasadena, where she obtained and maintained her Senior Professional in Human Resources certificate (SPHR) for almost two decades. Cathy graduated with a BA in Business Administration Management from the University of Phoenix, and has held multiple financial and insurance licenses in multiple states. Cathy has been a weekly volunteer at the OHRA Resource Center since 2018, and is active in her church and other philanthropic organizations.

Treasurer

Eileen has 25+ years with JPMorgan Chase in NY and SF as well as 5 years with Crocker Bank in SF. After working as an associate in the Investment Bank, Eileen completed JPMorgan Chase’s Credit and Corporate Finance Training program in 1990. She held Relationship Manager and Credit Underwriter positions responsible for managing client relationships and developing new business in the Commercial Bank. Eileen worked with a wide range of Healthcare, Higher Education and Not-For-Profit clients as well as Mid-Sized companies in diversified industries located in California, New York and Boston.

Eileen has a BA Degree from Allegheny College and completed a Managed Health Care Certificate program from New York University as well as advanced accounting at Golden Gate University in SF and Pace University in NY.

In 2012, Eileen joined the San Francisco Board of Women’s Initiative for Self Employment. Eileen served as Co-President of the Board of the Community Center of Northern Westchester, one of the largest food pantries in Westchester County, NY and as Treasurer of the Board of A-Home, which provides affordable housing for seniors, disabled and single parent families in Westchester County, NY.

Since retiring to Ashland, Eileen has served as a volunteer with Trinity Episcopal Church (Board Chair and Finance Committee Chair), Options for Helping Ashland Residents (OHRA) Homeless Shelter (Finance Committee) and Medford Garden Club (Treasurer.)

Secretary

Jodi Rasor is a Director with Holman, an integrated global automotive services provider.  Prior to that, she was the Vice President of Dealership Accounting for Lithia Motors.  She is an Oregon native who completed her undergrad in accounting at Oregon State University (GO BEAVS) and a Master’s in Taxation from Golden Gate University.

Jodi has a passion for developing meaningful working relationships through building teams, collaboration, and creating connection across varying perspectives.  She is an active member of Women of Holman, has served as the President of the Southern Oregon Women’s Leadership Conference, and was also a founding leader of Lithia’s Women LEAD.

Past President

Diane de Ryss has nearly 30 years of experience in management and leadership, particularly with organizations undergoing significant growth and change. Throughout her career, Diane has gravitated to work anchored in social justice and equity, in the government, for-profit and non-profit sectors. Prior to retiring and moving with her husband Bruce to Ashland, she worked for 12 years at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Diane is a graduate of the University of Washington, and has a JD from USC in Los Angeles. She is an experienced board member, including the Seattle Audubon Society where she was recognized for improving SAS’s governance.

Jackie Bachman retired to Ashland with her husband, Jim, in 2015, after working for 36 years as a California public school teacher, site, and district administrator in Special Education. She served on the Ashland City Council as an appointed member from March to December, 2018.

Jackie actively supports several community organizations, including OHRA, the Ashland Culture of Peace Commission (ACPC), the Food Project, The Osher Life-long Learning Institute (OLLI), and the Senior Services Program. She also serves on the Housing and Human Services Commission.

Sachta Bakshi Card was born and raised in India and moved to the United States to attend SOU in Ashland, Oregon at 17. Sachta spent her career in finance at a global accounting and auditing firm before becoming an entrepreneur and investor within the hospitality industry. Currently, she is the owner of multiple restaurants in Ashland and advises several other small businesses in the region. She currently is the Vice Chair of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) Board.

Sachta is an honors graduate of Southern Oregon University where she received her Bachelors of Science in Business Administration and Economics from Southern Oregon University along with a Certificate in Applied Finance and Economics. During her tenure at SOU, she received the prestigious American Association of University Women’s award for the Outstanding Woman Student in Economics. She also has a Master of Business Administration from San Francisco State University, a Master of International Business from University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, and a Master’s in Management from Southern Oregon University.

Sachta has been a community leader since the Almeda fires in 2020 and has provided more than 150,000 meals to the fire displaced and unhoused through her businesses. She has a deep love for the work and continues to give back to the community any opportunity she gets.

Libby Gill and her husband relocated to Medford in August, 2021 after many years of living in Los Angeles. She is the founder and president of Libby Gill & Company, a leadership coaching and consulting firm. Her clients include Bank of America, Disney, Honda, Microsoft, PayPal, Rogue Credit Union, Sony, The Human Bean, Women’s Leadership Conference of Rogue Valley and many more.

Libby is an international speaker and an award-winning author of six non-fiction books, including You Unstuck and The Hope-Driven Leader. Prior to founding her company in 2000, she was the head of public relations and corporate communications for Sony, Universal, and Turner Broadcasting. Libby is the former Vice Chair of Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, the first and largest suicide prevention center in the country. With a deep commitment to serving people experiencing homelessness and mental illness, Libby is delighted to join the OHRA Board. In her free time, Libby enjoys gardening and attempting to learn golf.

Catherine Greenspan is a financial professional, publisher, creative writer and community leader. She has worked with NYLife Securities in Ashland since 2019 working with clients on retirement, planned giving and lifetime income strategies. She is the co-founder of Two Sisters Writing and Publishing, specializing in books that feature against-the-odds success stories and align with a philosophy of equality, justice diversity, inclusion and women’s and gender empowerment. Catherine is active in the community. She has been a member of AAUW since 2009 with a focus on civil rights and social action. She is a member of the Ashland Chamber of Commerce, chairing the committee on fostering business growth. She has a BA in English from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and an MA in writing from the University of San Francisco.

After a career in music and theater production in the Bay Area, Jordan lived 10 years in Sonoma County, CA where he worked as an electrical contractor and earned an AS degree in electronics and machine tool technology from SRJC. He worked as an exhibit builder at a children’s science museum and technical director/set builder at a theater company.

In 2001, Jordan relocated to Ashland, OR and founded Rogue Valley Metaphysical Library. He has produced many events and conferences including RVML’s annual Architects of the New Paradigm Conference. In 2008, he co-founded Love Ashland Network, providing free living essentials to low-income Ashlanders. Jordan is a co-founder of the Ashland Food Project and the Neighborhood Food Project.

 He is the Executive director of RVML Resource Center and serves on the Ashland Chamber of Commerce Board, and on the Talent Food Project Steering Committee. In 2012, Jordan began a real estate venture, renovating and managing several properties. Jordan is active in his church, CSL Rogue Valley, he loves playing and composing music, and teaching card tricks to his nieces.

Meiwen was born and raised in Taiwan. She Has lived and worked in Taiwan, Seattle, Eugene, Ashland, China, Japan and Ukraine. She had a 30 year career in banking mostly in Ashland. She has served as board member with the Ashland Chamber of Commerce, Chamber Music Concerts, and the Ashland Community Hospital Foundation. She serves on the ACHF scholarship selection committee. She is a founding member of the Southern Oregon Chinese Cultural Association. Meiwen’s interest in OHRA started in providing hot meals for winter shelter guests.

Diego Rojas was born in Cochabamba, Bolivia, but was raised in a small town in New Jersey after his family immigrated to the United States. He is now currently working as a Program Manager at Lithia&Driveway, where he co-founded the DART program in 2020. The program has become a resounding success for the organization, helping to find great talent and develop future data-centric leaders. Prior to his time with Lithia&Driveway, Diego obtained his degree in Finance from Rutgers University in 2019 and graduated with Honors. Shortly after graduating, he packed his car and drove across the country to start his new life in Ashland. Diego was mesmerized by the town the first time he visited and knew he wanted to live there one day. He is now extremely blessed to have the opportunity to serve on the board at OHRA and help those in need to make our community stronger.

BIO COMING SOON

 My name is Jeffery Tatum, I am 25-year-old California native that relocated to Southern Oregon back in 2012. The Southern Oregon community has been instrumental in my family’s success over that past decade. Growing up, I was raised by a single mother that struggled with addiction. My siblings and I grew up living in poverty and had a rough start at life. We lived in friend’s living rooms, grandparents trailers on their property, and a garage at times. The community helped us give my family a start at a quality life. I am especially appreciative of ACCESS, Medford food project, and St Vincent De Paul. These organizations helped with food, school supplies, energy assistance, down payments for housing, etc.

Fast forward to today, my family is extremely successful. My older brother graduated from Barber School 6 years ago and is well established in Central Point. My sister graduated recently from Oregon Tech with her Bachelor of Science in Radiologic Science.  I am a Branch Manager of US Bank in Ashland. I love banking and my ability to get corporate involvement in the communities that we serve.  And US Bank’s culture in serving others  aligns with my heart and soul. I am excited to become a part of OHRA to give our unhoused and others in need an opportunity at a quality of life.

Deneice moved to Ashland from the East Coast in 2000 to raise her family (daughters Amelia and Greta). She has a B.S. in Economics from Penn State, a J.D. from Dickinson School of Law, and has worked as an antitrust attorney as well as in complex mergers and acquisitions. While in Ashland she has served her beloved community in many ways, including as chair of the Ashland School Board for many years and the ScienceWorks board of directors. She is excited by the good work OHRA is doing and hopes to support it in any way possible.