Built Oregon Appoints New Chair and Board of Directors

Built Oregon, a nonprofit organization focused on supporting and connecting the consumer products industries throughout Oregon, has announced the ratification of incoming board chair, Stephen Green, as well as the appointment of five new board members. The new board of directors was ratified by the existing board members on January 25, 2021. 

Incoming chair Green has served on the Built Oregon board of directors for four years. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer of A Kids Book About, an alum of Built Oregon’s PIE startup accelerator program; serves on the board of Self Enhancement Inc (SEI), a nonprofit focused on helping Portland youth realize their potential; and serves on the Oregon Growth Board, an organization which governs and allocates investment capital for the state. 

“As a lifelong Oregon resident and a long-time mentor and supporter of the variety of consumer products companies across this great state, I am greatly looking forward to helping guide Built Oregon in its continued efforts, all while ensuring that our organization remains diligent in championing BIPOC and women founded consumer product companies throughout our state,” said Green. “It has been an incredibly challenging year for all of our consumer product companies, but I remain confident that — given the wealth of knowledge, opportunity, and passion in our community — we can and will recover from this situation stronger than ever.” 

Both new and returning board members include: 

• Saul Lopez (new), Vice Chair. Lopez is an Innovative, multilingual marketing leader with strong global experience and deep history in the sports and consumer goods industry. He left his most recent position at Nike after more than 15 years with the company.Adam Turco  (returning), Treasurer. Turco has served on the board for one year. He is the founder and CEO of Primetics, which provides accounting and bookkeeping services for a variety of small and mid-sized businesses.
• Scott Davidson (returning), Secretary. Davidson has served on the board for two years. He has served as an attorney and partner at various law firms and is currently a partner at  White Summers Caffee & James, LLP.
• Bobbie Parisi (new), Marketing. Parisi is the owner of Parisi Consulting, a strategic brand and marketing agency supporting a wide variety of categories such as Food & Beverage, Wellness, Outdoor, Footwear and Apparel.
• Kristen Ringen (returning), Events. Ringen has served on the board for three years. A fixture of the Oregon entrepreneur community for more than a decade, Ringen currently serves as Community and Education Manager for Food Northwest. Prior to that, she worked for Oregon Entrepreneurs Network.
• Jocelyn Rice (new),  Community. Rice is the founder of Black Earth United, an organization focused on imbuing the outdoor industry with intergenerational and interdisciplinary collaborations and storytelling. She currently serves as an apparel designer at Columbia.
• Sarah Pool (new), Accelerators (PIE). Pool is the co-founder and CEO of Take Two Foods, a ready-to-drink beverage produced by upcycling spent barley. This marks her return to the board in a new role. Sarah had previously served but departed to focus efforts on building her new company.
• Chris Bailey (returning), Built Bridges. Bailey is the owner of Bloom Caramel, a plant-based confection, and he serves as Business Developer for Hacienda CDC in support of the Portland Mercado. Bailey has served on the board for three years.
• Katharine Reinhold (new), Built Marketplace. Reinhold has served as a mentor for Built Oregon for two years. She boasts nearly a decade of experience at Adidas.

Departing Built Oregon board members include former chair Sandy Pressley, former vice-chair Leslie Mullins, Lori Spencer, and cofounder of Built Oregon, Rick Turoczy. Cofounder Mitch Daugherty continues to serve as the director of Built Oregon. Turoczy remains general manager of PIE, the startup accelerator arm of Built Oregon.

About Built Oregon 

Oregon is a 501(c)3 not for profit organization with a mission to become the conduit for a diverse, sustainable and impactful consumer product ecosystem in Oregon. Composed of a passionate collection of community leaders, entrepreneurs, storytellers, investors, mentors, and organizers, Built believes that the support and growth of Oregon's consumer product industries will create sustainable, inclusive, and innovative job growth throughout the state. With a distinct focus on consumer products industries, we see the power in "owning our backyard." 

For more information, visit  https://builtoregon.com.