CBEL Executive Changes
Written by Tim Buckley, December 2023
Three years ago, Mountain West launched CBEL with an event that drew hundreds of interested community leaders – business leaders, civic leaders and education leaders, like our name suggests.
Since then, and you can read many stories about it on our website, three neighborhood family councils have formed and become incredibly successful at hosting events, recruiting hundreds of volunteers, conducting training, transforming a city park, engaging more thoroughly with social service organizations, connecting families, gaining traction with elected officials, and building a new generation of leadership. It’s hard work. It’s rewarding. And it’s fun.
While our intention has been largely focused at one end of the bridge, in the neighborhoods where most of CBEL’s support goes, at the other end of that bridge is CBEL’s Executive Committee. It started with nine women and men, and Mountain West would like to acknowledge them for their immense contributions.
Pictured left to right:
Chris Pineda, founder, Groundwork Leadership Institute
Roland Herrera, Community activist and former Keizer City Councilor
John Teague, former Chief, Keizer Police Department
Jerry Moore, former Chief, Salem Police Department
Pictured left to right:
Sue Bloom, CEO, Boys & Girls Club, Marion and Polk Counties
Paul De Muniz, Willamette law prof., former Chief Justice, Oregon Supreme Court
Lisa Harnisch, Executive Director, Marion & Polk Early Learning Hub
Salam Noor, PhD, Mountain West Investment Corporation
Suzanne West, Director, Strategic Initiatives, Salem-Keizer Public Schools
The first four people listed above are stepping down from their roles. They will be missed. Their willingness to help CBEL get started during the years of COVID was crucial in our gaining momentum. Jerry Moore offered these words about the experience:
I attended the very first CBEL meeting and have been a faithful attendee ever since. CBEL’s mission to improve the lives of our community, especially focusing on our youth, was important to me as during my career I saw children who I knew would struggle through life without meaningful change and hope. CBEL strives to provide that.
From that first group of nine, the final five on the list (above, in bold type) are staying on for another term. Thank you all. CBEL hopes that you will continue to receive back some of the benefits that you are generating with your participation.
Two in that group had this to say about the importance of CBEL’s work:
Sue Bloom, pictured on the left holding scissors at the grand opening of the Epping Homestead Boys & Girls Club Branch
“As CBEL’s network continues to grow and strengthen, we will build broader awareness of how each and every one of us in our community can lean in to build hope and opportunity for our youth and families - a neighborhood at a time.”
Sue Bloom - CEO, Boys & Girls Club, Marion and Polk Counties
“CBEL is founded on the idea that positive population-level change is possible by empowering people and communities to exercise their agency to create the neighborhoods they want to live in, an idea I support. Safe and welcoming communities create the conditions for families and children to thrive, which results in immediate and sustained benefits to society. The efforts of CBEL to engage, align, and amplify resources and agencies that may otherwise be unattainable and unreachable for communities and individuals develops the self-efficacy required to exercise agency, create thriving communities, and realize sustained change.”
Suzanne West, Director, Strategic Initiatives, Salem-Keizer Public Schools
As 2024 arrives, CBEL’s director, Jim Seymour, is shifting his focus to a housing initiative that is integral with CBEL’s ongoing work. Jim will remain active in the Executive Committee and has hired Katya Mendez as CBEL’s Assistant Director, to oversee CBEL’s operations and its other initiatives. Thus, Katya is at the top of the new Executive Committee member list, which has grown to a total of 15 people:
Eduardo Angulo, CBEL NFC Coordinator, Founder, Salem-Keizer Coalition for Equality
Channing Bennett, Circuit Court Judge, Marion County
Katie Costic, Program Director, Salem Chamber of Commerce
Jose Gonzalez, Principal Broker, Tu Casa Real Estate, former Salem City Councilor
Josh Graves, CEO, Catholic Community Services
Tammy Kunz, Community Advocate: Kennedy Neighborhood Council Chairwoman
Elaine Lozier, Executive Director of the Mid-Willamette Valley Homeless Alliance
Benje Orozco, Broker, Blum Real Estate
Elias Villegas, Campus Dean, Chemeketa Community College, Woodburn Campus
Trevor Womack, Chief, Salem Police Department
Scott Weigal, Financial Advisor & Partner, Doneth & Sturdivant Wealth Advisors
Four from this new group offered a few words about their new assignment:
Elaine Lozier
My mission is to shed light on what life looks like for people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity in each zip code across Polk County and Marion County. I am enthused by the opportunity to collaborate with CBEL partners, and thrilled to work alongside others who care deeply about supporting parents with what they ask for to protect and provide for their children.
Jose Gonzalez
CBEL goes to the heart of my belief, which is that helping one person at a time is the only way to make real change.
Benje Orozco
My interest in CBEL stems from a desire to be an agent of change in our community. I'm a family man first, (raising 6 kids in Salem) and knowing that CBEL is vested in strengthening families and helping push resiliency at the grass roots neighborhood level motivates me to get involved.
Scott Weigal
I’ve been paying attention to CBEL since its first meeting and was hooked when I heard about their emphasis on tackling the contributing factors that lead to the critical issues facing our community, not just focusing on them after the issues become headlines. I am honored by the opportunity to join the executive committee and work more closely with people whose work in the community I’ve been admiring for years.