UOAA welcomes new board members

The University of Oregon Alumni Association congratulates our 2023–2025 Board President Erin Watkinson, BA ’00 (international studies, Spanish), and welcomes eight new members who begin their terms July 1. 

Each member on the board of directors serves a three-year term, which can be renewed once. They oversee and manage the association’s finances and advise the UOAA Executive Director, Raphe Beck, and staff on how best to engage more than 260,000 UO alumni. 

"We are fortunate that a large number of alumni have expressed an interest in serving on the UOAA board," said Beck. "These new board members join an outstanding group of volunteers in helping to guide our organization." 

The UOAA board maintains between 38 and 44 voting members and represents the broad diversity of UO alumni in all respects, including but not limited to age, class year, school, degree, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and participation in various student and alumni programs. 

Members of the board are also alumni who have remained active with fellow UO alumni and/or students, or who have demonstrated a history of service to other communities. 

 

Meet the new board president

Erin Watkinson, BA ’00 (international studies, Spanish)
Lake Oswego, Oregon

Erin is a native Oregonian who was fortunate to grow up in Eugene and was literally born to be a Duck. She has served on the UOAA board of directors since 2018. As a student, Erin was president of Gamma Phi Beta, vice president of the UO Panhellenic Council, and actively involved in multiple campus and community volunteer activities as a mentor and coach. Upon graduation, she began her career in the technology space in Portland. She is currently the vice president of client success at Avetta, a cloud-based supply chain risk management and commercial marketplace platform, with previous roles in executive leadership in professional services and customer success. In her free time, Erin enjoys golfing and traveling with her husband. They currently live in Lake Oswego. 
 

Meet the new board members

Kayla Choate, class of 2025 (business administration)
Santa Clarita, California

Kayla is a business administration major with a focus on marketing and a minor in nonprofit administration. She is from Santa Clarita, California and is entering her third year as a student at the University of Oregon. Kayla serves as the student representative on the UOAA Board of Directors and as director of alumni relations for the Student Alumni Association. On campus, Kayla is president and captain of the club softball team. She is also the student coordinator and first-year student mentor in the Lundquist College of Business. Kayla is looking forward to the amazing opportunity to study abroad in Siena, Italy during the summer of 2023.
 

Jasmin Hartmeier, BA ’14 (journalism: advertising)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Jasmin was a member of UO’s Kappa Kappa Gamma and graduated in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and advertising. She is the director of public relations at Chemistry, an Ad Age A-List agency, and she resides in Pittsburgh. Prior to Chemistry, Jasmin worked for PPG as the organization’s first-ever associate DE&I partner, and she developed and launched PPG’s first-ever DE&I report. Before PPG, Jasmin was a publicist at Ancestry and Edelman in San Francisco. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in organizational leadership from Johns Hopkins University and sits on the board at the Latino Community Center.
 

Greg Leo, BS ’74 (community service and public affairs)
Butteville, Oregon

Greg owns a marketing, public, and governmental affairs consulting company that serves public, nonprofit, and corporate clients with strategic advice and advocacy. While on campus, he lobbied for ASUO in the 1971 and 1973 Oregon Legislative Sessions and was ASUO president in 1973–74. Greg also led campus orientation tours and worked for more student control over incidental fees. Greg has an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School and teaches advocacy at Western Oregon University. Greg and his wife Rachel, BA ’00 (environmental studies, fine and applied arts) grow fruit and raise animals on their small farm. Greg is the second generation of a three-generation UO family. 
 

Nick Macilveen, BA ’00 (communications, public relations)
San Francisco, California

Nick is the managing director of Embarcatec, a Silicon Valley-based consultancy focused on sustainable fuels, clean energy, and technology. Nick engages with clean economy companies on development projects for advanced fuels such as sustainable aviation fuel, clean hydrogen, and other long-term decarbonization initiatives. Prior to entering the climate tech industry, Nick spent two decades bringing new technology and services to market in the financial technology, commerce, and mobile telecommunications industries. As an active alumnus, Nick produces content and organizes events for the UO Ducks in Tech group. He also advises the UOAA’s San Francisco Bay Area alumni chapter.
 

Mollie Schneider-Halvorsen, BS ’98 (public relations)
Henderson, Nevada

Mollie is a partner at Schneider Development, where she oversees acquisitions and development, as well as a realtor with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, Nevada, where she’s worked for 21 years. Prior to working in real estate, Mollie worked in entertainment public relations. She served as vice president of the UOAA Vegas Ducks alumni chapter and has been a board member for the UNLV College of Education and Classroom on Wheels, as well as served in a public relations role for Living Grace Homes women’s shelter. Her husband, Ryan Halvorsen, BA ’98 (public relations), is a fellow UO alum, and they have three daughters, Ziya, Tru, and Eila.
 

Grant Smith, JD ’20, MBA ’20
Hillsboro, Oregon

Grant is a senior finance analyst supporting Express Lane for NIKE, Inc. While at the University of Oregon, Grant worked with the UOAA as a graduate coordinator for the Student Alumni Association and was selected as a Frohnmayer Leadership Fellow. A native Oregonian, Grant is a descendant of Oregon Trail pioneers. Prior to attending the UO, Grant graduated from Brigham Young University, where he met his wife, Vivian. Together they have two young children, Gordon James and Viera Lucia. Grant’s favorite volunteer activity is serving as a parent-coach for Gordon’s wrestling team.
 

José Simón Villa, BS ’72 (curriculum and instruction), MS ’74 (counseling)
Newark, Ohio

A retired CEO for the East Coast Migrant Head Start Project, José relocated to Newark, Ohio. He previously served in various administrative and leadership roles and held a variety of positions at the local, state, and federal level. José is committed to continuing with volunteer work. His family are all education-minded individuals, his son and daughter being teachers, and his wife retired as a guidance vocational counselor. While at the University of Oregon, he held various positions advising, counseling, and recruiting Hispanic and migrant students into the UO. José earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Oregon and his doctoral degree from The Ohio State University.
 

Brandi Zeman, BS ’01 (general science)
Anchorage, Alaska

Brandi is a senior consultant for Baker Tilly, an advisory tax and assurance firm, advising clients on accounting enterprise resource planning system design, project implementation, and operational support. She graduated from the UO with a bachelor’s degree in general science and a minor in chemistry, and later earned an MBA from Arizona State University. While at UO, Brandi was a member of Alpha Chi Omega and held many positions within her chapter as well as the Panhellenic Council. She currently lives in Anchorage, Alaska with her husband, Adolf, BS ’00 (political science) and two children. Brandi serves as treasurer on the boards for Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center and Hillcrest Children's Center.
 

The UO Alumni Association also thanks twelve departing board members, whose terms will conclude on June 30, 2023, for their dedicated service to the UOAA:

Reid Carr, BA ’98 (advertising); Tomás Flores, BA ’94 (accounting); David Hattenhauer, BM ’74, MMus ’79 (music education); Tahira Hayes, BA ’05 (electronic media production); Jim Lobdell, BS ’84 (accounting); Sami Lyon, Class of 2024 (political science); Chip Messenger, BS ’97 (business administration); Ryan Nguyen, BS ’08 (business administration); Maulin Patel, BS ’02 (business administration); Dan Reschly, PhD ’71 (educational psychology); Stephanie Soden-Back, BA ’92 (political science); and Joseph Wahl, BA ’80 (Asian studies).

See our full list of UOAA board officers and directors.