Current Board Members

The Coalition is currently accepting applications for new board members. Please email info@jacksoncountyculturalcoalition.org if interested.

MARY O'KIEF, PRESIDENT
Mary O’Kief sings with the Women With Wings choir, a 50+ member choir started in the fall of 1995 by women drawn together by their love of singing. She retired (Faculty Emeritus) from Rogue Community College in 2016 after seventeen years working as the Grants and Strategic Planning Coordinator. Previously, Mary helped start and direct Southern Oregon Women’s Access to Credit and served as the Program Development Coordinator at The Job Council; Assistant Director of United Way of Jackson County; Family Advocate of Southern Oregon Head Start; and co-director of Dunn House.

JULIE BRIMBLE, PAST PRESIDENT
Julie is the Area Manager for SMART® Start Making A Reader Today in the Rogue Valley. She is passionate about children and books, and she enjoys working with the many volunteers who give their time to SMART. In her spare time, Julie raises and exhibits English Setters and is an assistant 4H Leader helping with a dog club. Julie and her husband live on a small farm in Gold Hill, where they have cashmere goats and one adorable miniature donkey.

JENNIFER STATON, VICE PRESIDENT
Jennifer serves southern Oregon as the Program Associate with the Gordon Elwood Foundation. She is an Advanced Certified Nonprofit Professional, ACNP, and holds a Certificate of Nonprofit Board Education from BoardSource. Jennifer has over twenty-three years of nonprofit experience and is dedicated to the important role our nonprofit community plays in supporting a healthy and vibrant southern Oregon community.

RENE ALLEN, TREASURER
Rene Allen has an MFA in Contemporary Art Practices from Portland State University and a BFA in Sculpture from Southern Oregon University. She splits her time between working as a timber framer and architectural drafter, and as an instructor for Girls Build, Talent Maker City, and the Timber Framer's Guild.

GRETCHEN HAMILTON, SECRETARY
Gretchen Hamilton retired from the Medford School District after 25 years of teaching as an English teacher and Reading Specialist at Medford Senior High, McLoughlin Middle School, and North Medford High School. While teaching, she was a member and board officer of the Rogue Valley Literacy Council, the Oregon State Literacy Association, and on national committees of the International Literacy Association. Those were productive and rewarding times. Not ready to totally retire, she taught for an additional 15 years at Rogue Community College in the Adult Education, GED Program. That was a perfect way to end her teaching career, teaching adults who wanted to learn. Covid put a stop to teaching at RCC, so it was time to volunteer somewhere. She chose the Southern Oregon Historical Society, which seemed fitting since her husband’s family came to Table Rock Road in 1883. Volunteering at Hanley Farm has offered a variety of benefits: being outdoors, working enjoyable events, working with the public in a positive way, and working with a dedicated, fun group of other volunteers. She plans to continue helping to make Hanley Farm a fun way to learn about the history of our valley.

ERIKA LEPPMANN, BOARD MEMBER

DEBRA MOON, BOARD MEMBER
Debra Moon is a published author and the proprietor of her writing/consulting business, Page One. She holds a Master of Arts in Psychology and a Bilingual Teaching Credential. Debra has spent much of her life immersed in subcultures in Mexico and the USA. She lived in Mexico as a foreign exchange student. She has traveled to consult with various Western U.S. Native Tribes, has worked for the Urban League with diverse populations in Tucson, Arizona, and has worked as a consultant for National 4-H to assist native youth in inner cities. She lived on the Hopi Reservation in Northern Arizona for nine years, where she helped administer programs for youth and economic development. Now, she writes regularly for the Talent News and Review and works on grants and training classes for the Talent Business Alliance. Debra loves living in Talent, where she is a board member, outreach coordinator, and grant administrator for the Talent Historical Society.

ETHAN GANS-MORSE, BOARD MEMBER
Ethan Gans-Morse is an award-winning composer, producer, and arts administrator dedicated to projects that harness the power of the arts to bring people together to face human challenges. As the co-founder and executive director of the nonprofit Anima Mundi Productions, he has produced dozens of grant-funded arts projects, including collaborations with Seattle Opera, Chamber Music Northwest, and the Oregon Bach Festival, and has served on the selection panels for the Oregon Arts Commission, the Oregon Community Foundation, and Oregon Humanities.

As a "Spark Award"-winning composer, his works have been performed by the Walla Walla Symphony, the Siletz Bay Festival Orchestra, the Rogue Valley Symphony, Bend Opera, the Portland Vocal Consort, Chorus Austin, and the 3C Ensemble in LA, and have been praised as "A huge achievement," (The Oregonian), "One of the most exciting developments of the arts season” (Oregon ArtsWatch), and "A masterwork [that] isn’t just art; it teaches us about the resiliency of the human spirit" (Ashland.News). He lives in Phoenix, OR, with his wife—artist/poet/collaborator Tiziana DellaRovere—and their cats.

JESSE WALLS, BOARD MEMBER

STEVE CORELIS, BOARD MEMBER

SHAWN M DAVIS, ADMINISTRATOR
Shawn is the Administrator for the JCCC.