Julie Jones Manning • Chair
Julie is a long-time communications and public relations professional who recently retired from Samaritan Health Services, where she served as Vice President for Marketing, Public Relations and Community Health Promotion. In addition to her responsibilities at Samaritan Health, Julie completed a four-year term as Mayor of Corvallis in December 2014. Julie is an active community volunteer. She is a member of the Oregon State University Board of Trustees and serves on the Oregon Community Foundation’s Leadership Council for the Southern Willamette region. She was named Corvallis’s First Citizen in 2004. Julie and her husband, Walter, have two adult sons.
Cameron Howell • Vice Chair
Cameron is the Chief Financial Officer of Citizens Bank and has lived in Oregon since 2010. He has worked in the banking industry for over 20 years. Cameron graduated from the University of Phoenix with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Administration and later earned his MBA from the University of Utah. He is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the State of Oregon. Cameron joined the BCF Board of Directors in 2018.
Nicole Wallace • Treasurer
Nicole has lived in Benton County for most of her life. After growing up here and attending Oregon State University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting, she went on to work in public accounting, where she earned her Certified Public Accountant license. She found her way back to Benton County in 2019 where she is now the Chief Financial Officer for Starker Forests. Nicole and her husband, Jason, enjoy spending their time traveling or hiking with their two dogs and are expecting their first child in June. Nicole joined the BCF Board of Directors in 2023.
Justin Wirth • Secretary
Justin has been a lawyer since 2000, and has practiced law in Corvallis since 2005. As an attorney at The Reynolds Law Firm, P.C., he practices in the areas of estate planning and administration, business law, real estate, construction law, and nonprofit law. Previously, Justin practiced environmental law at the Oregon Department of Justice, working in the Natural Resources Division. Justin’s local community involvement includes past service on the boards of Heartland Humane Society (past President), the Zonta Service Club of Corvallis Foundation, and Financial Stewardship Resources. Justin holds a law degree from the University of Oregon, a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a paralegal certificate from the University of West Los Angeles. Justin enjoys spending time with his family as well as woodworking, home improvement projects, mountain biking, skiing, hiking, and backpacking.
Xan Augerot
Xan is in her second term as a Benton County Commissioner, where she focuses primarily on health, justice, climate and equity issues. Xan has lived in Corvallis since 1992, when she arrived to pursue a Ph.D. on the biogeography of salmon management. Her research led to a leadership role with Portland-based Wild Salmon Center and a first-of-its kind exploration of the social, cultural, ecological and policy aspects of salmon management, The Atlas of Pacific Salmon. After seven years of extensive international travel, Xan moved her family back to Corvallis to focus on local waters, working for Marys River Watershed Council. While making ecological improvements to local streams and reconnecting upstream-downstream neighbors was very rewarding, Xan was eager to refocus on bigger systems issues. Regular interactions with County staff on watershed projects led Xan to the conclusion that the Board of Commissioners was the right place to develop policy focused on the long-term livability of Benton County.
Rebecca Badger
Rebecca is the director of marketing and enrollment services for Oregon State University Ecampus. She is passionate about service work and was awarded the Hans Neukomm Leadership Award in 2019 in recognition of her significant impact through service to the community. She is on the board of the Oregon State Credit Union and serves on the Oregon Community Foundation’s Leadership Council for the Southern Willamette region. Rebecca was a co-founder of Corvallis Young Pros and has been actively involved with Leadership Corvallis for many years, currently serving on the Curriculum Committee. She has her B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Oregon and recently completed the Stanford LEAD executive education program. She lives with her husband Cory and two kids in Corvallis.
Tammy Bray
Tammy is a Professor in Global Health and Nutrition and Dean Emeritus of the College of Public Health and Human Sciences (2002-2016) at Oregon State University. Under Bray’s leadership, the College of Public Health and Human Sciences achieved national accreditation in 2014, becoming Oregon’s first accredited college of public health. Throughout her career, Tammy has received numerous awards and honors recognizing her visionary leadership, her pioneering research linking diet and health, and her teaching and mentoring excellence. A native of Taiwan, Tammy is a graduate of Fu Jen University in Taipei. She has a master’s degree in nutrition and a PhD in Biochemistry, both from Washington State University. Tammy joined the BCF Board of Directors in 2018.
Mamta Chowdhury
Mamta is the Director of Regional Programs at the OSU Foundation/Alumni Association. Since moving to Corvallis in 2013, she has served on various non-profit boards. She is currently the board chair of CARDV (Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence) and formerly served on CMLC (Corvallis Multicultural Literacy Center) board for 4+ years. A native of India, Mamta has a master’s in business laws from National Law School of India University and a Bachelor of Law degree from North Bengal University. She previously worked with international students at INTO OSU and with several domestic and international organizations in India. She is passionate about community work and hopes to bring global communities and diverse identities together – in service, support and philanthropy.
Thomas L. Gallagher, Jr.
Tom was born in Corvallis and graduated from Fairplay Grade School, Corvallis High School, Oregon State University, and Harvard Law School. He retired after practicing law for more than 45 years. Tom is an active community volunteer. His service has included serving as president of the Rotary Club of Corvallis, president of Corvallis Caring Place, board chair of the Academy for Lifelong Learning, and board member of Community Outreach, Inc. Tom is currently president of the Benton County Historical Society. He married his wife Pat shortly after they graduated from OSU. They lived in various parts of the country prior to returning to Corvallis in 1981. They have an adult son and two granddaughters.
Ilene Kleinsorge
Ilene (recently retired) served as the Sara Hart-Kimball Dean of the College of Business at Oregon State University for more than ten years. She directed a business program that serves more than 5,800 students including 3,900 business majors and pre-majors, nearly 850 business and entrepreneurship minors, 250 graduate students and more than 800 design students. She was responsible for providing leadership, direction and growing the College of Business, which remains focused on innovation, entrepreneurship and experiential learning. In Fall 2014, under her leadership, Austin Hall, the new $50M home for the College of Business opened. Other indicators of growth include the launch of the first business Ph.D. program, the MBA program expanding from offering three track options to ten, launch of the Advantage Accelerator (along with university partners) and integration of the design majors into the college.
Malcolm LeMay
Malcolm serves as the Director of Operations at the Oregon State University College of Business. Malcolm grew up in Corvallis and attended Corvallis High. He graduated from the US Naval Academy and served as a naval flight officer in the Marine Corps for 20 years. For his last assignment, he worked in the Pentagon for the Joint Staff J-3 as a program manager for the anti-terrorism/force protection division before returning to Corvallis in 2003. He has graduate degrees from Old Dominion University (MA in International Studies) and the Naval Postgraduate School (MS IT Management). Malcolm and his wife, Kim, live in Corvallis and he has two adult children, Lindsey and Christopher. He is a member of the Corvallis Rowing Club, the local Associated Military Leaders of Oregon, and volunteers as a Blue and Gold Officer for the US Naval Academy for the local area high schools. He joined the BCF Board in 2021.
Tony Lapiz
Born in California and growing up in Alaska, Tony was the first in his family to attend college. He now works as the Legislative Director for Oregon Secretary of State Secretary Shemia Fagan. He joined the Secretary of State’s team after advocating for the more than 70,000 frontline essential workers as part of the Service Employees International Union Local 503. Tony’s commitment to public service has spanned more than government work, from volunteering at his local library in middle school to serving seven years in the Army National Guard. Tony holds a B.S. in kinesiology and political science from Humboldt State University and a Master’s in Public Health from Oregon State University. He has served on state and local boards, including the Linn-Benton Community College Board of Education. He is passionate about bringing an intersectional lens to policy development and in his free time enjoys listening to music, spending time with friends, and binging the occasional show or two.
Susan Poole
Susan is a Portland, Oregon, native who graduated from Oregon State University in Pharmacy and practiced in hospital, community, and college health settings. She and her husband Bob settled in Corvallis in 1979 with their two daughters. Susan retired in 2005 from OSU Student Health Services as Health Services Relations liaison. She has served in numerous OSU leadership roles including OSU Alumni Association, OSU Retirement Association, OSU College of Science Advisory Board, and was a founding member of OSU Women’s Giving Circle. She is on the Alumni Board of Advisors for the OSU College of Pharmacy. Susan has held regional and statewide nonprofit positions and she is an active community volunteer. She is on the board of The Corvallis Clinic Foundation. Susan was a trustee of Good Hospital Foundation for 17 years where she initiated WISH, a women’s giving circle. She is a member ARCS Foundation Oregon, has been a Rotarian since 1989, and has been a member of the Assistance League of Corvallis for nearly 36 years. She was named Corvallis’ First Citizen in 1997, Leadership Corvallis Hans Neukomm Leadership Award recipient in 2007, and was honored as Corvallis Senior First Citizen in 2013. Susan and her husband appreciate family time especially with their four grandchildren.
Diana Simpson Godfrey
Diana has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice Administration. She joined the Benton County Sheriff’s Office in 1982 and obtained Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) certifications in Parole/Probation and Law Enforcement and various leadership certifications through the National Institute of Corrections and Sheriffs. Diana was elected Benton County Sheriff in 2006, retiring in 2013. She served on a variety of state boards including the certification board for DPSST, Northwest Leadership Seminar, and the Oregon State Sheriff’s Association legislative and corrections committees. Diana brings nearly forty years of experience and expertise serving local communities with the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, as well as volunteer service with the Zonta Club of Corvallis and the Corvallis Morning Rotary Club. She has also previously served on BCF’s board and Grants Committee. Diana and her husband Bret have two adult sons. She and her husband enjoy spending time at their cabin in central Oregon as well as traveling, gardening, and hiking.