Board of Directors

Elizabeth B. Silberg spends her days elbow deep in clay as a budding potter and small business owner in Portland, Oregon. Her non-profit and corporate leadership has focused on building equitable practices, empowering individuals and financial sustainability in environments ranging from new business development to transforming and/or restructuring underperforming products and programs. After spending a year as a non-profit interim Executive Director, she brings new perspectives to how she can best support OEC as a board member.

Her hobbies take her even deeper into the mud with obstacle course racing and trail running. These experiences continue to deepen her commitment to clean air, water and land, and access to healthy living for all communities.

Dr. Vivek Shandas

Dr. Vivek Shandas is an environmental scientist and advisor specializing in developing strategies for adapting to a changing climate. His research and teaching focus on the intersection of climate-induced events, governance, and planning mechanisms, examining the emergent characteristics that generate vulnerability among communities and infrastructure. At Portland State and Oregon State Universities, he supports students in environmental planning, sustainable cities, climate adaptation, and urban forestry. In his role as an advisor to a consulting practice, he supports practitioners and elected officials in integrating scientific information into the decision making process. 

Dr. Shandas brings a policy-relevant approach to his work through evaluating environmental stressors on human health, develops tools for decision-making, and constructs frameworks to guide urban growth. His research has garnered significant attention, appearing in major media outlets like the Washington Post, NY Times, and NPR. In 2022, he was appointed by the US Secretary of Agriculture to the National Urban and Community Advisory Council, and also serves other national and local boards, such as the national Tree Fund, Metro Bond Oversight Committee, City of Portland’s Sustainability and Climate Commission.

Early in his career, Dr. Shandas was an outdoor school teacher (“Chickadee”) who developed a watershed curriculum adopted by the San Jose Children’s Discovery Museum. His time as a health and environmental policy analyst for the New York Governor’s Office fascinated him with the process of brokering information for policy decisions, motivating him to pursue a doctorate to enhance the quality of information informing environmental and community health policy. He has authored over 100 scientific articles on diverse topics, including climate justice, air quality, climate change, urban heat, and water management. 

When not focusing on urban adaptation, Dr. Shandas revels in the mountains and waterways of the Pacific Northwest, where he contemplates the incomprehensible scale of mega-cities, and the magnificence of old-growth forests and mountainous peaks.

Jacob Fritz

Jacob was raised in Central Oregon and now works and lives in the area. He serves as the Program Director and Facilitator for the Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project leading consensus building among diverse stakeholders – including Tribes, environmentalists, loggers, recreationalists, and many others –  to create a shared vision for forest restoration with the Deschutes National Forest.

Parallel to this work, Jacob applies his expertise in the built environment as a Sustainability Specialist for Tozer Design, where he manages certification processes for clients in pursuit of Living Building Challenge certifications. He assists clients and project teams in thinking through holistic urban development including managing onsite energy integration, water capture and treatment, and vetting healthy materials.

Jacob spends his free time being very active or very sedentary. You can find him outside rowing his raft, backcountry skiing, or riding his mountain bike. If he isn’t out there, you will find him with a good book or a challenging jigsaw puzzle. Either way, he is likely with his wife Geneva and dog Salmon.

JJ Green

JJ was born and raised on the central Oregon coast, earning her degrees at University of Oregon and has lived in Portland ever since. JJ’s educational background in environmental design and architecture led her to work with multiple Portland non-profits modernizing old homes to current energy and safety codes with the dual benefit of creating living-wage jobs for historically underrepresented members of the construction workforce.

“Real estate is unique in that it’s often one’s biggest investment, but also where we spend and share our lives and keep our loved ones safe. This goes hand in hand with what I love about Oregon Environmental Council. OEC seeks to create equitable solutions that preserve and expand natural resources, protect Oregonians’ health, and build long term economic wellbeing…all while maintaining the natural beauty that makes living in Oregon so special.” JJ served on OEC’s Emerging Leader’s Board between 2016 and 2019.

Michael Jung

Michael draws upon over 25 years of experience across the electric power, public service, and clean technology sectors in his leadership of the ICF Climate Center.

Michael serves as the founding Executive Director of the ICF Climate Center, a resource hub for knowledge and insights on climate mitigation, resilience, and adaptation, drawn from ICF’s 2000+ climate professionals. Michael’s career in energy has reached across both investor-owned and consumer-owned utilities. He has served as a policy advisor to governors and has been an early team member at several successful clean technology startups, including Utilidata, Varentec, and Silver Spring Networks.

Michael most recently served as Vice President for Government Affairs at the Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative. He chaired an energy task force for Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber and crafted landmark electricity legislation as a policy advisor to the campaign and administration of Ohio Governor Ted Strickland. Michael began his career managing environmental and climate change policy at American Electric Power.

Michael is a U.S. Fulbright Fellow, Tae Kwon Do black belt, former competitive ballroom dancer, professional ski instructor, ping pong entrepreneur, active tennis player, avid backpacker, and Eagle Scout. He is a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy, Yale College, and the Harvard Kennedy School. Michael speaks English natively and has studied Mandarin, Korean, Russian, and German. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife, three children, and labradoodle puppy.

Heidi Khokhar

Heidi serves as the Executive Director at Rural Development Initiatives (RDI) where she has the privilege to work collectively with a vast network of rural people, one of the region’s best employee teams, and a web of committed partners to strengthen rural people, places, and economies in the Pacific Northwest.

Heidi grew up in a rural logging town in Southern Oregon at the height of changes in the region’s timber industry that pitted various communities, industries, and interest groups against one another. She has passionately served rural communities for 24+ years and is particularly committed to broad and ongoing development of diverse, skilled, and connected local leaders as the “silver bullet” solution to rural economic and community revitalization. She advocates for the elevation of rural voices, increased rural investments and resources, and policies that specifically meet and address the unique needs and issues of rural communities.

Heidi’s education is in Planning, Public Policy & Management, with an emphasis on rural development and nonprofit management. Her experience includes facilitating the development of rural community visions and strategic plans; authoring and delivering RDI’s Rural Community Leadership program; starting and supporting a 600-person rural volunteer training corps; and launching the WealthWorks Northwest and RuraLead initiatives.

David Lohman

Dave Lohman grew up in Ashland, attended public schools there, and graduated from Yale University and the University of Michigan Law School.  He has worked as a public school teacher, congressional campaign manager, U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee staffer, deputy director of a state agency, director of Port of Portland’s policy and planning department, litigator business lawyer, and until recently as an Ashland City Attorney.

Dave has served as a member of the Portland Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, the National Coastal Resources Institute board, the Cycle Oregon board, the Rogue Valley Art Center and Gallery board, and the Oregon Transportation Commission.

Karen Moynahan

Karen Moynahan is Chief Deputy City Attorney for the City of Portland for Utilities and the Environment. She has been litigating environmental issues for more than 30 years, previously for the States of Oregon and New Jersey. Karen became interested in environmental issues during the third grade on the very first Earth Day when she and her friend cleaned up the local stream as part of the pollution project. Karen and her husband live in Dallas, Oregon where they enjoy biking and walking their two dogs, Jingles and Taylor.