The ReBuilding Center is excited to announce Alison Dennis as our new interim Executive Director. Alison has worked to help numerous organizations, teams, and individuals realize their missions and achieve their goals. She has done this serving as an interim executive director, consultant, or as a teacher at colleges and universities. Her focus on strategy, leadership, and collective action makes her a wonderful fit for this position. She is a graduate of Bennington College and holds an MBA from Portland State University.
So what was the ReBuilding Center looking for in their new executive director? Kelly Stevens, the Administrative Services Manager at the ReBuilding Center, says some of the characteristics were "a demonstrated passion for our mission, a deep commitment to transparency, a collaborative leader with a record of success in nonprofit and business sectors, a willingness to learn from everyone, the ability to connect and communicate with a broad and diverse spectrum of people, and someone who can be very focused on our work but not be afraid to have a ton of fun with the team while doing it!” She also remarked, “Alison brings a wealth of care, nonprofit experience, and business savvy to the interim ED position, with a passion for work that has a social and environmental impact.”
Alison herself has stated “I’ll be, in as many ways as I can, helping everyone who is a part of the ReBuilding Center ask and answer questions in a collective and collaborative way.” Her mission is clear and she is very optimistic, “everyone within this community has been so warm and welcoming. Not only that but they are also a community of doers, people who not only talk about change but also roll up their sleeves and get things done and I’m excited be working alongside new colleagues that are doers."
A little fun stuff about Alison: In 2004, she and her husband eloped and took a year off to travel, visiting 27 countries across six continents in 365 days. (Her engagement ring was an onion ring.) Alison ran and finished her 12th Portland Marathon this past October, and loves how it feels when thousands of people all run in the same direction together at the same time. She also loves visiting her parents in Ashland, Oregon, where she likes watching horror movies with her dad and seeing as many plays as she can each season at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Alison has lived in North Portland’s Arbor Lodge neighborhood since 1995.