Communications Specialist Hired

Foundation hires Mandy Elder as Communications Specialist  

May 14, 2019: The Ford Family Foundation announced today that it has hired Mandy Elder as a communications specialist, a new position at the Foundation. She will play a pivotal role in supporting strategic communications across the Foundation. She will help coordinate internal communications, disseminate the Foundation’s work externally, and champion the causes of rural Oregon and Siskiyou County, California.

Mandy Elder

“Mandy’s background as an independent consultant, providing research, evaluation, writing and facilitation services makes her an excellent fit for our needs,” said Kasi Allen, the Foundation’s director of learning and knowledge management. “Plus, her roots are here: She was raised in Douglas County, Oregon, the home county of the Foundation.” 

Previously, Elder worked as an evaluation consultant for several nonprofit organizations, including the Oregon Community Foundation where she conducted research on bullying prevention, wrote case studies, and facilitated group interviews and site visits. She is the board chair and co-founder of Women’s International Leadership and Learning, a nonprofit organization that promotes the personal and professional development of young women in rural Mexico.

Elder is active in the Roseburg community. Over the past two years, she has served on the Roseburg Public Library’s advisory commission and as a board member for the Roseburg High School Foundation and Downtown Roseburg Association. She recently coordinated internships for two young women at the library who focused on developing STEM and Spanish programming for youth and community members.

Elder earned two master’s degrees from Portland State University: public administration and sociocultural anthropology. She has a bachelor’s degree from Portland State University in child and family studies and Spanish. She studied at the Universidad Tecnológica de los Valles Centrales de Oaxaca on a Fulbright-García Robles Scholarship. She is a Ford Scholar alumna (Class of 2009), and she worked for eight months at The Ford Family Foundation in 2017-2018 as a Hatfield Resident Fellow. 

Elder will join the Foundation on June 3, 2019. She will be based in the Roseburg office.