Foundation hires Woodburn community leader

September 7, 2017: The Ford Family Foundation announced today that it has hired Laura Isiordia, a community leader from Woodburn, to serve as the Foundation’s fourth field coordinator, a field-based position for the Foundation.

Laura Isiorida

"We are delighted to have Laura join us in our community-building work,” said Anne Kubisch, president of The Ford Family Foundation. “She will help rural communities connect to resources from the Foundation and other sources.”

“Laura’s experience will enhance our outreach efforts in Latino communities,” said Roque Barros, director of the Ford Institute for Community Building. “She will help rural communities strengthen connections, build capacity, and support community-led actions.”

Isiordia will join three other field coordinators (hired in 2016): Crystal Aston, Mt. Shasta, California; Denise Bacon, Newberg, Oregon; and Maurizio Valerio, Union, Oregon.

Isiordia most recently served as the executive director for CAPACES Leadership Institute in Woodburn, which provides leadership development and capacity building for Latinos and Latino organizations. 

Born and raised in Mexico, Isiordia immigrated to Oregon in 1985. She began working as a farmworker while attending school. At Farmworker Housing Development Corporation (FHDC), she served as a residents services director. Within a few years, she became the program’s community leadership director overseeing educational and leadership programs, community building and residents services at FHDC housing communities.   

Isiordia also has a background in lay health education and outreach. She has served part-time with the Oregon Department of Human Services as a foster/adoptive parent Spanish instructor. She has been involved with several research studies in the Latino farmworker community, and she has been published in the Journal of Biosocial Science.

Throughout Isiordia’s career in community building, she has been a member of several boards: She currently serves on Pacific University’s Education Consortium, Western States Center, PCUN (Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste) and the Woodburn School District.

She will begin work at the Foundation on October 2, 2017.