“Working here really helps you see the value of being immersed in the community.”

Next time you visit the Foundation office, you are likely to see Christi Cornelius’ smiling face greeting you at the reception desk. As the administrative assistant to the executive team, Christi also helps manage schedules, prepare for events and keep track of a myriad of details that helps the team run smoothly.

“I love learning new things, and I love talking to people and getting to understand them,” she says. It’s a job with a lot of moving parts, and Christi’s extensive career experience in logistics has positioned her perfectly to take it on.

Christi first lived in Roseburg when she was a preschooler. The family eventually moved away, but Christi returned as a teen-ager to live with her grandparents, graduating from Roseburg High School in 1985. She moved back permanently in 2021.

Her work history includes a stint as a manager for a company that handled logistics processing, where she regularly worked overseas. Her career has also included work as a logistics coordinator and office manager.

Christi loves spending time with her children—her son is an Army captain and her daughter works as a veterinarian. And not just her children. “I love mentoring kids,” she says, “teaching them that it doesn’t matter where you come from, you can always be great.”

In her spare time, Christi can be found hiking or at the beach with her two “box puppies,” a pair of Catahoula Leopard mix littermates she found outside a grocery store.