From PortlandAfoot

Chris, Brian, Jessica and Carrie at the February 2011 board meeting.

The volunteer board of directors of Portland in the Round sets the direction and policies of the nonprofit corporation that publishes Portland Afoot.

Members

As of December 2011, the board has six members:

• Dean Baker, an adjunct professor of journalism at the University of Portland, advisor to the Washington State University Vancouver VanCougar newspaper and freelance writer. Dean has written for numerous publications including the Oregonian, Columbian and Willamette Week and holds a master's in journalism from the University of Oregon. He lives in northeast Portland and serves as vice chair of Portland in the Round.
• Jessica Cooper, employee relations representative for Prithvi Catalytic in the Seattle area. She holds a master's in business administration from Argosy University. Jess lives in the Tukwila Hill neighborhood of Tukwila, Wash. and serves as treasurer of Portland in the Round. She's also Michael Andersen's sister.
• Charley Gee, associate attorney at the bike- and pedestrian-oriented law firm Swanson, Thomas and Coon. Charley lives in southeast Portland and also serves on the board of local nonprofit support group Umbrella.
• Carrie Pederson, ESD volunteer coordinator for Atalante Mujeres in Forest Grove. She holds a master's in journalism from the University of Oregon. Carrie lives in southeast Portland and serves as secretary of Portland Afoot.
• Brian K. Smith, software engineer for WindLogics Inc. Brian holds a master's in business administration from Portland State University, lives in northeast Portland and serves as chair of Portland in the Round.
• Chris Smith, a Portland planning commissioner, Portland Streetcar board member and the host of PortlandTransport.com. Chris works as internet technologist for Xerox Corporation in Wilsonville, lives in northwest Portland and serves as sergeant at arms of Portland in the Round.

Meetings

The board currently meets twice a year, with occasional discussions by email.

Feb. 21, 2010

The board's first meeting was 3:30 to 6 p.m. on Feb. 21, 2010, at 8003 N. Wabash Ave. There, we:

• Met and discussed board members' skills/interests/etc.
• Adopted officer duties and appointed them.
• OK'd Michael as executive director, editor and publisher with an initial salary of $0.
• Reviewed Michael's business plan and draft budget projections and set performance goals for his tenure.
• Approved plans to apply for 501(c)3 status, formally launch Portland Afoot as the nonprofit's first project, apply for a variety of grants, accept the potential fiscal sponsorship of Impact Northwest and share reporting resources with BikePortland.org and PortlandWiki.
• Set our next regular board meeting for Aug. 8.

Aug. 9, 2010

The board's second meeting was 1 to 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 8, 2010, at 924 NE 65th Ave. Members present were Dean, Brian, Carrie, Jess and Michael. We:

• Reviewed the print product's strengths and weaknesses in its first four issues.
• Reviewed lessons and business plan changes from organization's first six months.
• Reviewed finances from the organization's first six months.
• Discussed a revised editorial independence policy.
• Agreed to open-source our business plan.
• Set a tentative date for our next regular board meeting: Sunday, Feb. 13.

Feb. 27, 2011

The board's third meeting was 11:30 to 1 p.m. on Feb. 27, 2011, at 924 NE 65th Ave. Members present were Dean Baker, Brian K. Smith, Carrie Pederson, Jess Cooper, Chris Smith and Michael Andersen, with Alexis Grant sitting in. We:

• Discussed the previous seven months of events at Portland Afoot, including partnerships, grant applications, circulation trends and growth strategies.
• Identified the challenges of growing revenue quickly enough to support Michael's continued work on the project.
• Discussed eventual transition for board members, with a goal of finding at least one new board member by the August meeting and planning on several turnovers in February 2012.
• Reviewed and approved a 2011 budget prepared by Jess and Michael.
• Made our annual signing of the conflict of interest statement in the bylaws.
• Agreed to meet next some time in August.

Aug. 14, 2011

The board's fourth meeting was 3 to 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 14, 2011, at 924 NE 65th Ave. Members present were Dean Baker, Brian K. Smith, Carrie Pederson and Chris Smith, with Jess Cooper attending via teleconference. We:

• Reviewed the least six months at Portland Afoot, including circulation growth, new partnerships, our new ODOT sponsorship and East Portland Media Equity Project grant and the need to build more ad revenue.
• Reviewed the 2011 budget.
• Approved Charley Gee as a new board member, discussed the need for possible new members and set a goal of recruiting at least one more in time to attend the February 2012 meeting.