Our Advisers

We are deeply grateful for the tremendous wealth of knowledge and experience our Advisory Group brings to Villages NW.

With their support and guidance, we are confident we will be able to develop Villages NW into a truly effective vehicle for incubating and sustaining aging-in-place Villages throughout the region.

Alison Bahr

Dr. Alison Bahr is a medical internist in Kaiser Permanente’s Continuing Care Services Department and previously worked as a physician at Kaiser’s Gateway Clinic. Previously Dr. Bahr served as a primary care physician at the Kaiser Permanente Gateway Clinic. Dr. Bahr received her BA and MA Comparative Literature from UCLA, then moved to San Francisco where she served as a workers compensation specialist and as a caregiver volunteer for the Zen Hospice project.

Her experience with injury prevention, as well as evaluation and preservation of functional status, formed a natural segue to her eventual decision to study medicine, for which she came to OHSU in Portland in 2000. Dr. Bahr also performs inpatient medicine as a hospitalist, and previously supported a home-care practice. As a physician and a person, Dr. Bahr supports policies that allow people to live out their at lives at home, and sees the Village movement as a critically important piece of the aging in place puzzle.

Kelli Bledsoe

Kelli is a creative, collaborative, and curious HR professional with a passion for technology, process improvement, and innovation whose 10+ years of experience includes: expertise in several HRIS programs, reporting and analytics, compensation and benefits, recruitment, employee relations, payroll, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and data protection. Her experience across the industries of sports apparel, government, non-profit healthcare, consulting, higher education, and wealth management informs her approach to problem solving, support of local and global teams, and fostering collaboration between stakeholders to achieve the best strategic outcomes.

Holding an MBA in HR Information Systems from the University at Albany, State University of New York, she currently works as an HRIS Project Manager for one of the largest independent wealth management firms in the country. She is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, and has previously served a member of the Urban League of Portland Young Professionals, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and Step Up Women’s Network. In her free time, she enjoys music and theatre; she is an award-winning actor who has performed on both the stage and screen in Chicago, IL and Portland, OR.

Jay Bloom
President/CEO, Bloom Anew

Since 1983, Jay C. Bloom has been providing executive and personal coaching to leaders, managers, and individuals in the private, philanthropic, and governmental sectors who are experiencing a transition in their lives or desiring to strengthen their professional skills and capabilities. Jay also provides leadership and management consultation with organizations that are undergoing transitions with a special expertise in helping them develop effective collaborations and partnerships. He has been described as a social entrepreneur stimulating change not only for individuals and organizations but for communities as well.

Jay is passionately promoting his concept of “returnment,” a term he created for aging boomers as an alternative to retirement. Returnment encourages older adults to spend their later years using their skills, resources, and knowledge to benefit the greater good. He’s also assisting organizations locally and nationally in finding ways to more effectively utilize this growing new resource. His recent article “Experience Making a Difference: the Secrets of Working Effectively in the Social Sector” contains a number of useful insights for those thinking of working and volunteering in the social sector.

Jay served as the director of the innovative Task Force on Vital Aging sponsored by then Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler in Portland, Oregon. The task force researched best practices for employing and civically engaging older adults and completed a report in March 2008.

He is a firm believer that unless you are engaged in your later years you are just dying longer not living longer. Jay works tirelessly promoting intergenerational interdependence and intergenerational equity and believes in building a State and community for all ages.

Gerald J. Cohen
State Director, AARP Oregon

Jerry Cohen has been AARP’s first State Director since 1996. He moved to Oregon from Kansas City, Missouri with his wife, Ruth, a social worker who is specializes in care coordination and management.

He holds a BA degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a JD degree from Washington University-St. Louis, and a MPA degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, with concentration in gerontology and health administration.

Alan DeLaTorre
Research Associate, Portland State University
Director of Operations, Jessie F. Richardson Foundation

Alan DeLaTorre is a self-described “urban gerontologist” who is interested in translating research into policy and practice. He has been a researcher  and project manager for Portland’s age-friendly cities project since its inception in 2006 and has been involved in local and regional issues  pertaining to older adults and people with disabilities since moving to Portland in 2002.

Alan is a firm believer in the importance of serving one’s community and has been teaching and coordinating service-learning courses at Portland State University for more than six years. Dr. DeLaTorre’s position with the Jessie F. Richardson Foundation includes coordinating education abroad programs to Nicaragua with Concordia, Pacific, and Portland State Universities. The programs specifically aim to improve the quality of life and well-being of older Nicaraguans through various projects, including direct health care assessment and interventions, public health education, and community development.

Alan currently serves as a Commissioner on the Portland Commission on Disability, as a member of and staff for Portland’s Age-Friendly Advisory Council, and as a board member for the Oregon Gerontological Association. He received his Ph.D. in Urban Studies and Graduate Certificate in Gerontology from Portland State University.

Jessica Morris
Chief Human Resources Officer
Meals on Wheels People

Jessica Morris has served as the Chief Human Resources Officer for Meals on Wheels People since 2010 and Director of Meals 4 Kids since 2014. Jessica has spent 20 years in human resources in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. She is an experienced HR professional, with demonstrated history of leading practices and objectives for organizations, including recruitment, performance management, training and development, compensation design and administration, operational project management, employee relations, benefits management and administration, organizational development, strategic planning and equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives.

A business administration graduate of American InterContinental University, Jessica is a member of Society of Human Resource Management and Portland Human Resources Management Association. She has volunteered with Stephenson Elementary and Peninsula K-8 Parent Teacher Associations and served as Chair of the 2013 Peninsula K-8 Book Harvest. She has also served on the Elder Advocacy Coalition, the Child & Family Food Security Coalition and the Multnomah County Summer Meals Workgroup. 

Susan Stoltenberg
Executive Director, YWCA of Portland

 .

.

.

.

.

 Dan Valliere
CEO, REACH 

Dan Valliere joined REACH Community Development as CEO in 2013. REACH creates healthier communities across the Portland region by  developing and managing affordable apartment communities and providing home repairs for older adults who own their own homes.

Prior to REACH, Dan was Executive Director at Chicago Commons, an historical social service organization that has grown to become one of the  leading community-based providers of In-Home Care and Adult Day Services for older adults in Chicago. He passionate about developing collaborative solutions to social challenges and helped found the non-profit Back Office Cooperative in Chicago. He is excited to help Villages NW.

Dan received a Masters in Public Affairs from University of Texas and BA from Carleton College.