WITI Oregon

Featured Speaker(s)

**As Chief of Staff for Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Julia Pomeroy is responsible for managing Blumenauer’s offices in Portland and Washington DC including strategic planning, budgeting and staff management. As his chief political advisor, she also works with Blumenauer in his congressional political campaign and leadership PAC, the Committee for a Livable Future, the third largest environmental PAC in the country.

Julia began her career in public service in 1981 as one of the coordinators of Margaret Strachan’s campaign for City Council against Blumenauer. Winning the election, Julia worked as Strachan’s assistant until she was defeated in 1986. It was at that time, almost twenty years ago, that Julia began working for City Commissioner Earl Blumenauer, as his transportation liaison. She became his Chief of Staff in 1989. Their work together and innovative accomplishments have helped Portland gain an international reputation as a livable community. With Blumenauer’s election to Congress in 1996, Julia established his office in Washington DC and commutes there from Portland as needed, continuing to assist Blumenauer in being a strong and creative voice at home and abroad for the environment, sustainable development and livable communities.


**Valerie Hoecke has extensive experience advising clients on their products,
overseeing the development of those products, and evolving those products.
Valerie is currently Director of Project Management at Pop Art in Portland,
OR. Prior to her move to Portland, Valerie worked for more than a decade in
High Tech in the Bay Area where she was the VP of Rare Medium's Venture
Strategy Group, leading a team of principals providing strategic services to
startups. Before selling her company to Rare Medium, Valerie Vice President
and Co-Founder of Fire Engine Red, an innovative boutique consulting group
providing business and product strategy to internet startups and more
traditional businesses. Before Fire Engine Red, Valerie was Director of
Project Management at N/Volve, an IDG spinoff focused on building vertical
community web sites. Valerie brings a disciplined and operational view to
business and product consulting - helping to keep her clients' dreams
realistic.

**Jennifer Roney, Associate Dean for the Atkinson Graduate School of
Management at Willamette University, has extensive experience in cross-cultural management and communication, researching theories on organizational design and
complexity. She is currently the Associate Dean of the Atkinson Graduate
School of Management at Willamette University where she also teaches
classes in research, organizational behavior and international business.

After receiving her BA in Economics from UCLA, Jennifer worked for the
Hughes Aircraft and Eastman Kodak Companies in Southern California. She
was then hired as the Financial Manager for General Dynamics in San Diego.
During this time, Jennifer received her MBA degree from San Diego State
University. Jennifer then pursued her PhD from the University of Utah and
subsequently taught management and organizational behavior at Southern
Methodist University and Pepperdine University.

Jennifer moved to the northwest in 2002, teaching undergraduate business
courses at Pacific University before moving to Willamette. She sits on
the Leadership Committee for the Oregon Ethics in Business Awards.