Here's the most up-to-date schedule for the 1000 Friends of Oregon 2025 Affiliate Conference at Oregon State University.
CH2M Hill Alumni Center
725 SW 26th St., Corvallis
Schedule for November 7, 2025
9:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Breakfast and informal conversations
Lobby and Ballroom A
- Start your morning with quiche, fruit, muffins, yogurt, coffee and tea from New Morning Bakery.
9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
Opening keynote & overview
Ballroom A
1000 Friends of Oregon Executive Director Sam Diaz will give a brief overview of our collective priorities and the conference schedule.
Next, TED coach and storytelling expert Cathey Armillas will help participants uncover their Oregon Story while exploring the power of perspective, empathy, and connection. Through fun, thought-provoking exercises, Cathey shows how to share stories that move people, find your voice within your community, and turn personal experiences into collective action.
10:30 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Legal & legislative deep dive: Tools for affiliate advocacy
Ballroom A
Hear from 1000 Friends’ team members Mary Kyle McCurdy, Blair Batson, Jim Johnson, and Cassie Wilson about the latest land use cases and advocacy tools, as well as how partners can collaborate effectively with 1000 Friends’ legal and policy teams during the 2026 session.
11:15 a.m. - 11:25 a.m.
Break
11:25 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Organizing & outreach strategy workshops
Choose between two hands-on sessions to strengthen outreach and engagement led by 1000 Friends staff and board members.
Workshop A: Community Organizing and Volunteer Engagement 101
Ballroom A
Led by: Anita keā'lani Yap and Jacky Lee
This interactive session will focus on practical strategies for affiliates to grow membership, engage younger volunteers, and bridge urban and rural communities. Together, we’ll explore what motivates people to get involved, how to craft messages that inspire action, and ways to sustain long-term engagement. Participants will leave with concrete tools and examples for organizing local campaigns, building relationships, and strengthening volunteer networks across Oregon.
Workshop B: Digital comms and messaging
Ballroom B
Led by: Jenni Denekas and Sarah Yeoman
Explore strategies for creating engaging and inclusive online content that resonates with diverse audiences, particularly new/younger audiences. Learn best practices for social media storytelling, digital accessibility, and message design that cuts through the noise and builds authentic connections.
12:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Lunch* and Activist Awards presentations
Lunch served in Foyer and seating in Ballroom A
Keynote address by State Representative and Majority Leader Ben Bowman, introduced by Sam Diaz, followed by presentation of the Activist Awards. Enchilada lunch provided by New Morning Bakery.
1:30 p.m. - 2:20 p.m.
Local partners spotlight panel
Ballroom A
Facilitated by 1000 Friends of Oregon Board President Gil Kelley. Join 1000 Friends partners as they share their on-the-ground experiences with recent or current projects—what’s working, what’s been challenging, and what they’ve learned.
2:20 p.m. - 2:35 p.m.
Break
2:35 p.m. - 3:10 p.m.
Land Use Myth Busting
Ballroom A
Facilitated by Cassie Wilson and Jim Johnson (1000 Friends of Oregon). Team up, roll up your sleeves, and get ready to bust some land use myths. Together, teams will discuss and compete about major land use decisions--and how to spot the truth.
3:10 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Closing and next steps
Reflections and send-off with Sam Diaz
*Dietary restrictions have been accommodated based on information provided in the registration form.
About our speakers
Gil Kelley
Gil Kelley, FAICP, is an internationally recognized urban and economic development strategist, having headed up planning and development activities for several West Coast cities and serving as an independent advisor to cities and private clients here in the and internationally.
In his public roles, Mr. Kelley most recently served as the General Manager of Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability for the City of Vancouver, British Columbia and before that as the Director of Citywide Planning for the City of San Francisco, CA, the Director of Planning for the City of Portland, OR and Director of Planning and Development for the City of Berkeley, CA.
Throughout this time he also maintained an independent planning consultancy and he continues to advise cities and governments on a range of urban development strategies, including economic development, neighborhood and downtown revitalization, waterfront development, urban design and sustainability. He also assists select private sector clients with investment and development opportunities.
Throughout his career, Mr. Kelley has continuously promoted civic engagement and innovative thinking in both his public and private work, grounding his work in a combination of economic and urban design approaches that results in long-term public benefit. With an appreciation for blending professional practice with academic endeavors, he served for several years as Practitioner-in-Residence at the School of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University and as Senior Fellow in the Center for Portland Metropolitan Studies there. He has also taught planning and negotiation master classes at the University of Amsterdam (NL) for several years running.
Mr. Kelley is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners and did his graduate studies in planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was awarded the Loeb Fellowship for regional planning and community-building at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design where he also served as a Lincoln Institute of Land Policy - Loeb Fellow.
He was raised in and has spent much of his life in Oregon and currently serves as President of the Board of 1000 Friends of Oregon and Chair of the Oregon Investment Board which serves the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area and the communities within it. He presently works from his home office in Hood River County, Oregon.
Leigh Shelton, Portland Neighbors Welcome
Leigh is an organizer, strategist and mom. She began her work with Portland: Neighbors Welcome in January 2025 to rabblerouse for pro-housing policy in the Oregon Legislature. Now she works to empower PNW’s volunteer base to push for better housing policies at local and state levels of government.
Her approach to urbanism is informed by the land use history of her childhood home. Born in Belleville, IL, Leigh grew up minutes from a gated public road at the bottom of a bluff. Installed to separate “black” East St. Louis from “white” Belleville, the gate perpetuated injustice and suffering that persists to this day. Leigh believes that through organizing for positive change, we can redress the wrongs of the past, and address today's environmental, social, and economic challenges.
Her key training comes from her work at UNITE HERE, a union representing hospitality workers. Based in Los Angeles, she led campaigns for some of the first local minimum wage laws in the country and helped low wage workers win dignity and respect from the world's most powerful corporations. She learned firsthand that by building trusting relationships and taking action together, a dedicated group of people can accomplish anything.
Anneka Miller, Friends of Yamhill County
Raised in Yamhill County, Anneka joined the Friends of Yamhill County board in 2021 to contribute to the community where she grew up. A graduate of the University of Oregon and a farmer, Anneka hopes to promote better understanding and critical thinking about land use with an eye to the future.
Faun Hosey, Save Helvetia
Generally focused on assuring sustainability of our verdant farmland as a vital resource for many future generations – which leads us to insist on liveable, well planned cities, and superb community involvement. Lives in Helvetia, an area of unincorporated farmlands north of Hillsboro. President of the nonprofit group Save Helvetia and of its sister organization Helvetia Community Association. Active with Friends of Smart Growth and Strong Towns North Plains. Serves on the Metro Technical Advisory Committee. Descended from Oregon Trail pioneer farmers. Educated in art, pastries, and habitat.
Roger Kaye
Roger and Aileen Kaye moved from Salem to a horse farm near Turner in 1986. At the time, Roger was a chemist and computer programmer learning to love life on the farm. They soon discovered that their property and the surrounding farmland faced threats from a range of non-farm developments, including gas-fired power plants, hemp manufacturing facilities, large mass gatherings, and illegal land use decisions by the county.
In 1992, Roger and Aileen each received Citizen Mentor Awards from 1000 Friends of Oregon after successfully challenging a proposed gravel pit development near their property. Roger became President of Friends of Marion County and works to this day to protect our farming community, some 30 years after the first successful case at the county and in the state courts.
Aileen Kaye
Aileen Kaye (Turner, Oregon) has been an active member of Friends of Marion County and 1000 Friends of Oregon since 1987. She got her Bachelor's in Social Work from the U of Iowa, moved to Oregon in 1977 and headed up the Adult Abuse Prevention Unit for Oregon Seniors and People with Disabilities for many years. She became involved in farmland preservation issues when she bought two horses and needed a place to house them, room to ride them, hay to feed them. She realized then that farmland was being used for too many non-farmland-related things. Her first battle was fighting a proposed huge gravel mining operation in her area; the rest is history!