Meet our community of business expertise
Mercy Corps Northwest Seminar presenters are experts in their respective fields and effective teachers. They represent a wide array of experience and skill, and deliver their presentations pro-bono to Mercy Corps Northwest. Below is a listing of current seminar presenters.
————
————
Austin Buchholtz
Award-winning graphic designer, illustrator and writer, Austin Buchholtz is passionate about creating enticing, effective branding to help businesses and non-profits flourish. For over seven years, he has been working in print and web in both Sydney, Australia and Portland.
Seminar Offerings:
————
Carmen Voilleque
Carmen E. Voillequé is the co-author of Evolutionaries: Transformational Leadership – The Missing Link in Your Organizational Chart with business partner Randy Harrington, PhD. Ms. Voillequé is also the CEO and co-owner of Best Practices Media, co-founder of Strategic Arts and Sciences, and Principal consultant for Extreme Arts & Sciences. Her background is in education psychology, adult learning, and organizational development. She also has over 15 years of experience in public speaking and facilitation and is nationally respected for her ability to provide advanced strategic planning for complex partnerships, systems, associations and networks to achieve significant organizational change. Ms. Voillequé has narrowed her focus to strategic planning, change management and the development of high performance teams in the last five years of her career. Her varied experience allows her to bring a combination of fresh perspectives and deep knowledge to her work with private, non-profit, and public organizations.
Seminar Offerings:
————
Carolyn Campbell
Carolyn is an international speaker and workshop facilitator known for powerful, community-focused marketing and co-creative leadership development. Weaving her expertise as a theater director and producer, concept designer, speaker and coach, Carolyn helps people uncover their vision, then connect with others to have greater impact. In a fun, dynamic way, she pushes leaders and business owners to trust AND act on their unique approach to building thriving businesses and organizations—with powerful results.
She has facilitated workshops for international coaches’ conferences, business associations, global nonprofit organizations and national arts councils. In addition, her writing has been featured in newspapers, magazines, e-zines, and on the web.
Seminar Offerings:
————
David Vanadia
David Vanadia is an an independent artist and experienced consultant/trainer who has conducted workshops for organizations large and small including Reader’s Digest, United Digital Artists, Entertainment Weekly, and Web International. He enjoys helping others become empowered through digital storytelling.
Seminar Offerings:
————
Heather Barta
Heather Barta is co-founder of the graphic design firm CircleTriangle Square where she brings insight and solutions-based thinking to create successful visual solutions for every project. Over the past 17 years she has helped clients both large and small gain brand recognition, greater community-based awareness, and higher events attendance through her strategic development and design process.
You can see her branding work around town for some of the city’s best know restaurants, wineries, and non-profit organizations. Away from her studio, Heather can be spotted sampling fare from her favorite local restaurants where she is either buttering up one of the chefs for a recipe, or planning her next travel adventure.
She has a B.A. in Psychology and Art from Lewis & Clark College, with a minor in textile arts, and teaches Visual Communication at Pacific Northwest College of Art.
Seminar Offerings:
————
Jacen Greene
Jacen Greene provides strategy, finance, and impact analysis consulting to both for-profit and nonprofit social enterprises and supporting organizations. He currently assists Portland State University’s Impact Entrepreneurs with their field studies, incubation, and leadership training programs to catalyze social innovation worldwide. Jacen has previously worked with social entrepreneurs in the U.S., India, and Latin America across sectors as diverse as green energy, impact sourcing, and certified coffee. Jacen graduated Beta Gamma Sigma with an MBA in business sustainability from Portland State University and holds a B.A. in China studies from Willamette University.
Seminar Offerings:
————
Jack Birnbach
Oregon Society of Certified Public Accountants
Jack Birnbach is a retired Certified Public Accountant (CPA), chief financial officer and controller of several Portland-area small-to-medium sized businesses. He also served on the American Institute of CPAs Group of 100, whose purpose is to uncover and prioritize emerging issues for the nearly 400,000 CPAs in the United States. Jack has spoken on personal financial issues to various business and citizen groups in Portland.
He is an active volunteer at Portland’s Dress For Success whose purpose is to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.
Seminar Offerings:
————
Jackie B Peterson
author of Better, Smarter, Richer
Jackie B Peterson, author of Better, Smarter, Richer, is a CPA, business consultant and coach. She has worked with small businesses and creative entrepreneurs for over 30 years. The advice she offers comes from her many years of working with her clients and coaching them to financial success. For the last 10 years Jackie has been a strategic advisor and instructor for the Small Business Development Center of Portland Community College. In that role she has helped hundreds of small business owners gain the skills to create successful enterprises.
Seminar Offerings:
————
Jen Barth
Jen Barth is a Small Business Branding and Marketing Coach and Founder of Big Small Brands and JSB Consulting. She has over 15 years of experience as a corporate and agency marketing executive, with expertise in Brand Identity & Strategy, Market Research, Web Content & Design, and Brand Management. Her client work has included B2B services, consumer goods, entertainment, education, energy, healthcare, nonprofit, retail, and technology sectors. Jen is passionate about helping small businesses grow through brand + communications development, marketing, and revenue generation support. In her spare time, she keeps busy chasing her identical (yet nothing alike) twin daughters around Portland, and volunteering with several local nonprofits.
Seminar Offerings:
————
John McPhee
John McPhee is the Director of Client Services at Formic Media. Originally from the Midwest, John decided to venture West in 2003 to kick start his career in Internet Marketing. Upon arriving,McPhee was employed by BetterManagement.com (BMC), a SAS-owned company, to take on the role of Internet Marketing Specialist where he handled all aspects of BMC’s SEO and PPC strategies. After a two year stint at BMC, McPhee moved into the agency world at Anvil Media in 2005. Here McPhee provided SEO, PPC and social media strategy working on a number of travel/tourism (Provenance Hotel Group, Travel Portland, Jackson Hole Central Reservations, Travel Oregon), B2B-focused (Axway, ColumbiaSoft) and B2C clients (gDiapers), earning multiple social media marketing (SoMe) awards for strategy and performance in 2008 and 2009. McPhee has also presented at various SEMpdx and PSU events, and volunteered to work with the PSU multimedia class on a project for Portland Center Stage, as well as donated his time to the SMART reading program for the past four years. Looking for the next step in his career, McPhee joined Formic Media (Anvil’s sister company) as Director of Client Services in 2010. McPhee is excited for the opportunity to work in a start-up environment with a talented team, and help move the needle for small business owners looking to increase their online visibility and sales.
Seminar Offerings:
————
Mark Paul
Mark Paul has more than thirty years of business leadership experience - from bootstrapping start-ups as an entrepreneur, to building a 250-person business unit in two years at a Global 500 company as an “intrapreneur.” He has 22 years of interim executive and business consulting experience.
Mark has helped hundreds of companies attract more customers, increase revenue & profitability. Mark has served on boards of advisors for various companies, published The Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide - used by universities across the U.S. and recently published How to Attract Significantly More Customers… in good times & bad.
Seminar Offerings:
————
Peter Vaughan Shaver
Peter Vaughan Shaver is a Portland-based arts & entertainment attorney. His primary areas of legal expertise include general business law and intellectual property, with an emphasis on copyrights, trademarks, music and art law, computer and Internet law, real estate, consumer matters and non-profit organizations. Attorney Shaver, through his company, Sound Advice, LLC, works extensively with artists, musicians, designers, craftspeople and businesses of all types. He is a regular presenter of educational lectures and legal workshops at local colleges and arts-related organizations, including, Portland State University, The Art Institute of Portland, AIGA, The Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators, The Oregon College of Arts and Crafts, Marylhurst University, the Graphic Artists’ Guild, the 100th Monkey Studio, American Federation of Musicians – AFM 99, and various PCC campuses.
Seminar Offerings:
————
Suzanne Feucht
Suzanne Feucht has held positions as a bookkeeper, information systems manager, consultant and coach in accounting software systems, accountant, project manager and controller. SF Business Services provides accounting services to help companies accurately record data in an accounting system to provide critical decision making data and reports.
Seminar Offerings:
————
Tom Howe
Tom Howe has been a practicing attorney for over 25 years and owns website company. His passion is helping small businesses succeed and prosper. He has written four books (law and software programming) and speaks at legal conferences throughout North America and technology conferences around the world. His practical and entertaining presentation style makes him a highly sought after speaker.
Seminar Offerings:
————
Valérie Berset-Price
Valérie Berset-Price brings over fifteen years’ experience on the international business stage to bear in assessing overseas opportunities, educating staff on the cultural mores of foreign markets, and providing discreet consultations on panache and personal styling. She is fluent in French, English, and Spanish, as well as conversant in German and Portuguese. She has brokered business deals on five continents and spent time living in various countries before settling in Portland, Oregon. Valérie has traveled extensively throughout the world and was employed by Swiss, Brazilian, South African, Taiwanese and American organizations. In her international business development functions, she managed employees, agents and distributors across borders and knows first hand the importance of developing a global mindset for today’s business world. She teaches from a “lessons-learned” perspective. Additionally, Valérie is a certified image consultant with the Association of Image Consultants International, providing in-depth knowledge of business etiquette and image management for today’s professionals. Valérie is an active player on the international business circuit, conducting seminars on international business development and assisting individuals in reaching their personal best.
Seminar Offerings:
What We Do
MCNW Business Directory
Support our local entrepreneurs and build the local economy>
Smart Advice Blog
Tips, Tricks & Business Strategy>
MCNW in the News
Media coverage of MCNW programs, events, and clients>
