Steve has worked in parks and natural areas for nearly 20 years, around San Francisco, Milwaukee, WI, and across Oregon – connecting people to nature is integral to his passion. Prior to TKO, he served 10 years with Oregon State Parks, spending his last 2 years with the Gorge State Parks management team. As TKO’s first staff person in July 2017, Steve accepted the challenge of moving from a volunteer-led organization to a statewide effort with staff support of Oregon’s trails. Being driven by people-power, the proof of success is in the smiling faces found in the TKO staff directory and the thousands of volunteers they support each day – at more and more scenic sites across the state.

A life long Cascadian, Nat grew up hiking, camping, and climbing trees in Southwest Washington. They earned their degree in Environmental Science from Washington State University and have worked in outdoor recreation and education since 2012. Nat joined Trailkeepers of Oregon as a staff person in 2018 and in addition to helping out with all of TKO’s volunteer and fundraising programs, they also manage the Trail Ambassador Network. Trails are Nat’s passion so when they’re not working on TKO projects, you just might find them out bike-packing or trail running.

Lindsay comes to TKO with a 20 year background in guiding, outdoor education, and community engagement work. Her passion centers on helping people find their own personal connections to the outdoors, firmly believing that this is the most effective way to inspire people to advocate for and steward our natural spaces. As a lifelong Oregonian, she has a deep love for the wide variety of ecosystems accessible by trail across the state, and is thrilled to be working with TKO’s dedicated staff and volunteer teams as they support responsible stewardship of these unique landscapes.

Susan comes to TKO having been inspired to trail work during her graduate work in ecological landscape design. Having grown up camping and hiking in the midwest, she has fallen in love with the varied and lush terrain of the Pacific NW. Leading trail crews, being a neighborhood tree steward, volunteering as a master naturalist, or helping kick off local open space conservation efforts, Susan takes every chance she can get to help maintain and preserve our outdoor spaces. She is excited to help expand TKO’s stewardship efforts across Oregon.

Raised in Oregon, Josh cut his teeth on the woods of Mt. Hood and the waterfalls of the Columbia River Gorge.  He has spent the last four years engaged with TKO in various capacities including a season as the Gorge FS Trails Intern, and a season on the Forest Service Trail Crew in the Willamette National Forest and spearheading stewardship on the southern reaches of the Oregon Coast.

Loren comes to TKO with a passion for all things outdoors and has been relishing spending time hiking and exploring what Oregon has to offer through every season. They earned their degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Michigan and have worked in natural resource management and habitat restoration since 2018. Connecting people of all backgrounds and abilities to natural areas is the heart of Loren’s mission in environmental work and they are excited to continue this work through trail stewardship and advocacy with TKO.

Vito’s introduction to the trails and saw world began in 2009, with a Student Conservation Association pilot program in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. A passion for stewardship has taken him to Rocky Mountain National Park, Biscayne National Park and the Sonoran Desert National Monument. In 2015, life and work brought Vito to the Mt. Hood National Forest. Here he has found a variety of opportunities and partnerships through the Forest Service, non-profits, and concessionaires. Keeping his saw tuned and eyes on the trails, he’s excited to join TKO.

Trevor grew up in New England and started his stewardship journey working for his hometown’s local conservation department. He received an Environmental Science degree from the University of North Carolina Wilmington before diving into the world of Wildland Fire. He fought fires across the United States and traveled the world during his off-seasons for many years. As a new addition to the TKO team, he looks forward to helping people from all walks of life enjoy their coastal forest resources.

Carl’s passion for trail building began in rural Minnesota building ad hoc mountain bike trails in and around his hometown. Through countless volunteer work sessions, miles of more thoroughly planned trails, and support from the vibrant midwestern outdoors community, Carl began working at Conservation Corps MN’s Summer Youth Corps. At SYC he worked with and led young adult and youth crews in 2020 and 2021. After graduating college in December 2021, with a degree in Environmental Studies and a Race and Ethnic Studies Concentration, Carl drove his minivan to the PNW and has been working outdoors since (excluding a brief wintertime stint as a morning pastry baker).  Carl is passionate about increasing accessibility and inclusivity in outdoor spaces at a time when we need them more than ever.

Born and raised in eastern Iowa, Steven brings five years of experience in providing administrative support to Oregon nonprofits, as well as a background in communications, editing, and database management. He’s an avid trail user and is excited to support TKO’s efforts to help people access Oregon’s natural spaces. In his free time, he enjoys writing, running, and exploring the outdoors.

Lucy hails from the cold streams and rugged back roads of Vermont, where she got her first taste of working in the woods making maple syrup with her family as a youngster and doing firewood harvests to heat their home. As a forestry student at the University of Vermont, she began apprenticing as a woodworker and carpenter, and completed her first chainsaw certification. A trip to the Sawtooth Wilderness and a semester in course in fire ecology in northwest Montana sparked her interest in western forests. When the call inevitably came, she packed her truck and drove west, putting her chainsaw to work in Idaho and Washington for harvest operations, arborists, fuels reduction and prescribed burning operations, and to serve on a wildland fire handcrew. She comes to TKO as a capable sawyer excited to find new terrain in the western Cascades and share her passion for community stewardship.

Kat is passionate about exploring the permeable space between wilderness and inhabited landscape and believes in protecting our natural resources through responsible stewardship. While researching their MFA at San Jose State University, they explored the politics of mapping and resource extraction in collaboration with the Malakoff Diggins California State Historic Park. In 2023, they began volunteering as a trail ambassador and crew member. As a TKO + WTA intern, Kat is excited to bring their talent and passion to work in geomatics across agencies to map the Columbia Gorge.

Kayla has 10 years of parks, recreation, and tourism experience, with a focus on outdoor recreation. She believes outdoor recreation spaces should be safe and accessible for all, working currently as a Developed Parks Outreach Coordinator for Portland Parks and Recreation. Kayla spent the last 6 years as a Park Ranger where she has had the opportunity to strengthen the connection that people have with the land they visit with Portland Parks & Rec and Washington State Parks. She is excited to hit the trails and work alongside the TKO, WTA and the greater Gorge Stewardship Network team!

Maya Agarwal is a parks planner with Portland Parks & Recreation, and her favorite way to interact with nature is to get out on a trail hike. She is eager to bring to the TKO Board her experience coordinating regularly with trail planners and land management agencies in the region. Her experience includes strategic planning, feasibility studies, trail planning alignment studies, and trail route alternative analysis. She is also a landscape architect with many years’ experience in both the public and private sectors, with a professional and personal commitment to public space planning, design, and preservation efforts.

Christina grew up in southern California and spent her summers hiking around the Sierra Nevada mountains. She immediately fell in love with all the Pacific Northwest has to offer when she relocated here in 2006. She holds a Master of Business Administration degree and brings many years of operations management experience with her. When she’s not working, Christina can be found on a hiking trail or kayaking around a lake.

Vicente rose from part-time, park ranger to his appointment in 2018 to lead the program as Portland Parks & Recreation’s Security and Emergency Manager. He holds a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies-psychology from Concordia University and is an accomplished author of a children’s book called My Nature Exploration. When he’s not working, he enjoys exploring Oregon with his wife Rachel, son Vicente II, and daughter Harper – on a trail or with a pair of binoculars as an avid hiker and bird watcher.

Shasta grew up in Kansas, and spent her childhood years being active outside as much as possible. She moved to Oregon in 2010 so she could spend more time in the trees and out on the trails. She’s spent her career working for and with a variety of nonprofits, including Oregon Public Broadcasting and Oregon Wild – currently works at LKA Fundraising & Communications. She believes in the power of storytelling and community building to change the world, and is passionate about working with organizations that share these values. Her time in Oregon has taught her the importance of protecting and stewarding our public lands, while building awareness and improving access so that everyone can enjoy our wild places. She is excited to do more of this work with Trailkeepers of Oregon. Shasta is an avid runner and can often be found trail running, hiking, camping, backpacking, and snowshoeing around the Pacific Northwest.

Jaime joined up with the TKO board to further help in parks and natural areas planning and development, much of which she has first hand knowledge of leading in the Columbia River Gorge when she worked for Oregon State Parks. She also has planning and development of nature play areas, looking to engage youth in the outdoors.

Reena joined the TKO Board in 2021. Since moving to Oregon in 2013, she has enjoyed taking advantage of the countless outdoors activities the PNW has to offer. She began volunteering with the Mazamas in 2015 to become more involved with the outdoors community and is excited to continue giving back to the community in new ways through TKO. Reena is particularly interested in initiatives involving access and equity. At her day job, Reena is a project manager in science/healthcare tech, and in her spare time enjoys hiking & climbing, staying in fire lookouts, and always planning for the next big trip.

Curtis is a once Project Manager turned Software Engineer who loves spending time outdoors. When not in front of a computer screen you can find him hiking, fishing, snowshoeing, snowboarding, or picking up trash outdoors. His parents took him hiking and camping often as a child helping to install a sense of wonder and stewardship for diverse ecosystems. While at TKO he hopes to bring his technical abilities to create a more inclusive digital experience for those interested in Oregon’s trails.

Katie grew up in Idaho where she enjoyed camping, hiking, fishing, and rafting all over the Northwest. After moving to Portland in 2010, she worked as a freelance writer, a bookseller at Powell’s Books, and eventually made her way to marketing and project management.

Tom is a founding member and past board president of TKO. He has served in a variety of other board positions over the years in helping get TKO established. Tom grew up in Oregon and has been hiking since he learned to walk, thanks to an outdoors-oriented family life. He’s passionate about giving today’s young families the same amazing experiences he had growing up.

Wendy holds a master’s degree in learning technologies and is a former classroom teacher. She worked as a National Geographic Fellow in Australia researching Tasmanian devils, a PolarTREC teacher researcher in archaeology in Alaska, an Earthwatch teacher fellow in the Bahamas and New Orleans, and a GoNorth! teacher explorer studying climate change via dogsled in Finland, Norway, and Sweden. She is an author, National Outdoor Book Award Winner 50 Hikes with Kids highlights the most kid-friendly hikes in Oregon and Washington. Today, she is a global education consultant based in Portland who has traveled to more than fifty countries to design programs, build communities, and train other educators to do the same.

Eric’s parents moved to Oregon when he was just two years old, so he considers himself an Oregonian even though he was born in California. As Eric got older – and after many road trips to LA from Eugene – he started to develop a deep appreciation for the beauty of Oregon and its abundance of publicly accessible land. That access and the ability to explore the diverse environments across Oregon has been a fundamental aspect of Eric’s life and personal growth. This is why he chose to become a board member. He hopes his work on the board can help others foster a similar appreciation and connection to the outdoor world. When Eric isn’t busy working as a city planner for the City of Corvallis, you can find him enjoying the outdoors hiking, biking, disc golfing, rock hounding, climbing or on a walk his dog, Harrison.