Board members

Johnny Levenson - President - Johnny is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and has been a writer, designer and illustrator for the past 15 years. Johnny has won numerous awards for Page Design, Editorial Design, Graphic Design and Art & Illustration from the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association, the Society of Professional Journalists and Associated Press. He is currently a technical writer and interface designer with Qualcomm, Inc. His past clients include Rock Mama Films, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Helen Keller International, and Oregon Public Broadcasting. Johnny believes that design can change the world for the better, and is passionate about educating current and future designers.

Eric Hillerns - Co-Vice-President

Kristin Rogers Brown - Co-Vice-President - An experienced art director and designer specializing in identity development, branding, and communications design through print mediums, packaging, and environmental graphics. She currently heads up the in-house design group at Mercer Delta Executive Learning Center, an international consulting firm specializing in leadership development. She is also the Art Director for ORLO'S Bear Deluxe Magazine, a publication of art and the environment which has been recognized by PRINT's Regional Design Annual and Seattle's Bumbershoot arts festival. Before moving to Portland, Kristin worked with DaCapo Press and Perseus Publishing, with titles she produced gathering acclaim from the New York Times and PRINT magazine. Her work has been with a range of clients including Avon, Coca-Cola, Nike, Willamette Week, and local artists and musicians. She is a published poet and essayist, and has taught and lectured on art, writing, and print production at primary, graduate, and professional levels.

Lenore Hart - Treasurer - After graduating from the University of Missouri’s Journalism School and focusing her studies on Advertising and Graphic Design, Lenore started her career as a production artist and graphic designer, working for a St. Louis newspaper and then a marketing communications firm. While getting her MBA, she realized that while she loves the industry, she wasn’t as passionate about design as her peers and began to focus toward the business side doing project and account management. She joined Aquent in 2002 and then relocated to Portland in 2004. She is currently a Sr. Account Manager at the local office and helps her clients find the most talented creative, marketing, and tech comm professionals to help them meet their business goals.

Lisa Holmes - Secretary & Sustainability Chair - Principal and Co-Founder of Yulan Studio, a marketing communications firm specializing in web, interactive and print. Lisa began her career as a freelance graphic designer after earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in design from the Kansas City Art Insitute. Her next steps were as senior designer for a graphic design studio, followed by a multimedia programming position, a stint as corporate art director for a Kansas City architecture firm, and ultimately, as co-founder of her own firm in 1999. Lisa has received a variety of awards throughout her career for the design of publications, advertising, CD-ROMs and web sites. Lisa relocated her firm to Portland from the Kansas City metro area in 2007 and immediately became an active AIGA member.

Heather Dougherty - Programming Co-Chair - Heather is a spirited interactive professional with nearly a decade’s worth of experience delivering high-quality client solutions. She has worked in both start-up, corporate and agency environments servicing both b-to-b and b-to-c clients. A business-minded, strategic thinker, Heather skillfully merges client and audience goals and marketing best practices to develop effective and dynamic digital marketing and user experience solutions for her clients. She is a proven leader, with a demonstrated ability for managing people and processes, as well as establishing solid cross-departmental and client relationships. "I am an advocate of 'being the change you want to see.' My dedication to AIGA is born out of a sincere and passionate belief in the importance of design. In support of this belief, I strive to educate the larger business community about design and provide valuable education and mentorship opportunities to design community."

Steve Potestio – Programming Co-Chair - Steve has over 20 years of experience (yes, scary) in the creative services industry. He is the co-owner of 52 Limited, a staffing and recruitment firm rooted in Portland’s creative scene. Steve was formerly the director of operations for one of the largest interactive agencies in town. Estimated to have hired or found jobs for close to 1000 people, Steve draws on his many years working in the agency trenches to find good career matches for people and the companies that look to hire them. Steve aims to bring his passion for helping people grow in their careers to AIGA to help build community and relationships.

Dave Sheldon - Marketing/PR Chair - Dave has been a web designer almost as long as there has been a consumer Internet, starting with his first web site in 1997. With experience in such diverse fields as consumer electronics, entertainment, tourism, agriculture and manufacturing, Dave refers to himself as a “method designer,” providing top-notch creative ideas by getting to know a client’s business first. As Design Director at Pop Art, Dave has worked actively on the Freightliner Trucks and Leatherman Tool Group accounts. Dave earned a B.A. in Art and Journalism from the University of Iowa. As an PR/Marketing Chair for AIGA, Dave is trying to give a new voice to this historic design organization by utilizing new communications vehicles from e-mail to RSS.

Ryan Smythe - Volunteer Chair - An interactive designer by trade, Ryan moved to Portland in late-2003 from Northern California. He immediately volunteered with AIGA Portland by Chairing our monthly networking event called dMob for over three years. As a member of the Board, Ryan has maintained a high visibility to the local design community and hopes to continually grow the organization’s volunteer pool, thus creating more professional opportunity for any creative wanting to connect and contribute to AIGA Portland.

Tiffany Jackson - Membership Chair - Tiffany is a graphic designer with Aquent in Portland. She formerly worked as a graphic artist at WHPacific and Montana State University, where she was also the Senior Associate for the Montana State University Leadership Institute. She has earned many awards and honors, including being inducted into the Mortar Board National College Senior Honor Society in 2005 and serving as their Vice President from 2005-2006. Since moving to Portland, she has been active with the Portland AIGA chapter serving as the Career Tools Event Chair. Tiffany earned a BFA in Graphic Design from Montana State University’s College of Arts & Architecture. As membership chair, Tiffany works to bring people together to celebrate and promote the importance of design.

Jennifer Green - Sponsorship Chair

Joaquin Lippincott - Web Chair - Joaquin comes to the AIGA Web Chair position with over 10 years of experience in the internet field. A small business owner for the past 6 years, he has worked as a web designer, programmer and manager which has given him a breadth of experience he brings to AIGA, as both the custodian and advocate for the AIGA web properties. He has worked with industry leaders such as Verizon Wireless, 76 Lubricants, 20th Century Fox Studios, American Suzuki Motors as well as numerous internet start ups. Joaquin joined AIGA Portland with the desire to support the design happening in Portland (and AIGA nationally), using the latest technologies possible. He is still as passionate about the internet and the related technologies and services (Facebook, twitter, etc) as ever and he hopes to bring that enthusiasm to the rest of the chapter.

Barry Wall - Education Chair - The Career Advisor for the Graphic Design and Advertising programs at The Art Institute of Portland. Since 2003 he has helped more than 200 students and alumni seek internships and employment. He has organized numerous workshops, guest lectures and studio tours for student AIGA members in Portland. Barry has over ten years of experience in recruiting, training, and human resources administration. Prior to relocating to Portland in 2002, he worked as a recruiting consultant in the San Francisco Bay Area. His previous clients include Cisco Systems, PayPal, Charles Schwab, and Tensilica. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia College in 2000. As Education Chair, Barry works to advance meaningful student involvement in Oregon’s professional design community.