Northwest Institute for Social Change

Who runs the program?

We have a well-qualified and enthused management staff, and each year work with a strong network of accomplished professionals. We always welcome inquiries about employment.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: PHIL BUSSE

For six years, Executive Director Phil Busse served as the managing editor for the Portland Mercury, a popular weekly newspaper in Oregon that he helped launch in 2000. As a spin-off from his political reporting and columns, Phil ran for mayor of Portland in 2004. Out of 23 candidates and outspent by the lead candidate by $1 million, Phil placed third behind a two-time city councilmember and the former police chief.

A former attorney in San Francisco, Phil has served on the faculty at the University of Oregon School of Business as the assistant director for the Entreprenuership Center. Phil also has worked with other programs in higher education—including teaching at Portland State, St Olaf College, and working as the Program Director for School for Field Studies sea turtle program in Costa Rica and as the head coach for crew teams at Lewis & Clark College and the University of Portland.

Phil graduated from Middlebury College in 1992 and earned his law degree from the University of Oregon in 1997.

To hear more about the program in Phil’s own words, please check out this video.

PROGRAM MANAGER: ERIN ERGENBRIGHT

Erin Ergenbright has taught writing and writing workshops at Portland State University, Marylhurst University, University of Iowa and Portland Community College—and at many elementary, middle and high schools in the Portland area. Erin has recently been awarded residencies at Soapstone and Caldera Arts, as well as a grant from the Oregon Arts Commission.

She is also the co-author of The Ex-Boyfriend Cookbook (with Thisbe Nissen), and a founder of the Loggernaut Reading Series. Erin earned her MFA at the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop, where she was a James Michener-Paul Engle fellow, and her writing has appeared in The Believer Magazine, Tin House, Portland Monthly, The Oregonian, The May Queen: Women on Life, Love, Work and Pulling It All Together in Your Thirties (J.P. Tarcher), Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant: On Cooking for One and Dining Alone (Riverhead Books), Colorado Review, Indiana Review, Paste Magazine, Oklahoma Review, Dislocate and elsewhere.

She earned her B.A. at Oregon State University.

How do you get in touch with us?

You can email us using our online form or call us at (503) 975.4545. Otherwise, feel free to send correspondences to 4013 N. Ganteinbein., Portland, Oregon 97227.

With whom do we partner?

Many filmmakers, community organizers, and businesses donate their time and expertise to help make this a powerful experience for our students. For each program we draw from the community and beyond to expose students to experts in their given field. We have been fortunate to build strong partnerships with individuals and institutions around Portland, and around the country. For example, the University of Oregon has provided classroom space at their White Stag Building near the Willamette River in Portland and offered academic credit to attending students, and Portland Community Media provides state-of-the-art camera equipment for the video production.

In addition to our institutional partners, we have developed a wide base of support from individuals, including media-producers and politicians who teach seminars and mentor students. We have worked with journalists from the Oregonian, Oregon Public Broadcasting and the Portland Mercury. During our last session, Robert Greenwald (Brave New Productions, “Outfoxed”) taught a seminar that instructed students on ways to use social media to distribute their films

Students work with the likes of Fiona Otway, a film editor nominated for an Academy-Award for her work on “Iraq in Fragments” and with Matt Martin, film editor for “No Impact Man.” And, students have attended seminars taught by Curt Ellis (producer, “King Corn”)

And, to learn about the inner working of local and national politics, we are anchored by a wide base of support from elected officials like Sam Adams (Mayor, City of Portland), Josh Kardon (Chief of Staff, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden) and Brian Young (Communication Director, U.S. Senator John Kerry), all who teach seminars about the interaction between the media and politics. And, we work with professors from top colleges like Reed and St Olaf.

Board of Directors

Beth Burns, Board Secretary

Executive Director, p:ear

Louis Cohen

Program Manager, Friends of the Children

John Haines

Executive Director, Mercy CorpsNW

Tony Iaccarino

Research & Policy Director, City Club

Amy Ruiz, Board Chair

Planning Policy Advisor, City of Portland

David Yewman

Principal, Dash Consulting

Who attends your programs?

For more information, please check out Our Students.

You may also hear from the students in their own words at Student Blog.