Our trainings are led by two or more of the following trainers.
Adam Davis has been the executive director of Oregon Humanities since 2013. Prior to joining Oregon Humanities, Davis directed the Center for Civic Reflection and edited Taking Action, Hearing the Call across Traditions, and The Civically Engaged Reader. Davis has led hundreds of community conversations and trained thousands of discussion leaders across the country in partnership with social service, educational, nonprofit, and medical organizations. He has taught philosophy and literature for many years in the Clemente Course in the Humanities, a college program for adults living on low incomes. He earned his PhD from the University of Chicago and used to lead wilderness trail crews in the Pacific Northwest.
Eliot Feenstra (he/they) is a community organizer, artist, gardener, and facilitator. He currently works with Oregon's Kitchen Table, a statewide community engagement program that creates ways for Oregonians to participate in public decision-making. Prior to joining OKT, his work has focused on rural queer community organizing in Southern Oregon, collaborative performance projects, and connecting people with place. He has worked with Oregon Humanities since 2015 leading trainings, facilitating conversations about power and place, and even once appearing on The Detour. He holds a MA in Performance Studies from York University and a BA from the University of Chicago, as well as training in community storytelling, social practice, and applied theater. After living in Josephine County for many years, he now lives in Portland and continues to work in solidarity with and advocate for rural communities.
Jennifer Alkezweeny has been Oregon Humanities' program director since 2020. She supports the team of folks making Oregon Humanities programs happen, provides leadership for the organization's vision, and connects with organizations and communities to explore new initiatives. She is focused on connecting people to their communities and pursuing their goals while centering social justice. She has created learning spaces around the country and globe and loves that moment when the people in a room begin to harmonize. Jennifer is a deep believer in experiential learning, harnessing the knowledge in a room, finding your learning edge, and the power of silence. She's a longtime volunteer facilitator with the Dougy Center for Grieving Children and Families. In her free time she can be found experimenting in the kitchen, looking at the world from behind a macro lens, or floating around in her kayak.
Lisa Naas Cook is a planner with the Columbia River Gorge Commission, where she works with many partners on long-term monitoring and climate action in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Lisa's past experience spans facilitation, education, ecological restoration, and public lands policy with the South Gifford Pinchot Collaborative, the Nature Conservancy, National Park Service, and US Forest Service. She holds a MA in applied theology from Marylhurst University and a BS in environmental science from the Ohio State University. A conversation facilitator with Oregon Humanities since 2015, Lisa has led conversations about the meaning of rest, place, and belonging in communities across the state. She is passionate about bringing deep listening and reflective conversation into professional and civic spaces where this isn't the norm. Lisa lives in the Gorge and cherishes time in the woods with her family.
Jason McNeal Graham is a multiethnic, multimedia, multivitamin artist living in Central Oregon. Writing, painting, and music are his three main channels. He was recently selected for the group exhibition "Black Matter,” curated by Tammy Jo Wilson. His work in music and writing has been featured on TEDx, NPR, the NBA, and several other three letter acronyms. Graham (who often presents as MOsley WOtta) was an invited resident scholar at Goddard College, a skittish alum of Diverse Intelligences Summer institute, and a humble brag Slam Poetry Champion for the State of Oregon. Graham is finishing his tenure as Bend, Oregon’s first Creative Laureate, the third such position in the nation.
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