Education Task Force: Oregon Forum Biographies

Oregon Panelist Bios

Susan Castillo
Oregon State Superintendent of Public Instruction

Susan Castillo was elected superintendent of public instruction of the state of Oregon in May 2002, and sworn into office in January 2003, to a four-year term.  As superintendent, she oversees more than half a million students in over one thousand schools from kindergarten through their senior year.  Castillo hopes to develop a solid and sustainable program for funding schools, close the achievement gap between students, and improve efficiency at the Department of Education.  She has established a Youth Advisory Team to involve students in decision-making about their schools, and is working closely with the legislature to ensure adequate funding to Oregon's schools.

In addition to her duties as an elected official, Castillo is a fellow at the American Leadership Forum, and a board member of Birth to Three.  She previously served in the Oregon State Senate from 1997 to 2002 and was the first Hispanic woman in the Oregon Legislative Assembly.  Her leadership in the state legislature includes serving as vice-chair of the Senate Education Committee.  Prior to entering public office, she enjoyed a long career as an award-winning television journalist for KVAL-TV in Eugene, Oregon.  Castillo is a graduate of Oregon State University, where she received a B.A. in Communications.

Jonah Edelman
Executive Director, Stand for Children

Jonah Martin Edelman is the co-founder and executive director of Stand for Children.  In the seven years since Stand for Children's historic founding rally in Washington, D.C., Edelman has helped Stand for Children become a path-breaking child-advocacy organization.  In 1996, Jonah moved from direct service to activism, helping to organize Stand for Children Day.  In 1998, after closely studying the work of a range of organizations, he conceptualized Stand for Children's grassroots advocacy approach and then moved to Oregon to field-test it himself.  From that point, Stand for Children has grown steadily.  The organization now has staff in four states and its 13 chapters have achieved 48 local and state successes that have impacted more than 286,726 children and leveraged more than $181,200,485 in funding for children's programs.

Edelman also ran a teen pregnancy prevention speakers' bureau, founded a mentorship program for middle school students, and served as an administrator of an enrichment program for children living in public housing - Leadership Education and Athletics in Partnership (LEAP).  A Washington, D.C., native, Edelman graduated from Yale University in 1992, and attended Oxford University on a Rhodes scholarship, where he earned Masters and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in politics. 

Barbara Kienle
Director of Student Services, David Douglas School District

Barbara Kienle is the director of Student Services for David Douglas School District, where she is involved in the School Age Policy Framework and coordinates the SUN Community Schools at the district level.  From 2002 to 2004, Kienle served as principal of Earl Boyles Elementary School.  Previously, she worked in the district's Curriculum Department, where she was responsible for the curriculum alignment of math, social studies, and science, as well as textbook adoptions and report card development.  Prior to this position, Kienle served as a special education teacher with the district for 12 years. 

Kienle holds a Master of Science in Special Education and an Administrator's License.  She attended Western Oregon University and Portland State University.

Diane Linn
Chair, Multnomah County Board of Commissioners

Diane Linn began her current four-year term as chair of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners in January 2003.  She joined the county government in 1998, when she was elected Multnomah County Commissioner representing District 1.  She was then elected to serve out the term of resigning Chair Bev Stein in 2001.  Linn served as the director of the City of Portland's Office of Neighborhood Involvement for several years before running for political office.  Previously, she was executive director of Oregon NARAL and vice president of programming and public affairs for Paragon Cable TV.

Linn has a BA in Political Science and a certificate in Urban Studies from Portland State University.  She attended the Leadership Training Program at the University of Oregon, and completed Harvard's Kennedy School of Government Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government.  A Portland native, Diane was raised in SE Portland's Buckman neighborhood.

Lolenzo T. Poe, Jr.
Vice-chair, Board of Education, Portland Public Schools
Director, Office of School and Community Partnerships, Multnomah County

Lolenzo T. Poe, Jr., is director of Multnomah County's Department of School & Community Partnerships (DSCP). He manages programs and services aimed at individuals, children and families in partnership with public schools, local and state governments, businesses, non-profit service providers, foundations and community members.  His school services alignment team recently received board approval for a School-Based Policy Framework, to be implemented over the next year. Prior to his current position, Poe served eight years as director of Multnomah County's Community & Family Services Department.  He was elected to the Portland Public Schools Board of Education in 2001, where he continues to impact education through leadership and advocacy.

Poe is founder and past president of Portland's House of Umoja; founder of the Coalition of Black Men; and founder of the Youth Employment & Empowerment Coalition. He has also served on the Oregon Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Act Statewide Advisory Group, the Governor's Juvenile Crime Prevention Advisory Committee, Oregon's Delegation to President Clinton's Summit for America's Future, and the Governor's Summit on Over-Representation of Minorities in the Juvenile Justice System.