AOR will hold board elections at the annual member meeting at Sustainable Oregon 2019 during lunch on Thursday, June 20. Several positions are up for election: Education Chair, Fundraising Chair, Legislative Chair, Markets Chair, and Treasurer.

In addition to those running, candidates can throw their hats into the ring up until the annual meeting where we’ll take nominations from the floor.

Are you an AOR member that can't attend the conference? You can still vote! Contact the AOR office for your proxy ballot.

Gregg unexpectantly discovered his love of waste reduction when a friend asked him if he wanted to drive a tractor for the summer. That was the beginning of a budding college compost program at the University of New Hampshire. Fast forward a bunch of years, and Gregg is currently the Business Sustainability Coordinator at the City of Gresham. There he coordinates the Gresham Green Business program, which provides waste reduction and sustainability outreach to businesses.

He also oversees the work of their compost and schools outreach staff. Gregg has spent the past 17 years working with various aspects of waste reduction, from working with farmers in Zambia teaching composting as a Peace Corps volunteer, to coordinating one of the largest school compost outreach programs in the Northwest, Clark County’s Save Organic Scraps program.

Gregg currently serves as the Association of Oregon Recycler’s Education Chair where he has been editing and promoting the recently updated Recycling 101, a waste reduction and sustainability online course that has been taken by many educators in Oregon, as well as by peers all over the world. Gregg also serves on the events subcommittee and helps organize AOR’s On the Road and Fall/Spring Forum events

FUNDRAISING CHAIR: Alex Bertolucci (Incumbent)

Alex Bertolucci started his career in green building and material reuse while working for Habitat for Humanity ReStore, where he worked for more than eight years, including opening and running the Beaverton ReStore.

For the last five years, Alex has been a Green Business Advisor with Washington County Solid Waste & Recycling, where he has works with hundreds of businesses a year to reduce waste, start composting and improve employee recycling. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business management and sustainability studies from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA.

Alex has served as the AOR Fundraising Chair for the past two years, and is excited to continue to put his passion for waste reduction and his background in nonprofit work to good use as your AOR Fundraising Chair. Two fun facts about Alex — his favorite color is shiny and he loves Legos.

LEGISLATIVE CHAIR: Rosalynn Greene

Rosalynn Greene has been working to advance garbage, recycling and waste reduction programs for 15 years. In September 2013, she joined Metro as a Senior Planner and is a member of the Information and Analysis Team. Her portfolio includes research and data focused projects used to inform program and policy decisions. This includes the development of the 2030 Regional Waste Plan’s measurement strategy, creation of the Regional Materials Collection Database (known as ReTRAC), waste characterization studies, environmental impact modeling and she is also a member of Metro’s Legislative Team.  Rosalynn looks for opportunities in her all of her work to apply a racial equity lens in order to increase health and economic outcomes for marginalized communities within our industry. Prior to Metro, she also had the opportunity to work for Oregon DEQ and Clackamas County’s Office of Sustainability. When she is not at work, you can find Rosalynn on soccer field, hiking or traveling. 

Running for an AOR  board position is one of my professional goals and I was waiting for this particular vacancy to run. I am excited about the opportunity to serve the AOR community as it’s Legislative Chair. The reasons I would like to serve in this capacity include: 

• As a member of Metro’s  Information and Analysis Team, I am responsible for conducting research used inform program and policy decisions. My work is motivated by opportunities to reduce environmental impacts and increase equitable outcomes within our garbage and recycling industry. I consider legislation to be a fundamental strategy for achieving positive outcomes in both of these areas.  
• My educational background includes a Bachelor’s in Political Science and a Masters of Public Administration. My working class background motivated me to pursue an education in research, program evaluation and policy development. I believe my educational experience is particularly relevant to the AOR Legislative chair position.    
• I am currently a member of Metro’s internal Legislative Committee which is led by a former AOR Legislative Chair Scott Klag. Through this experience I have increased my understanding about Oregon’s legislative session. My focus on the team has been  tracking and interpreting amendments to HB2020, known Oregon’s cap and invest bill. 
• I believe our industry can do better when it comes to engaging stakeholders in garbage and recycling legislation. As AOR’s legislative chair, I would focus on developing data sets used to convey how garbage, recycling and waste reduction legislation has reduced environmental impacts and increase equitable outcomes. Through my role as legislative chair, I would also help our association apply an equity lens to the programs and policies we advocate for. 
• I’m very grateful to the association because my career has benefited from the educational and networking opportunities provided by the Sustainable Oregon Conference and the on-the-road events. I would like to give back to my community by serving in this capacity. 

I apologize for not being able to attend the conference this year, I’m in Minneapolis at first Circular Economy conference in the United States called Circular 19. I have served on AOR’s conference planning committee for the past 10 years and have been attending the conference since 2004.  Please forgive my absence this year and vote Rosalynn to be AOR’s Legislative Chair.

MARKETS CHAIR: Vinod Singh (Incumbent)

I have been in the recycling industry and working at Far West Recycling (FWR) for 20+ years, and have been involved with AOR for a good part of that time. I am a believer in the collaborative and informative nature of AOR, and have been looking for a way to better help assist the organization. I have served as the Markets Chair since 2015 and would like to continue to serve on the Board. I have participated in forums/conferences, and worked with many AOR members on various committees and projects outside of AOR. Currently, part of my time at FWR is spent with others examining markets, trying to find the best homes and values for recovered materials. 

TREASURER: Laura Leebrick (Incumbent)

Laura Leebrick is the Community & Governmental Affairs Manager for the Rogue Waste family of companies based in Medford, Oregon, which is comprised of solid waste and recycling collection and transfer operations, as well as a regional landfill, a landfill gas-to-energy facility, CNG fueling station, and commercial composting operations.  Ms. Leebrick has 21 years of experience in the private sector solid waste and recycling realm, in roles ranging from Recycling Education and Outreach, Operations management, and Public Affairs.  She also spent some of those years as an industry lobbyist in Salem, for the Oregon Refuse & Recycling Association before coming to Rogue Waste in 2014.  Through her work, Laura has had the opportunity to be engaged in alternative energy & fuel, environmental and transportation policy development at the state and local levels, and has participated in various policy workgroups, rulemaking advisory committees, and stakeholder efforts. 

Laura has been an active AOR member since 1999, and has enjoyed participation in various AOR committees throughout her years of membership, serving on the Legislative, Membership, and Conference Planning committees, and has served as AOR Treasurer for the past two years.

Laura has participated formally in a number of fundraising and sponsorship support efforts over the years for organizations ranging from local animal shelter and hospital foundation boards, as well as SWANA (Oregon chapter), and is currently working on a membership and fundraising program for the Rogue Valley Clean Cities Coalition as a sitting Board member. 

Laura and her family of critters relocated to the Rogue Valley in 2014, after having spent 17 years on the beautiful north Oregon Coast, and while she loves the sunshine and beautiful environment, she still misses the ocean, the mighty river, and the terrible weather.