Board of Trustees
One of Three Pillars of Cedarwood's Leadership
Cedarwood is managed according to an organizational model referred to as the "Three Pillars," which is a governing system used in many U.S. Waldorf schools. At Cedarwood, the three pillars consist of the board of trustees, faculty, and the parent council. The board’s primary role is to oversee the long-term strategic, financial, and fiduciary health of the school. As a strategically focused board, we leave operational matters to the head of school, who is responsible for the day-to-day functioning of the school. The board supports the faculty pillar, which defines and updates Cedarwood’s curriculum and programming, and the parent council pillar, which serves the needs and education of parents and holds school activities and events. The board delegates the day-to-day operations to the head of school, who leads the administration.
Current Board Members 2024
Cedarwood’s Board of Trustees represents a cross-section of the community. Trustees have included parents (current and graduated) and grandparents. The board also includes two faculty members, our pedagogical director, and our head of school. Our administrative staff, parent council representatives, and guests frequently attend the meetings as well. The board strives to have a composition reflective of our community and is committed to enhancing diversity both on committees and in board leadership. While the board has the benefit of long-term institutional members, it actively seeks new members who are willing to engage in our important work.
Below is a list of the current members of the Board.
2024 Board Members
Bret is a Portland native who has traveled the world. "Nowhere is better, it's just different, but Portland is home". Bret and his wife met in high school and knew they would stay in Portland for their future family. The Stevens family has been at Cedarwood for 5 years and gravitated toward the whole child teaching approach and community involvement. When he is not working towards a decarbonized transportation future for a commercial vehicle manufacturer, he helps out running his family’s cattle ranch in Monterey County, CA.
Bret Stevens
Board of Trustee Chair
Aaron and his family have been at Cedarwood since their son began preschool in 2017. He and his wife both had past careers as teachers at the Waldorf School on the Roaring Fork in Colorado, and while they have since changed careers, they knew a Waldorf school would be the right choice for their son’s education. After a 2016 tour of Pacific Northwest Waldorf schools, their family fell in love with Cedarwood. The next year they moved to Portland’s Lair Hill neighborhood.
Over the years, that love has only grown.
When he’s not spending time as a parent, Aaron is a data scientist and project manager for a consulting firm. He also enjoys reading, walking in the woods, and sewing knee patches on his son's jeans. Aaron is a fervent lover of Cedarwood’s Friday morning Coffee in the Courtyard, so come say "Hi!"
Aaron Mehlhaff
Board of Trustees Vice Chair
Leior was born in Portland and raised in Israel where he completed his military service, met the love of his life, and began his journey as a Waldorf parent. After more than two decades abroad, Leior moved back to Portland with his wife, Maya, and their three lovely daughters.
Leior holds degrees in Electrical Engineering, Math, and Physics from the Technion–Israeli Institute of Technology. He now works as a software engineer while pursuing a Masters in Computer Science from Portland State University.In his free time, he enjoys board gaming with friends.
Leior serves on the Facilities and Development Committees.
Leior Varon
Board of Trustee Secretary
Craig is the father of Asher (Class of 2027) and, along with his wife, Alison, has bonded quickly with the Cedarwood community after relocating to Portland from the Bay Area where they had lived since 2001. A Chicago native, Craig has served as a healthcare administrator and consultant for the last twenty years, along with serving on several community boards.
To maintain balance, Craig enjoys spending time with family and friends through cooking, hiking, traveling, and music.
Craig is the board treasurer and chairs Cedarwood's Finance Committee.
Craig Vercruysse
Board of Trustees Treasurer
Shayne Case is a mother to a class of 2027 Cedarwood student, a traditional medicine person, a writer, a storyteller, and an educator. She was born in a small village in the western part of Germany and raised, nomadic style, between the North American and European continents. She is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe and practices traditional indigenous medicine. Shayne is the founder of Under the Eagle’s Wing Mentorship Program and the Tokeyamanwaniwin Project. She earned her baccalaureate at Smith College and pursued post-graduate work in somatic therapy, clinical herbalism, theology, and divinity studies. She also holds a certificate degree in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Studies from Cornell University. In her free-time, Shayne loves to cook, learn Lakota handcrafts, travel, play games with her son, walk her very adorable dog, and listen to and tell stories. Shayne Case is the current DEIJ Board Committee Chair for Cedarwood.
Shayne Case
Board of Trustee
Tara grew up in a small town in the foothills of the southern Oregon Cascades. She has a master's degree in science from the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Montana and twenty-five years of writing, editing, and nonprofit organization experience. She is currently the editorial production manager at Orion magazine, a forty-year-old award-winning publication focused on the intersection of nature and culture.
As an ultrarunner, Tara loves to explore Oregon's diverse backcountry by foot but also enjoys adventuring via ski, paddle, or oar. Other days you’ll spot her close to home, digging in the dirt of her front-yard garden and running her two Australian shepherds in Portland’s many beautiful urban parks.
Tara is the proud parent of two Cedarwood students. She was drawn to Waldorf education through its emphasis on movement, art, and nature, and enrolled her oldest kid in a Waldorf parent-child class in 2011. She has been an enthusiastic member of the Waldorf community ever since, forging amazing friendships, volunteering in the classroom and at school festivals, serving on Cedarwood's Parent Council, and finally joining Cedarwood's Board of Trustees in 2020.
Tara is the board secretary and serves on the Committee on Trustees.
Tara Miner
Board of Trustee
Adam grew up in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York in a small town called Elmira. He did what every good hippie does and moved to the West Coast in 1994, first living in the Bay Area then moving to Portland in 2005. Adam currently holds a position as director of business development for R+H Construction; he has been involved in the construction industry for the past twenty-five years and brings valuable construction knowledge and project management skills to the board.
Adam has been a Cedarwood parent since 2014, when his daughter Harper joined the early childhood program. In his free time, Adam enjoys spending time with Harper and his wife, Erin, traveling, seeing live music, hiking, mountain biking, playing tennis and hockey, and working on home-improvement projects.
Adam serves on Cedarwood's Facilities Committee.
Adam Rainey
Board of Trustee
Amber has over twenty years of public service employment and experience with governance, including planning, personnel management, process improvement, and implementing programs with a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens.
Amber and her family joined Cedarwood in 2015 for their daughter's first year of kindergarten. Their family attended Cedarwood’s Winter Faire prior to applying, and Amber was impressed with the kindness and care that students had for each other. Their family loves Cedarwood’s holistic approach to education and focus on the development of the whole child. Amber has volunteered at a number of events over the years, including making May Day flower crowns and baking St. Lucia buns.
Amber joined the Board of Trustees in 2021 and is currently vice chair. In this role, she chairs the Committee on Trustees, which manages the trustee application and onboarding process.
Amber Clayton
Interim Chief Administrative Officer
Marcee was born in Michigan, raised in Indiana, and spent most of her childhood in the Midwest. She recalls trips to Iowa to see both sets of grandparents and is grateful for the influence, guidance, and insight that she received from the elders in her life.
Born into a family of educators, Marcee knew at a young age that she wanted to be a teacher. She graduated from Ball State University with a degree in elementary education. She took advantage of a variety of opportunities throughout her college years to teach and travel. A particularly inspirational experience was working in a school in Negril, Jamaica as part of an anthropology field study.
Marcee taught in both the public and private school settings over the past 25 years. From Zuni, New Mexico to a middle school in Fresno, CA to finding a home at City of Lakes Waldorf School in Minneapolis, MN, Marcee enjoyed the unique aspects of each teaching opportunity. She found Waldorf education to be a perfect fit for her young family and immersed herself in teacher training and the Waldorf community. During her sixteen years at CLWS, Marcee taught as a lead class teacher and also held the position of the Faculty Chair.
Moving to Portland and working at Cedarwood is a dream come true for Marcee. She moved to Portland in the summer of 2022 with her husband and youngest son. Her family enjoys hiking, biking, sailing, camping, and time at the coast.
Marcee Hansen
Pedagogical Director
Gia Davis
Board of Trustee, Faculty Representative
Natalie grew up in Wisconsin, enjoying the fireflies and monarch butterflies that danced about the fields behind her home. She has always had a deep appreciation for the natural world and eventually became a naturalist at a wildlife sanctuary in her hometown of Green Bay. She completed her BA in Humanistic Studies and Environmental Education at UWGB and then continued to fulfill her dreams of working with both nature and children in various settings, including a botanical garden, wildlife sanctuary, and outdoor school program. Her love for outdoor adventures led her to the Pacific Northwest, where she settled new roots in 2000. Natalie led cross country ski trips, nature camps, and kayak outings for several years through Portland Parks & Recreation and then began her classroom teaching career.
Natalie received her Waldorf teaching certificate from the Micha-el Institute in Portland and found the perfect school to share her passions for lifelong learning-Cedarwood! She is now entering her sixteenth year at Cedarwood, and has taken on many roles in leadership and committee work during her time at the school. She has continued to expand her educational training by completing the five-year Spatial Dynamics program, and leading classes and offering lectures at AWSNA and NWAIS conferences, as well as the Micha-el Institute.
Natalie is thriving as a middle school teacher and is currently guiding the class of 2023 into their adolescent years. When she isn’t teaching, you can find her at early morning yoga classes, hiking in nature with her wife, Sandra, cooking a scrumptious meal, or snuggling up with her kitties while reading a good book.
Natalie Norman
Board of Trustee, Faculty Representative
Board Meeting Minutes
The current 2023-2024 board minutes can be viewed here.
The past 2022-2023 board minutes can be viewed here.
If you have any questions about the board meeting minutes, please reach out to Amber Clayton, Interim Chief Administrative Officer.
Internal Organization of the Board
Cedarwood’s board maintains a number of standing committees and also periodically creates and then retires ad hoc committees that are focused on accomplishing particular short-term tasks or serving specific school initiatives, such as updating the strategic plan.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
The Board of Trustees supports the equity-related work at Cedarwood, as identified in the school’s Strategic Plan and within its own work. The Board adopted this Equity Statement in the spring of 2023.
Volunteering
Our board of trustees is legally responsible for fulfilling Cedarwood’s mission. Board members determine policy and strategic goals while delegating day-to-day decisions to the head of school. Trustees are expected to prepare for and attend monthly meetings as well as to participate in committee work.
We are looking for individuals who are well connected within the Cedarwood community and have prior experience with enrollment, finance, and/or fundraising, although we also warmly welcome those with other skill sets.
If you are interested in becoming a trustee, please contact a member of the Committee on Trustees:
Amber Clayton: aclayton@cedarwoodschool.org
If you are interested in joining any of the following board committees, please contact Amber Clayton. Many of these board committees support and work with other community volunteer opportunities.
Finance Committee
Facilities Committee
Development Committee