The Sustainable Oregon Schools Initiative Team
The ZWA Sustainable Oregon Schools team has many years experience working with schools and in sustainability. The team is now merging their expertise in these areas into this unique initiative.
Lori Porter Stole, Sustainable Schools Manager
Lori has been involved with sustainability and related issues since 1995.
Currently she manages the Sustainable Oregon Schools Initiative (SOSI), and
in 2005 was instrumental in defining it as a comprehensive statewide
program. Her school sustainability journey began with Oregon's third largest
district, Beaverton, where she's a parent. With a sustainability task force
she designed a district sustainability program, with which she continues to
be involved. Prior to her involvement with schools, she worked for several
years with product stewardship solutions to the electronic waste problem,
serving as staff to the Western Electronic Product Stewardship Initiative
(WEPSI).
Lori has a BS in chemical engineering from the University of Washington and
worked for over a decade in the semiconductor and plastics industries, in
the US and in Germany. She's also a freelance musician and plays violin in
several orchestras in Oregon. After working, climbing, kayaking and biking
in various places around the world she came to Oregon in 1986. Her twins
enter high school next year.
Larry Chalfan, Senior Advisor
Mr. Chalfan was the founding Executive Director of the Zero Waste Alliance and is now a senior advisor. He is a 30-year veteran of the semiconductor industry and previously was President and CEO of Oki Semiconductor Manufacturing, the first company in Oregon to achieve ISO 14001 certification for its environmental management system. In 1997, to work toward sustainability, Oki added the System Conditions of the Natural Step to its ISO 14001 structure and Mr. Chalfan personally provided training for all staff.
Mr. Chalfan received MS and BS degrees in Electrical Engineering from Oregon State University. Current and past board service includes the Oregon State University College of Engineering and Bioengineering Advisory boards, the Resource Innovation Group board and the Advisory Committee of the Oregon Natural Step Network. He has been a recipient of the Sustainable Oregon Award and was inducted into the OSU Engineering Hall of Fame. Mr. Chalfan is a frequent speaker on sustainability topics.
Brett Luttrell, Program Assistant
Brett recently received a BS in Community Development with a minor in Sustainable Urban Development from Portland Sate University. A former co-chair of PSU's Community Development Student Group, Brett has an interest in exploring the relationship between sustainability and community and economic development.
Brett moved to Portland in 2005 from Anchorage, Alaska where he spent 11 years working for Bombardier Aerospace and L3 Communications in aviation material management.
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