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Steering Committee

The Committee comprises 10 to 12 volunteers committed to engaging Portland young professionals with world affairs. Each volunteer is responsible for organizing/assisting with events and for general advancement of the program.

Katen Bush

Brandon Caplan

Amanda Emmerson

Yassi Irajpanah

Yassi Irajpanah leads The Commerce Bank of Oregon’s nonprofit business banking and community outreach efforts. Yassi began her career in banking while obtaining her Master of International Management degree at Portland State University. Yassi is a Portland native and holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Santa Clara University. Throughout various academic programs, she has studied in France, China, and Japan. She serves on the Board of Social Venture Partners Portland, the Advisory Board and YP Steering Committee of World Affairs Council; the Leadership Council of the Oregon Community Foundation; and the event and fundraising committee of the OHSU Department of Surgery.

Jason Little

Jason Little has been a member of the World Affairs Council of Oregon, Young Professionals Steering Committee since 2011. Previous to joining the Steering Committee he was a Council intern and volunteer. Jason works for the Portland Business Alliance, Portland’s regional chamber of commerce, where he coordinates membership development and engagement strategies. A graduate of Wilson High School, Jason is a native Portlander. He attended Linfield College, obtaining a B.A. in business marketing.

Adrienne Livingston

Adrienne Livingston is a native Oregonian. She received her Bachelor’s in Business from Oregon State University and her Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies from Western Seminary. She is the Executive Director of the Black United Fund of Oregon. She enjoys traveling and has lived in the Dominican Republic and Denmark.

Jeff Renfro

Jeff Renfro is a Portland native, currently pursuing a master's degree in Economics at Portland State University. Jeff received an undergraduate degree from Santa Clara University in Politics and Philosophy. Upon graduation, Jeff moved to Yangzhou, China, where he lived for a year. Jeff travels as often as he can, and visited six continents before turning 25 (and is currently working on his second lap). In his free time he enjoys running and reading, is a dedicated urban cyclist, and brews beer with his father. In the past, Jeff has worked mainly with nonprofits but also has experience in forklift operation, ecological fieldwork, voice-over narration, and music criticism. Jeff runs the YP Discussion Group .