Board Members
The PCC Board of Directors consist of seven members elected by zones to four-year terms. The board members govern the college which includes selecting the president, approving the hiring of other staff and faculty, approving the college budget and establishing policies that govern the operation of the college.
Denise Frisbee, Chair
Elected in 2005, 2009
Represents Zone 1
Denise Frisbee is an attorney and Director for the Department of Planning and Building Services, City of Lake Oswego. She has an extensive community service background, including serving as Board liaison for Portland Community College’s 2008 bond campaign.
Frisbee has been a member of the Oregon State Bar since 1976. She has worked as an attorney and consultant for the Natural Resources Law Institute, assistant counsel for the Multnomah County Counsel's Office, assistant attorney for the City of Portland Attorney's Office, land use hearings officer for Deschutes County, city attorney for Sisters, a consultant on projects for the Metropolitan Service District, Tri-Met and Lake Oswego School District, and has worked with several private practices. Frisbee earned a law degree from Lewis and Clark Law School and a bachelor's degree from Smith College in Massachusetts.
Kali Thorne Ladd
Appointed in 2012
Represents Zone 2
Kali Thorne Ladd is co-founder of KairosPDX a non-profit organization focused on equity and access to quality early learning opportunities. Kali founded KairosPDX after 41/2 of years of being in the City of Portland's Mayor's Office as the Education Strategies Director overseeing policy and direction for the Mayor's key education initiatives including the Summer Youth Connect and Future Connect program. Her involvement in Future Connect — a partnership that has been very successful at PCC, is where Ladd was first introduced to the college and prompted her to submit for a Board position with PCC. Ladd holds a Masters Degree in Education Policy and Management from Harvard University and is a board member with Camp Fire USA, is a board member of the Portland Leadership Foundation and is a steering committee member with the Cradle to Career Initiative.
Bob Palmer
Elected in 2001, 2003, 2007, 2011
Represents Zone 3
Bob Palmer was appointed to the PCC Board in March 2001 in zone 3, representing the east side of Portland. He is a manager for Multnomah County Aging and Disability Services Department in the Adult Care Home Program. Bob is a PCC graduate, receiving his AA degree in 1969 and then a BS from Portland State in 1971. He taught at the elementary, high school and adult education levels in Montana, served two terms in the Montana Legislature, and served one term as Missoula County Commissioner.
He wanted to become a PCC Board member to repay the college for the difference it made at a critical point in his life and to continue his life-long commitment to public service. Bob is married and lives in southeast Portland.
Jim Harper
Elected in 2005, 2009
Represents Zone 4
Jim Harper has spent more than 40 years with PCC. He has been a student, a volunteer and a corporate user of the many quality services PCC provides. He has sat on the PCC Foundation Board for the last 26 years, including serving as the Board Chair from 1990 to 1992.
Director Harper is a realtor for RE/MAX Equity Group in Hillsboro. He is currently on the Board of the Association of Community Colleges and is Chair of their Pacific Region. He is the Secretary of the Board of Gateway to College National Network and is a Past President of Oregon Community College Association. He has also served as Vice President of Administration for Morrison Child and Family Services, Executive Director for Arras Inc., School-To-Career Liaison for Multnomah County, Director of Human Resources at Wacker Siltronic Corp, and Division Manager for Tektronix, Inc.. Director Harper has been an active member of the PCC Budget Committee, is a Member of the Governor's School Transformation Advisory Council, the Mayor of Portland's Business Round Table, the Regional Strategies Board for Multnomah and Washington Counties, and is a Past Chair of the Region Two Workforce Development Committee. Director Harper holds a bachelor's degree in education from Portland State University.
David Squire
Appointed in 2007, Elected in 2007, 2009
Represents Zone 5
David Squire is Vice President of Engineering for LightSpeed Technologies in Tualatin, Oregon, a technology company specializing in sound systems for classrooms. He has worked in the Portland high-tech industry since 1969 holding executive engineering and general management positions at Tektronix, Lightware, InFocus Systems, Planar Systems as well as a number of smaller hardware and software start-up companies. He has worked extensively with non-profit organizations in education, economic development and workforce development. He has served on the boards of the Leadership & Entrepreneurship Charter High School, Worksystems Inc., the Oregon Quality Initiative, the Lintner Center for Advanced Education, and InControl Solutions, Inc. Prior to joining Lightspeed in 2009 he was president of the non-profit Entrepreneurs Foundation of the Northwest.
Squire is a third generation Oregonian who has lived in Beaverton since 1969. He and Carol, his wife of 40 years, have three children and four grand children. He has a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from Oregon State University.
Gene Pitts
Elected in 2009
Represents Zone 6
Pitts was elected to the board in May and will oversee east Washington County and southwest Portland. He has been with Intel Corp. since 1988, and is a senior leader as Technical Marketing Director in Hillsboro. Prior to that, Pitts worked at Westinghouse Electric in Asheville, N.C., and Milliken and Co. in Spartanburg, S.C. Pitts graduated from Clemson University with a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He has more than 30 years of experience in the high-tech sector working with some of Intel's largest server and workstation customers across the globe. “I value our education system and the value that it brings to the community, and I want to see technology help bolster the value proposition that PCC brings to the education pipeline,” Pitts said.
Deanna Palm, Vice Chair
Appointed in 2009, Elected in 2011
Represents Zone 7
A former PCC student in the early 1980s, Deanna Palm assumes represents Zone 7, which covers western Washington County. The lifetime Washington County resident has been president of the Greater Hillsboro Area Chamber of Commerce since 2001. Palm leads the chamber in establishing relationships with the businesses, community and local governments as well as implement all of the chamber board’s polices, administering the budget and participates and promotes the chamber. “As a PCC alum, I know first hand what a positive impact an education at PCC can have on your career and in my position at the Hillsboro Chamber I have seen how responsive and adaptable PCC can be to rapidly changing workforce development requirements,” Palm said.