Carol Dahl, Executive Director

Dr. Carol Dahl is the Executive Director of The Lemelson Foundation and leads the foundation’s work to recognize and support inventors and invention-based enterprises to improve lives, both in the US and in developing countries. The Foundation believes that supporting a pipeline of inventors, inventions and invention-based enterprises can lead to job creation and a strengthened US economy as well as solve social, environmental and economic problems for the poorest populations in developing countries. Additionally, the Foundation works to strengthen the ecosystem that supports inspiring and educating inventors while also helping them to translate their ideas to inventions with impact.

Prior to joining the foundation in July 2011, Dahl worked for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in various roles, including founding Director of the Global Health Discovery Program and as Director of Staff for the overall Global Health Program. During her tenure at the Gates Foundation, Dahl built the platform discovery innovation programs Grand Challenges in Global Health and Grand Challenges Explorations. 

Previously, Dahl served as vice president for Strategic Partnerships at Biospect Inc. (now Pathworks Diagnostics). From 1990 to 2001, Dahl worked at the U.S. National Institutes of Health in several capacities, including founding Director of the Office of Technology and Industrial Relations at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Program Director at the National Center for Human Genome Research. Read More

Jennifer Burran, Grants Manager

Jennifer joined the Lemelson Foundation in June 2009 as Grants Manager where she is responsible for managing the Knowledge Management System, creating and implementing grantmaking policies and procedures, and monitoring and tracking grant and PRI agreements. Prior to this, Jennifer held grants management roles at The Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, and The Gill Foundation. She began her career in marketing where she wrote web site content, marketing collateral materials, and direct mail campaigns for Fortune 500 companies, start-up high tech companies and non-profit organizations. Jennifer is a Board Member of the Grants Managers Network, serving as co-chair of the nominating committee. She earned a B.A. from Indiana University with a double major in communications and marketing.

Claudia Jimenez, Accountant

Claudia, who joined the Foundation in April 2008, previously worked in public accounting for nearly five years. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with concentrations in Accounting and International Business from Eastern Oregon University, a master’s degree in Financial Analysis from Portland State University, and is certified with the Oregon Board of Accountancy. She was born and raised in Mexico, and has resided in Oregon since 1992.

Tak Kendrick, Communications

Tak joined the Foundation in February 2009. He began his career in community journalism and brings to the Foundation strong technology skills and a deep experience with new media tools, including weblogs and wikis, having developed extensive content for web 2.0 and high tech start-ups. Most recently, he developed and led the content team at AboutUs.org, a wiki-based startup ranked among the top 1,000 websites in the world. Tak holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Naropa University and a BA in Communications from The Evergreen State College.

Abby joined the Foundation in April 2005 after living and working in Senegal, Ecuador, Italy and the US with several international environmental organizations, including the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Abby earned her M.Sc. in Environmental Science from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She also holds a B.Sc. in International Politics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Abby is fluent in Spanish and French and conversant in Italian, Wolof and Tagalog.

Jea Seconi, Senior Program Assistant

Prior to joining the Foundation in August 2007, Jea worked as the Admissions Development Coordinator and Director of Alumni Relations for the Rapid City Catholic School System. She earned a BBA with a double major in Finance and Business Administration from Houston Baptist University, Houston Texas. Jea moved to Portland in June 2007.

 

 

Erin Tochen, Program Officer

Erin joined the Lemelson Foundation in October 2004 and worked in grants management for the Foundation prior to her current position. Before joining the Foundation, Erin spent several years managing the marketing and organizational communication for a niche software company in Colorado. She also previously worked in editorial for a leading publisher of higher education textbooks. Erin earned an MS in Management Communication from University of Portland in 2004 and a BA in English from Santa Clara University in 1997.