Julia Novy-Hildesley, Executive Director

Julia Novy-Hildesley joined the Lemelson Foundation as Executive Director in 2002. Prior to joining the Lemelson Foundation, Julia was founding Director of the World Wildlife Fund’s Pacific Office, where she led efforts for marine conservation and public outreach. A Fulbright and Marshall Scholar, Julia has lectured at Stanford University in the Law School, and the Earth Sciences, Anthropology and Human Biology departments. 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.

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 Associate

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.

Patrick Maloney, Program Director

Patrick focuses on the Foundation’s Technology Dissemination and Program Related Investment work. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2008, he worked in northern California with mission-driven investors and donors in emerging technologies, including Omidyar Network and Google.org. Patrick has also worked at Rosum Corporation, a location technology start-up where he was Director of Business Development focusing on strategic and investment partnerships, and Barclays Global Investors, where he helped develop the world’s first exchange traded fund risk-optimized to social, environmental and governance factors. He began his career with Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. Patrick holds an MBA from UC Berkeley and a BS in International Politics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Jea Martin, Administrative 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.

Abigail Sarmac, Program Officer

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 was born and raised in Virginia.

Roswitha Swensen, Executive Assistant

Roswitha began her employment with The Lemelson Foundation in May 2009. Prior to joining the Foundation, Roswitha worked as an executive assistant for an Employee Benefits Brokerage firm. She had also worked for Nike in product development as project manager, and was a German School Instructor and Director for over a decade. Roswitha is a graduate of Portland State University, is multi lingual, and was born and raised in Frankfurt, Germany.

Erin Tochen, Associate 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 working in marketing and organizational communication for a niche software company in Boulder, CO. She has also worked in editorial for a textbook publishing house. Erin holds an MS in Management Communication from University of Portland and a BA in English from Santa Clara University.

Jill Tucker, Senior Program Officer

Jill, who joined the Foundation in January 2006, is the former Director of Reebok International's Asia Human Rights Programs, and previously worked for the Asia Foundation in Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Nepal. She earned a master of education degree from the Center for International Education at the University of Massachusetts, a BA degree from Stanford University, and was a Fulbright Scholar at Gadjah Mada University in Indonesia. She is fluent in Bahasa Indonesia.

Philip Varnum, Chief Financial & Administrative Officer

Philip joined the Foundation in June 2007. Prior to joining the Lemelson Foundation, he was with Portland State University Foundation for nearly ten years where he was responsible for accounting, investment, human resources, real estate and entrepreneurial functions. Philip earned an MBA degree from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.