Paul Steinle
President
Paul Steinle is a journalist, documentarian and educator. From 1961-1990, Steinle was a broadcast journalist and news manager. He was the president of UPI (1988-1990) and the Financial News Network (1984-1986) ; TV news director, KING-TV, Seattle, and WIXT-TV, Syracuse; he reported from Saigon and Hong Kong for Group–W radio news; and he was a reporter and producer for WBZ-TV and WCVB-TV, Boston. From 1991-2001, he launched graduate journalism programs at the University of Miami and Quinnipiac University; from 2001-2010, he taught journalism and served as associate provost, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, Ore. Steinle has an M.B.A. from Harvard, an M.S. from Syracuse University and a baccalaureate from Amherst College. He is the co-author of “Commune: Life in Rural China” and “Practicing Journalism: The Power and Purpose of the Fourth Estate.” In 2010 and 2011, Steinle and his wife, Sara Brown, founded the nonprofit organization Valid Sources and launched the Who Needs Newspapers? project, a 50-state snapshot reporting how American newspapers began recasting themselves in the digital age. Their research is reported in “Practicing Journalism: The Power and Purpose of the Fourth Estate” (Marion Street Press, 2014).
Lorrie Kline Kaplan
Vice President
Lorrie Kline Kaplan started her career in healthcare communications and editorial management, but quickly moved into nonprofit leadership roles in the Washington, D.C., area. She served as Executive Director of the National Home Infusion Association from 1997-2007, and as Chief Executive Officer of the American College of Nurse-Midwives from 2007-2016. In these roles, she built expertise in nonprofit governance, management, strategic planning, communications and public relations, state and federal advocacy, facilitation, and conference management. Since moving to Ashland in 2019 with her husband, Bob Kaplan, she co-founded and currently serves as President of the Ashland Climate Collaborative, a nonprofit organization working toward rapid adoption of locally appropriate climate solutions. Lorrie grew up in Hyde Park, New York, earned a bachelor’s degree cum laude in economics and English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Paraguay.
Linda Anderson
Treasurer
Linda Anderson moved to Ashland with her husband, Al, retiring from their careers in the Bay Area. Linda’s career began as an Assembly Language coder. After then raising a family as a stay-at-home mom, she got her MBA and worked in Silicon Valley as a Data Analyst. Retired life has few needs for large data sets and Excel, so she was drawn to volunteering as a Treasurer: at OLLI, at Soroptimist, at her church, at Camelot Theatre, and now at Ashland.news. With only basic accounting skills, Linda seeks to understand the structure of data and trends and help the Board to understand its financial position. While not a journalist, Linda comes from a publishing family, her grandparents having founded “Highlights for Children,” a children’s publishing company, in 1947. She has served on the HFC Board and been involved in the Myers Family Council. Linda appreciates our need for local news and is happy to support Ashland.news in its mission to provide accurate, trustworthy, and timely news in our area.
Kristin Anderson
Secretary
Kristin Anderson has served as the Branch Manager of the Ashland Branch of the Jackson County Library District since June 2017 and has over 20 years of experience working in public libraries. She has a passion for public service, readers’ advisory, serving underserved populations, and providing equitable access to community resources. She loves living and working in Ashland. The time she has spent serving the Ashland community has made it clear to her that reliable and trustworthy news that is accessible to the entire community is key to her ability to connect Ashland residents to community information, ideas, and each other. She has degrees from Scripps College (BA), University of Texas at Austin (MBA), and Kent State University (MLIS).
Connor Babbitt
Connor Babbitt says he is “a disorganized organizer of essays, bad punch lines, and laundry.” As a dedicated student, he has presented at the National Undergraduate Conference of Literature, prepared academic articles for publication, and planned community-centered events alongside his peers. He is currently studying to receive several professional certificates concurrently with bachelor’s degrees in English and in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies from Southern Oregon University. In between classes, conferences, and community events, Connor has worked in both private and public health settings on the frontlines against COVID-19. He is determined to create a healthier community through his advocacy for worker’s rights and fair labor practices, as demonstrated by his union-organizing efforts in Rogue Valley. His says his belief in the power of human connection drives his every move, as witnessed by his cat, Bruce, who refuses to use his opposable thumbs to do Connor’s laundry.
Tara Houston
Tara Houston is a scenic designer, educator, facilitator, and advocate. She currently serves as Community and Engagement Manager for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival — a position which takes advantage of her theater skills alongside facilitating and community building. Previously, Tara worked in higher education and, in December 2022, she finished her final semester as Assistant Professor of Scenic Design at Louisiana State University, a role she held alongside that of Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the College of Music and Dramatic Arts. While her work is centered in the performing arts, she holds humanity’s ability to create connection in any circumstance as central to all work that she does, inside and out of performance spaces.
Hillary Larson
Hillary Larson is a native Oregonian born in Portland who grew up in Medford. She left Southern Oregon to pursue a career in radio, first by attaining a bachelor’s degree in Communications, which included studying at BBC TV, the Royal College of Art and BBC Radio 4 in London. From there, she worked as a reporter for Broadcast Week before going on to produce nationally syndicated radio shows in New York City. Aside from a career in broadcasting, Hillary has been committed to racial and social equity since the early ’90s, initially centering her focus on education by serving the African American community in Portland. Deeper than any professional title she’s attained, she values the idea that human beings can accomplish great things when they come together in the name of inclusion and collaboration and that reliable community news is one of the essential pillars in facilitating that possibility.
D.L. Richardson
D.L. Richardson is an educator with 25-plus years of experience in teaching, diversity training and public speaking. D.L. has taught communication courses at university and high school levels, including everything from Public Speaking to Media and Civil Rights History, as well as Journalism and Public Relations. He also served as Chair of Southern Oregon University’s Communication Department. He has served or still serves on the Oregon Cares Fund for Black Relief and Resiliency, The Oregon African American/Black Student Success Advisory Committee, The Governor’s (Oregon) Healthy Schools Re-opening Council, the Oregon Racial Justice Council’s Education Recovery Committee, and the Jackson County United Way Board of Directors. He is also a board member with Foundations for a Better Oregon and sits on diversity, equity and inclusion committees for the Oregon Community Foundation and JCUW. He worked as an Equity Specialist with the Medford and Ashland School Districts, and currently serves with the Southern Oregon Education Service District as the Southern Oregon Black/African American Success Specialist. He is also a board member with the community-based organization Black Southern Oregon Alliance. He has lived and worked in Southern Oregon for more than 20 years.
Paul Seymour
Paul Seymour originally worked as a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and transitioned to Organizational Psychology in 1983. He has worked as a consultant and executive coach with over 2,500 executives and their teams in the US and internationally. He is currently a co-founder and strategic advisor to Green Dock Ventures (GDV), a company dedicated to environmental sustainability. Their emphasis is to teach people how to influence decision makers who implement technological solutions for the planet. Paul was a co-founder of the Xaos Group in 1995 and Work-Effects in 2019; both leadership consulting companies offering assessment, coaching, training and technology solutions. From 1983 to 2021 he was on the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL). The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Bloomberg rated them as top providers of Executive Leadership Education Worldwide. He received a B.A. in Psychology from Whittier College and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Professional-Scientific Psychology from Utah State University.
David Sommers
David Sommers is a senior executive with over 20 years of leadership experience across journalism, government, corporate, and philanthropic sectors. Most recently, David served as the inaugural publisher of the Rogue Valley Times and Chief Revenue Officer of EO Media Group, where he spearheaded business growth and sustainability efforts. Before joining EO Media, he served as CEO of Pacific Community Media and publisher of the Long Beach Post and Long Beach Business Journal; Chief Operating Officer of a multinational private equity fund and Associate Vice President at Molina Healthcare, a Fortune 150 company, where he led internal and executive communications, cultural competency initiatives, change management and workforce engagement efforts. As the chief communications executive for Los Angeles County, he oversaw critical public information campaigns, managed multilingual outreach initiatives, and played a key role in managing high-stakes crises. Sommers has a B.A., Government and Journalism, California State University, Sacramento; has completed graduate coursework in Public Administration, California State University, Northridge; and participated in the Executive Leadership Program, University of Southern California, Price School of Public Policy.
Emeritus: Founding Ashland.news President Herbert Rothschild, board member 2021-2023; Treasurer Laura Simonds, board member 2021-2024; Bob Palermini, board member 2022-2024; Charles Ter Bush, board member 2022-2024; and Tod Davies, board member 2021-2025.
En memoriam: Founding Ashland.news board member Gary Anderson, 1945-2022. Read his obituary here.
