MCREN Leadership Team
We invite you to learn about our talented team!
Erin Gardenhire
REN Coordinator
Erin Gardenhire (she/her/hers) is the REN Coordinator for the Multnomah-Clackamas Regional Educator Network (MCREN).
Erin believes that the key to sustainable change and greater student learning is supporting educators through networked improvement efforts, with a focus on equity, access and teacher voice. Previously, Erin taught grades 2-5 in David Douglas School District. She was also a new teacher mentor and the consortium program director for the East Columbia Collaborative where coordinated the mentor network for David Douglas SD, Gresham-Barlow SD and Columbia Gorge ESD. Erin was also part of the ODE Mentor Training facilitator team. Erin received her BS from Western Oregon University and her MAT from University of Portland. She also has a certificate for Elementary Mathematics Instructional Coaching from Portland State University where she was an adjunct professor.
Erin has been in education for over 20 years in various capacities. She is proud to be in a role that centers and elevates educator voices as advocates for the students they serve. She is passionate about ensuring that Oregon’s student population receives equitable education and opportunity for people of all cultural or linguistic backgrounds, tribal affiliations, racial classes, and/or sexual orientation. Erin currently lives in Gresham, Oregon with her husband and three daughters.
Erin Bray
Continuous Improvement & Design Facilitator
Erin Bray (she/her) is a Continuous Improvement & Design Facilitator for the Multnomah-Clackamas Regional Educator Network (MCREN).
Although Erin spent the first 13 years of—what she assumed would be her lifelong career— teaching high school English in the Portland area, her path in education was unexpectedly altered in 2012 when she attended her first Human-Centered Design (HCD) workshop. She was immediately energized by HCD’s potential as both a vehicle for deeper learning experiences in the classroom and as a set of tools and mindsets that could catalyze and support educators in designing more equitable, relevant, and connected schools, as a whole.
After leaving David Douglas High School, Erin spent 5 years working as a Teacher Delight Specialist and Student Design Challenge Facilitator at a local educational nonprofit.
Erin believes wholeheartedly in the creative power of educators to be changemakers within the system of education. She is delighted to support educator teams in designing, testing, and spreading improvement in our region.
Kelly Vander Lay
Research, Data and Evaluation Consultant
Kelly Vander Ley (she/her/hers) is the Research, Data and Evaluation Consultant for MCREN.
Kelly is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of vulnerable populations through program research and evaluation, professional development, and technical assistance. She brings over 20 years of experience supporting community partners and state and federal agencies in their endeavors to promote health equity through strategic planning, community collaboration, and data-informed decision making to the MCREN team. Kelly is excited to embark on this new journey with the MCREN, applying her skills and talents using principles of participatory research and continuous improvement learning to understanding the systemic and structural biases embedded in the education system and creating intentional change through the implementation and evaluation of racial equity programs, policies, and practices.
Kelly earned a doctoral degree in Medical and Clinical Psychology. She uses this foundation to explore the world around her from the intersection of social, biological, and psychological factors. In addition to spending time with her two daughters Kelly stays grounded in her own headspace by running, weightlifting, reading, and motivating her lawn to grow.
Bianca Espinosa
Lead New Mentor Facilitator
Bianca Espinosa (she/her/ella) is the Lead New Educator Mentor Facilitator for MCREN.
Bianca comes to the REN with an educational career as a high school teacher, and as a full-release Mentor for new educators. She is fresh from co-leading a Mentor Program in the Portland area, and is excited for the opportunity to grow Mentoring Programs in the region. She is passionate about supporting new and experienced educators as they grow their practice, explore their leadership potential, and most importantly, to support students and communities to thrive. Bianca is active in creating and nurturing the empowerment, support and engagement of Educators of Color for their gifts and liberatory practices in school communities.
As a graduate of the Clackamas County Public School System, and a resident of Multnomah County, she is honored to serve in the communities in which she grew up and where she currently lives. She knows the importance of the public educational experience as it was modeled by her Mom, a master educator in Marion County, Oregon; she hopes it is modeled for her two young daughters!
Bianca loves laughing and learning with her family and friends, and seeks out making meaningful relationships in and outside of the local community; she also spends her time being creative and making mischief…
Dr. Sarah Yee
Equity Facilitator
Dr. Sarah Yee (she/her/她) is the Equity Facilitator for MCREN.
Sarah joins the MCREN team as a former K-8 educator. Most recently, she served as a Racial Equity Fellow for the Center for Equity & Inclusion where she engaged with district leaders, administrators, and educators from school districts across the state of Oregon. Her experience also includes collaboration with alternative schools in EdTech and Camas School District’s development of staff and community equity training.
Sarah holds a doctorate in Educational Policy, Leadership & Organization with a specialization in Diversity & Equity in Education. Her research interests focused on the theory and praxis of retaining Teachers of Color through professional development. She is dedicated to advocating for educational equity, and disrupting and dismantling the systems that perpetuate the marginalization of students and teachers of color.
Sarah is an introverted extrovert who resonates deeply with fellow Enneagram 8ers. She enjoys time with close family and friends, and begrudgingly working out at Orangetheory so that she can eat all the eats.
Laura Goodman
Administrator Support Project Lead
Laura Goodman (she/her/hers) is the Administrator Support Project Lead for the MCREN.
Laura has been in education for over thirty years in many different capacities. She hopes to bring her experience to support educators across the region. She is passionate about equity, inclusion and culturally responsive practices that provide all students with the opportunity to learn, grow and thrive.
Prior to joining the MCREN, she was an Early Childhood Special Education Coordinator/Administrator, with CESD, across the Clackamas County region and a member of the statewide Community Inclusion team. Before that, she was an Elementary school principal of a school that had many community partners such as Schools Uniting Neighborhoods (SUN) and Juntos Aprendemos with Latino Network . Laura also served as a Districtwide Special Education Consultant, Special Education teacher and Team Leader, an elementary classroom teacher, a Head Start teacher and an English Language teacher in France. Laura has a Masters in Special Education and a Professional Administrator’s license.
She was born and raised in New York and has lived in Portland, Oregon for over twenty five years. In her free time, she loves spending time with her family and friends and enjoys bicycling, hiking, skiing, kayaking, swimming, yoga, reading and traveling the world.
Kelsey Bowers
Culture and Climate Lead Project Manager
I am very passionate about education, especially equitable education. Being a part of the work of the REN is one step to building a more equitable space for the young people who are in our education system, and I am honored and excited to be a part of this important shift.
I have worked in education for 16 years, I spent the majority teaching middle school English and student leadership, I was a high school activities director and student leadership advisor, then spent five years as a New Educator mentor, and am currently in my second year as Vice Principal for Portland Evening and Summer Scholars, and alternative program through Portland Public Schools.
As a bi-racial woman, who grew up in Portland and experienced public education, I want to make the experiences of our students, particularly our students of color, a positive, engaging, and meaningful one.
Diana Grindea
Project Lead for Oregon City Equity Committee Project & DEIB
For the past two decades, Diana has passionately worked as an educator in a variety of leadership capacities to support the academic, social, and personal growth of all students. She began her career with the NYCDOE as a School Counselor. While working in Title schools across NYC, Diana supported the implementation of restorative behavior programs as a Dean of School Culture, as well as introduced Collaborative Evidence Based Action Cycles of Inquiry as an Intervention Team facilitator. In 2013, Diana was given the opportunity to assist in the creation of a new public Middle School and became a founding School Team Member and Special Education Department head. This experience ignited her passion to begin pursuing her second specialization degree in Educational Leadership and Public Policy.
The beauty of the PNW and easy access to outdoor adventures motivated her family to relocate to N. Portland. After joining a Title Elementary school in LOSD, Diana co-founded the district’s first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee, and continued to mentor educators as a PD content facilitator. In 2021 she transitioned into a new administrative role with the Oregon City School District, where she served students, families, and staff as their Associate Principal. Her goal was to provide multiple opportunities for all members in the school community to feel empowered, engaged, and connected. In November 2023, Diana was given an incredible opportunity to partner with MCREN as the new DEIB Network Development Specialist and support the resonance of DEIB work across the region. In collaboration with Equity leaders across Multnomah and Clackamas county, she is committed to growing a community network that supports each other to create sustainable impact across the region.
Diana has also worked as an adjunct professor at Portland State University teaching graduate level Human Sexuality & Gender, Counseling courses, and elective Equity seminars she developed for the College of Education. When celebrating her down time, you will find Diana with her daughter and partner hiking in nature with their pup, playing with clay, or practicing mindfulness and yoga.
Megan Lee
Strategic Partnerships Manager
Megan Lee (she/her/hers) is the Strategic Partnerships Manager for MCREN.
With roots in the fields of Communications and Public Health for Marginalized Populations, Megan believes that the core of the educational experience lies in authentic relationships with the self and with others. Originally from the east coast, Megan has been involved in community health, education, and program administration in Oregon for 20 years, serving in numerous capacities.
A teacher first and foremost, Megan taught Nutrition, Communications, and English at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts. Her passion for holistic wellbeing and the social determinants of health led her to community outreach in health education, and most recently to North Clackamas School District, where she focused on the development, implementation and administration of their Employee Wellness Program for nearly 8 years. She has also worked as a program developer and thought partner for organizations focusing on equitable access to education, health and human services, namely IMPACT Northwest, WIC, and Portland Youth Builders.
Megan earned a BA in Communications from Emerson College, An MS in Applied Nutrition/Public Health from Northeastern University, and maintains certifications in Nutritional Psychology, Health and Sexuality Education, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belong. She has been on the Selection Committee for the American Public Health Association’s Annual Summit since 2013.
