White Bird Clinic Leadership

White Bird Clinic Leadership Team

Amée Markwardt – Executive Director

Amée’s 18-year history with White Bird Clinic has distinguished her as a tireless advocate for the vulnerable Lane County residents that White Bird serves. Her experience working toward the agency’s mission, extensive knowledge of its programs, systems and processes, expertise in behavioral health, fine leadership skills, and longstanding relationships with the organization’s partners and funders make her an ideal delegate for this role.

Amée holds a Master’s degree in organizational leadership from the University of Maine and several national behavioral health certifications. She represents White Bird in community-wide meetings with leaders of other local nonprofit organizations seeking to maximize the impact of their work through strategic cooperation and alliances.

Julie Cummings – Health Center Director

Julie’s 30 years of healthcare experience began with hospice patient support and grew into healthcare operations and administration roles. Her in-depth expertise informs her smart, strategic approach to the growth and management of White Bird’s medical clinic.

Her role at White Bird sees Julie returning to her commitment to serving in a mission-driven healthcare organization. Her prior roles at Planned Parenthood, University of Washington and Harborview Medical Center inform her approach to her work.

Julie earned her bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Washington and her MBA from Western Governors University.

Melissa Ward – Human Resources Director

With over 18 years of experience in human resources, Melissa brings a wealth of people-focused skills and strategic insight to White Bird Clinic. In her role, she is dedicated to building and retaining a professional, mission-aligned team that drives our success and impact within the community.

Before joining White Bird Clinic, Melissa was the Chief People Officer at Arcimoto and the HR Director at Gorilla Capital, both high-growth organizations where she played a key role in shaping and nurturing their workforce. Her leadership in these roles underscored her ability to align human resources strategies with organizational goals, fostering environments where employees thrive and contribute meaningfully.

Melissa holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon and a Human Resources Management certificate from Oregon State University.

Mike Yoshioka – Director of Programs

Mike brings a substantial breadth of experience in non-profit management to White Bird Clinic, where he plays a pivotal role in ensuring our programs align with, and meet the evolving needs of, our community. His leadership, strategic management, and program development and delivery expertise are key drivers of our organization’s success.

Before joining White Bird Clinic, Mike held significant program director positions at St. Vincent de Paul, San Francisco Housing Development Corporation, and City of Dreams in San Francisco. In these roles, he advanced initiatives in housing and healthcare and leveraged his extensive education and experiential learning background to enhance the impact of the programs under his direction.

Mike holds a bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State University.

White Bird Clinic Board of Directors

Mark Erickson – Chair
Mark Erickson grew up on California’s central coast before moving to Massachusetts to study Computer Science and Philosophy at Amherst College. After a brief stint in Boston, Mark returned to the West Coast in 2003 to continue his studies, earning his Master’s in CS at the University of Oregon. He fell in love with Eugene and has since worked in technology roles across local companies, currently serving as a Software Architect at PacificSource. In his free time, he enjoys live music and hiking Spencer’s Butte with his dog, Hermes.

A longtime member of the Oregon Country Fair, Mark first connected with White Bird through his wife’s volunteer work with Rock Med and COVID vaccination clinics. He joined the board in 2023 at the invitation of a friend and became Chair in 2024. With more than 30 years of technical expertise and a strong commitment to serving the most vulnerable, Mark values White Bird as an essential source of compassionate care for our community.

Jenn Salter – Secretary
Jenn is a Master’s Prepared Nurse who has an extensive background in community health, emergency medicine, and healthcare leadership. She spent the last several years of her nursing career in leadership positions, where she witnessed firsthand the how non-medical conditions impact a person’s health, well-being, and quality of life. Access to resources, safe housing, economic stability, and quality healthcare influence the health of a community.

As a life-long Oregonian and long-time Eugene resident, Jenn joined the White Bird Board of Directors as she has a passion for engaging with the community. White Bird’s mission to empower individuals to improve their physical, emotional, and social well-being to improve their overall health speaks to the reason Jenn became a nurse.

Tiffany Jones – Interim Treasurer
Tiffany is a clinical pharmacist with more than a decade of experience in diverse practice settings. Though not originally from Oregon, she has spent much of the past decade building a home and community here. She is inspired by White Bird’s employees and the tremendous support they provide, and is committed to using her knowledge and skills to help ensure the organization is in the strongest position to support a community that relies on its life-changing services.

Amy Exah
Amy has over 25 years of experience in education, community development, and nonprofit management, with nearly 14 years spent living and working in Ghana, Guatemala, and Peru. Her time abroad gave her firsthand insight into challenges like housing instability, poverty, and lack of access to basic services, shaping her commitment to addressing systemic inequities through community-driven solutions.

Currently, Amy serves as Director of Special Projects at a nonprofit tech organization that is expanding access to the uncensored internet, particularly in regions under repressive regimes. She oversees partnerships, grants, board governance, and strategy to advance freedom of information and human rights. Previously, Amy combined her passion for arts education and advocacy by leading arts programs in Austin, Texas, for Title 1 schools and directing theater programs internationally, empowering youth through creative expression and character development.

Since relocating to Eugene in 2023, Amy has been deeply inspired by White Bird Clinic’s mission and joined the board in April 2024. She sees White Bird as a critical force for justice and community care in Eugene and is eager to apply her nonprofit leadership and global perspective to support its vital work.

Devin Bowman
Devin is a local father and husband hoping to make a difference by volunteering his time on the board. He is currently a law student at UO with the intent to improve the lives of his fellow Lane County residents. His family is familiar with the services of White Bird Clinic but were often out of service areas, giving him a familiarity with the services but also an outside perspective which he provides to the board whenever they think it would be helpful. A lifelong Oregonian, he is proud to help his state and its people in any small way he can.

Julianna Ormsby
Julianna is a human services management consultant. She has a Master’s in Social Work (MSW) and has worked extensively with state, county, tribal nation and U.S. territory child welfare, court, behavioral health, housing and other community partners to improve outcomes for children and families engaged in the child welfare system and, ultimately, to prevent the unnecessary entry of children into foster care so they may thrive within their own family, with the right support. She resides with her spouse in the SW Hills area of Eugene; they are geeky bird nerds and love co-existing with the deer and turkeys, as well as spending time outdoors, especially the Oregon coast. She is the oldest of four siblings and a proud daughter of a single mom, who passed along her voracious love of reading. Fun fact: Julianna has spent time in 44 U.S. states, DC, and American Samoa (and has lived in 9 different states). She hopes to remain in Eugene and plant deeper roots.

White Bird Clinic always seeks motivated individuals to join its Board of Directors. We hope these individuals are representative of our community and/or clients. We are committed to recruiting members of the BIPOC community to expand the voices at our table.

Do you have a strong background in finance, communications, community outreach, fundraising, and/or professional development? Applicants could also have ties to medical, dental, and substance abuse treatment or the homeless issues in this community, as White Bird specializes in those areas. All applicants should be familiar with non-profit governance.