John W. Duncan Jr. | Director. John serves as the Director of the Holden Leadership Center. He received a B.S. in History from Oregon State University and a M.A. in Educational Leadership from Eastern Michigan University. John came to the University of Oregon in the summer of 2005 to establish the HLC and advance leadership development for the campus community. He is a native of Oregon and enjoys hiking, backpacking, skiing, reading and spending time with friends and family.
Lisa Fortin | Assistant Director. Lisa is the assistant director of the Holden Leadership Center. Lisa graduated from the US Military Academy and served in the military in the early 1990's. She also has a B.S in Journalism/PR from the University of Oregon. Lisa has a passion for organizing and worked as an event planner for non-profit organizations for 7 years in the Washington, DC area before getting into organizing events for students and alumni at the UO Alumni Association and now the HLC. In her spare time, Lisa enjoys reading and playing a bad game of tennis.
Annie Carlson | Fraternity and Sorority Life Advisor. Annie is an excited new member to the HLC team, serving as the Fraternity and Sorority Advisor. In this role she works with members from fraternities and sororities to continue developing the community and create positive relationships at the U of O. As an advocate for the fraternal values movement, Annie believes in redefining the role of fraternities and sororities on college campuses to encompass their true purpose. Born and raised in Chicago, Annie received her B.A. in History and Anthropology from the University of Illinois in 2007. After graduation she moved to Florida where she received her M.S. in Higher Education from Florida State University. In her free time, she loves to travel, read, and spend time with friends.
Dr Timothy R. McMahon | Director of Special Projects. Tim serves as a part-time consultant to the Holden Leadership Center and is also a Program Development Specialist for the Center on Diversity and Community at the University of Oregon. Before coming to Oregon, Tim worked at Western Illinois University, University of Iowa, Washington State University, Lakeland College, and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Among his professional interests are leadership development, chaos and systems, and issues related to diversity. Tim has a Bachelor's degree in Astronomy and a Master's degree in Higher Education administration, both from the University of Illinois, and his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Oregon State University in College Student Services Administration. He is a co-author (with Susan Komives and Nance Lucas) of Exploring Leadership: For College Students Who Want To Make A Difference and loves the Chicago Cubs, Macintosh computers, Diet Pepsis, and the music of Bruce Springsteen.
Audra Mahoney | Office Manager. Audra began serving as the Office Manager over four years ago when the department was the Greek Life Office. Broadening the department scope of leadership opportunities for students has been an exciting change for her. She continues her education as a part time student of the University of Oregon. Her goal is to earn a degree in English and then complete a Masters in Education to teach high school English. Reading tops the list of her interests as well as movies and other mediums of communication. Her outdoor interests include camping and any activity near the beach.
Lisa Hughes | Greek Life Program Assistant. Lisa serves as the Greek Life Program Assistant in the Holden Leadership Center. She began in August of 2007 after serving in public education for seven years with a previous background in office management. Lisa assists students and staff in the Greek Community with their programming needs. She is a proud mother of two boys and hopes to see them join the duck family in the future. In her free time she enjoys community theater where she acts in productions. You can frequently find her and her family at football games rooting for the ducks.
Tom Ptak | Graduate Staff. Tom Ptak is a Graduate Teaching Fellow (GTF) in the Holden Leadership Center. His responsibilities include: program design and management, curriculum design, brand management, marketing, event planning, Peer Leadership Consultant facilitation and student advising. Tom received his Bsc and Bsc Honors degrees from Macquarie University in Sydney Australia, with one year of his undergraduate degree taken on exchange at Central Washington University. Tom is currently undertaking a Masters degree in Human Geography and his research interests lie in the intersection of geopolitics and migration in relation to China and Tibet. Tom is an avid outdoors enthusiast and loves to mountaineer, rock-climb, snow shoe, backpack, cycle, run, surf and enjoys living in Eugene, Oregon.
Consuela Perez-Jefferis | ASUO Advisor. Consuela serves as the Associate Students of the University of Oregon (ASUO) Advisor. She advises and provides support to the student executive and senate bodies, student elections board, Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee, and supervises the ASUO professional staff. She is one of the informal faculty/staff advisors to MEChA and Mujeres. She also volunteers with the Bias Response Team as an advocate and is part of the case management team. In 1998 she received a B.A. degree from the University of Oregon in Planning, Public Policy, and Management and minors in Political Science and Ethnic Studies. She became a proud mom in 2005. Consuela received her Master of Social Work from Portland State University with a concentration in community-based practice in 2007. In addition to education and social justice she has interests in the areas of intimate partner violence prevention, identity development, treatment for opioid addiction, farm worker rights, cross-cultural coalition building, and interracial relationships and family. Consuela was born in Eugene and raised in both Eugene and Alvadore OR. She joined the ASUO and HLC in 2008.
Lynn Giordano | ASUO Accountant. Lynn Giordano began her current position as ASUO Accountant in 2005, after over 30 years of working in public accounting and private industry in California. Her responsibilities include monitoring budgetary and general accounting data for the various funds used by ASUO programs and departments. She is assisted in this task by a team of student controllers, who have the unique opportunity to apply their school room work to real time business situations. Lynn is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley with a BA in philosophy (1968) and a decade later, an MBA from California State University, Northridge and passing the CPA exam. She enjoys the energy and responsiveness of students, and feels privileged to participate in their personal and profession growth. After the hours-long daily commutes and dry desert winds of California, she and her husband very much appreciate the beauty of Eugene – with the one drawback that it is so far away from her first grandchild in Southern California.
Julie Palanuk | Program Coordinator. Julie Palanuk is the Associated Students of the University of Oregon Programs (ASUO) Coordinator. She advises and provides support for the over 150 student funded programs on campus. She directly supervises the Designated Driver Shuttle and the Assault Prevention Shuttle. Before she joined the staff at the ASUO and HLC in 2008, she worked for five years as the Learning and Development Instructor at Oregon Community Credit Union. In that position, she focused on leadership development and building excellent teams. In 2005, she won the Training Professional of the Year from CUNA Center for Professional Development. Julie received her B.S. in Political Science with a minor in Women and Gender Studies from the University of Oregon. She was born and raised in the Eugene/Springfield area. She continues to stay involved in the community by volunteering at CASA of Lane County and in her niece's classrooms.
Nicole Nelson | Administrative Assistant
Morgan St. Jean | Community Relations Coordinator Morgan serves as the Community Relations Coordinator for the Service Learning Program. A native Oregonian, Morgan graduated from Linfield College in May 2009 with a BA in History and Communication Arts. She comes to the Holden Leadership Center as a VISTA volunteer through Oregon Campus Compact. In her free time, Morgan loves to cook, read, and visit the Oregon coast.
Sean Dinno | Campus Relations Coordinator Sean is currently an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America) and serves as the Campus Relations Coordinator of the Service-Learning Program. He recently graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Sculpture. He is passionate about art and has a heart for social justice. In his free time, Sean is involved in a local church body. Since his arrival to Eugene in the fall of 2005, Sean has been heavily engaged in the campus and local community. He is enthusiastic about his year of service and looks forward to the challenges and opportunities ahead.
