20 Under 40: Chris Sjoblom

Elmstreet Technology

My life philosophy is rooted in the belief that challenges are opportunities for growth and self-discovery. By embracing this mindset, I’ve been able to overcome obstacles and achieve success in both my personal and professional life, inspiring others to do the same.

20 Under 40: Chloe Tirabasso

Summit Bank

As a finance professional in our community, I have the immense privilege of working alongside remarkable local businesses, arts and nonprofit organizations. I am continually inspired and humbled by their innovation, fortitude and compassion. The Eugene/Springfield community has been my mentor and my advocate. I see my professional growth as an opportunity to give back. This “giving back” philosophy and attitude is a fundamental part of leadership and also a big part of community banking. The more knowledge and opportunities I gain in my profession, the more fluent I become in the language of business, finance, arts and nonprofits, the better equipped I am to share knowledge with others.

Leadership is about using our strengths to empower others to accomplish together what would have been impossible individually. I couldn’t have learned this lesson at a better place than Summit Bank, a local community business bank headquartered in Eugene. Commercial lending and community finance have shown me that we are all intertwined, both socially and economically. Our successes and struggles are shared. It is only when we inclusively work together that our community grows and prospers. I am so grateful to the countless mentors, role models, clients, colleagues, board members, professors, elders, peers and children who have shared this wisdom with me, lifted me up to become the emerging leader that I am today and enabled me to better serve our community.

The word “leadership” comes from the old English word “lithan,” which literally means “to go.” Let’s go!

20 Under 40: Chad Steinhauer

Kernutt Stokes, LLP

Growing up in Triangle Lake, a small town outside of Eugene, I annually saw the 20 under 40 award winners in the newspaper and dreamed of one day being considered amongst the great community leaders that I would read about. I have been lucky enough to be surrounded by incredible leaders in my life that have both taught and shown me how to work hard, have a positive attitude, and proceed to do so day after day. Those that I looked up to weren’t focused on winning awards or receiving external recognition. Rather, their focus was keeping the community cars on the road, keeping the school lights on, or turning trees into paper. My goal each day is to do right by them, my friends and family, and anyone who may look up to me.

I can’t thank Kernutt Stokes enough for giving me the chance of a lifetime to work alongside some of the brightest minds that I’ve ever known. An opportunity that truly has changed my life. Serving the local community whether it be professionally, or through learning about and serving local organizations has been the greatest joy of my career. I would also like to extend a thank you to Kidsports and Forests Today and Forever. Both of those organizations have welcomed me onto their boards with open arms and have given me the chance to make an impact in the community.

20 Under 40: Cat Mathewson

ShelterCare

At age 13, I became interested in housing as a basic human right and I followed this belief throughout my education and into my career- guiding me to Oregon. When I moved to Oregon nine years ago, I did not know anyone. Through my work, volunteering, education, and volleyball; I have found a place in this community, a network of friends, and people who I consider to be my family.

My guiding principle in life has always been to leave the world a better place. I seek out volunteer opportunities and involvements that generate a purpose that aligns with this goal. When we focus on a life of giving, we do not seek out opportunities for recognition. The endless hours can often go unnoticed as we move through life in humility. I am grateful to be recognized as a 20 Under 40 Award recipient; to know that my contributions are being seen and to have the opportunity to shine light on causes that I am passionate about.

20 Under 40: Brenna Leech

Eugene Hostel

Impact and Community have been the driving forces in my life since I joined the Air Force Academy at 17 years old. It’s been a long journey, with hardships ranging from sexual assault to homelessness and housing insecurity, but the desire to serve has only strengthened through hardship.

My professional life and personal life are inextricably linked, because I cannot bear to spend so much of my life working for organizations, I don’t believe in. Through entrepreneurship, I have found a vehicle to strengthen my own connection to impact and to others, while simultaneously ensuring that I truly wake up every day doing what I love. As a business coach since 2017, it’s been a true gift to witness, coach, and often comfort entrepreneurs from across the world and from every manner of background to further their own dreams. I have found that entrepreneurs are not all the media cracks them up to be, millionaire playboys that have “hacked the work world”. They are gritty, everyday people, whose desire to bring a community service or product that they believe in to others inspires them to walk outside the norms of the system and risk their own security for the desire to provide good to the world. Impact goes hand in hand with entrepreneurship, and it remains the greatest joy of my life to walk alongside them with the Eugene Hostel.

I bought the hostel in 2022 with every last cent I had, and through focusing on community development, have been able to bring it life in ways it never has been before. We’ve hired our first management team, 100% queer and femme-bodied, to guide us into long-term support for this community. We’ve secured a grant from ODOT to build a micro transportation hub. We’ve supported hundreds from all over through our work trade program, providing bus passes, flexible work schedules, and monthly staff trips to help them experience the joys of Eugene and our community. We see the hostel as a vehicle to help people get back on their feet, learn skills, and develop community living principles, and have helped thousands grow. I can’t imagine a better place to lead and grow myself.

It is with joy and gratefulness, and a deep excitement for the future, that I accept the Eugene 20 under 40 award for the class of 2023.

20 Under 40: Breann Martin

Western Clinical & Forensic Services

The US as a country has never done well when it comes to caring for, treating, and supporting people who lack privilege, whether due to demographic characteristics, having a mental disorder, struggling with substance abuse and dependence, or other factors. These factors further contribute to increased rates of crime and incarceration, which then contributes to a cycle that makes it extremely difficult to function in society prosocially. Working in any of these areas or with any of these populations can be challenging, but it is even more challenging due to ongoing systemic issues that contribute to an inability for people to receive the services they need. Despite these issues, which are ever present, although dynamically changing, I’ve been honored to work alongside many others who make a difference on a micro level every day. I have observed many of these people continue striving and make huge impacts on the people they serve and, in doing so, have come to recognize that change can be made, even by only one person, even when a system is broken. I strive to make that difference every day through my own work, but also through providing support to others in the field who are doing the same because maybe together and in time we will all make a larger impact overall.

20 Under 40: Becky-Jo Samples

Connected Lane County

I am honored to be a recipient of the 20 Under 40 award. Growing up in a large family that faced hardships taught me the importance of perseverance, resourcefulness, having a conscientious approach, and self-belief. These values have been instrumental in shaping my philosophy for work and life.

I was fortunate to be a Ford Scholar and to become a first-generation college graduate. Without the Ford Scholars program, I would not have had the same opportunities that shaped my life. Being a member of a community organization like the Ford Family Foundation left an everlasting impact. It taught me the importance of community-based organizations and the impact they can have on an individual, family, and community. Which in turn inspired me to advocate for educational opportunities for those in underserved communities. Education can change lives. It changed mine.

I’ve been privileged to work with organizations in our community that provide access to educational resources and opportunities including ASPIRE, Centro Latino Americano, Connected Lane County, Downtown Languages, Huerto de la Familia, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Emerald Valley. Helping others gain access to education can inspire growth and create a more equitable and just society.

I’m humbled by this acknowledgment as it reinforces my commitment to following my passions and further developing my values. There is still much to be done but I am inspired by the endless opportunities to make a positive impact in the world.

20 Under 40: Artees Vannett

Grey Snow Management Solutions

I am the Director of Operations for Grey Snow Management Solutions, a tribally-owned economic development enterprise which supports tribal sovereignty and community resiliency through regenerative solutions.

I believe that to overcome the economic and social challenges that our society faces, we need to envision a better future which fulfills the growing needs of our communities while also doing good for our home planet.

I have been humbled in my life to help support the development of CERNA, the Center of Excellence for Regenerative Native Agriculture, which supports the nation’s most disadvantaged farmers and agricultural producers, tribal and rural BIPOC communities, with the education and training to transition large scale conventional agriculture to regenerative agriculture. Over the next five years we will work to sequester a million tonnes of greenhouse gasses from our atmosphere and create climate smart commodities which are paid at a premium in the process. Here we believe that by rebuilding our earth’s top soils, creating cleaner air, and healthier communities, we can not only help create a world that is better for our future generations, but also create a better economic system while doing so.

I serve on the Board of Directors for RAIN Catalysts, as well as on the Board of Directors for One Million Steps.

I am honored to be part of this movement, to receive this recognition, and I pledge to continue my efforts to create a better future for everyone, particularly the most vulnerable members of our community.

20 Under 40: Alyssa Powell

Oregon Community Credit Union

A leadership path is not linear.

It’s the flourishing, pausing, and pivoting that we experience each day. We face trade offs, experience triumphant wins—and amidst it all we make the best possible decisions with the information at hand.

Creating a vision for the future, sharing it with others, and connecting the dots to make it happen are true passions of mine. The learning process along the way, and empowering the individualized strengths of others, inspires me to no end.

Radiating compassion and showing up with intention are what I lean into for life and work growth. Navigating leadership means understanding multiple truths can co-exist. It’s also staying engaged, learning stories, breaking down the silos, meeting others where they are, and finding opportunities for others to join the tables they deserve to be at.

I continue to grow in leadership by learning what keeps me grounded. That strength allows me to show up as my authentic self for my family, my work team, my community. Ready to learn, and ready to discover how I can help.

It takes tapping into the best version of myself to continue showing up. I’m ready for the lifelong discovery that doesn’t have a definitive end date. What I know now about myself is yet to evolve—that’s the beauty of uncertainty.

I’m here to continue rolling up my sleeves and serve my community with a tenacious passion.

What can we build together?

20 Under 40: Alan Stout

Cedarwood Distribution

I am extraordinarily honored by this award, and grateful to collaborate in building up Springfield and Eugene.

Since my early 20’s, the guiding principle of my life has been “strive at all times to act within my integrity.”

I define integrity as being loving, honest, grateful, and forgiving of myself and of others. These virtues must be held in harmony, so, for example, to be loving, one must also be honest, grateful, and forgiving.

That doesn’t mean that I always live up to this standard. However, when I look back at any choice, I can see more clearly if I have missed the mark and need to ask for forgiveness. On the flip side, if I see that I was acting within my integrity, then I can trust that the choice I made was probably a good one.

This principle has paid tremendous dividends in each area of my life, and has given me a plan for putting my life in order. It has allowed me to live a more fulfilling marriage with my wife Angela and share a more peaceful home with our four wonderful children. On the business level, it has helped me make decisions about how I treat customers, employees, and vendors.

Anyone who knows me also knows that I have work to do, but whether I encounter great opportunities or difficulties in the future, I am grateful to have a principle to guide my next steps.