Our Staff
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Cara Rothe, Executive Director
Cara brings an impressive array of professional, educational and personal qualifications to our organization anchored by her ten year tenure as the Director of Operations for First Congregational United Church of Christ, located in the middle of the downtown park blocks. A self described operations nerd, Cara’s passion for service is augmented by her meticulous attention to detail and dedication to people first management.
She holds a bachelor's degree in business with an emphasis in nonprofit organizational behavior and management from Portland State University and has over fifteen years of volunteer and peer support experience in addition to professional experience at Volunteers of America’s Addiction Prevention Services Program and De Paul Treatment Center.
Contact Information
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Rahana Bear, Case Manager
Rahana has called the Pacific Northwest her home for over 13 years. She has a Bachelor's of Science in Human Development from Warner Pacific University, and she has worked in the social services field throughout her career.
Working with all populations from adolescents to elders, she feels that her experience and education has given her an opportunity to see the importance of building self-healing communities which can improve the health and wellness of all.
She feels that life moves in an ebb and flow process, so her hope is that we can all find the tools to support us on navigating the journey that we call life.
Contact Informaoin:
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Brian Crabtree, Village Coordinator
Brian is a family man who has dedicated his life to helping the less fortunate. He has many years of expereience in the fields of recovery, houselessness, substance use disorders and mental health. Brian enjoyes the outdoors and gym in his free time.
Contact Information:
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Americo Hernandez, Program Manager
Americo Hernandez was born and raised mostly in Los Angeles, California. His family and he moved to Portland during his high school years where he graduated from Reynold High School, Class of 2009. Soon after he joined the Army as a forward observer and served overseas for 2 combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. After completion of active duty Americo joined the Washington National Guard and served a combined 12 years of service.He started his career with Do Good Multnomah helping houseless Veterans. This is where he gained a passion to serve and help. He spent 5 years with Do Good as a director. Where he was able to learn the ins and outs of developing programs and understanding the complexity of the houseless system. Now he brings his wealth of experience to Beacon Village driven to continue to help those in need.
During his free time Americo enjoys spending time with his daughter and 2 dogs Copper and Kirby. He thoroughly enjoys spending time at home, relaxing quietly and spending time with family and friends.
Contact Information:
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Patrick McWhorter, Operations Manager
Patrick has called Portland home with his wife, Spring, since the fall of 2019. He has been part of the Beacon Village team since January 2024. Prior to joining Beacon Village, he managed the day-to-day operations of a global non-profit organization. He brings with him over 11 years of non-profit operations and financial oversight experience. He has a passion for taking care of the operational details so others in the organization can accomplish their mission driven goals as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Patrick has two adult children and he and Spring are proud cat parents to Mike and Maddie. Mike even has his own Facebook page. In his spare time, Patrick loves to enjoy all the PNW has to offer with its many hiking trails and camping spots.
Contact Information:
Our Board
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Emily Campbell, Board President
Emily has lived in Portland since 1981. She earned a BSN from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC. She practiced clinical nursing for 12 years in Intensive Care Units and Operating Rooms. Following a two-year period in OR management, she completed a Master's in Computer Science at Portland State University, after which she worked as a clinical data researcher for 12 years, building and implementing specialized electronic medical record systems, architecting and managing data warehouses, and using natural language processing for free text analysis. She earned a PhD in Biomedical Informatics in 2009 from Oregon Health & Science University. She spent 12 years working in Clinical Informatics Management until her retirement in November of 2021. She has a passion for detail, honest communication, kindness, and healthcare for all.
Emily and her husband William have lived in southeast Portland since 1985. They appreciate all Oregon has to offer; enjoying hiking, camping, and especially rafting. Since retiring, Emily has been volunteering for Multnomah County Emergency management, performing qualitative data analysis and knitting sweaters for her nieces and nephew.
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LeiLani Barney, Board Vice President
LeiLani is a versatile communications professional with extensive experience as a strategist in communication and public relations. Currently working in the public sector, she leads strategic communications initiatives centered on affordable housing development across Oregon.
With more than 20 years of experience, LeiLani has led marketing and communications for a nonprofit focused on increasing access to one of Oregon’s premier parks, directed public relations and crisis communication strategies for artisanal food and beverage clients, and produced newscasts in three Northwest television markets—earning two Emmy Awards for her storytelling and editorial expertise.
Originally from Montana, LeiLani has called Portland home for nearly two decades. She enjoys exploring the Pacific Northwest outdoors with her husband and two young children, running trails, and savoring the Willamette Valley's vibrant culinary scene.
As a board member, LeiLani is dedicated to leveraging her diverse communications background and passion for community advocacy to support Beacon Village’s mission.
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Jeff Moxie, Board Treasurer
Jeff graduated from Grove City College in 1980, with a degree in accounting. His first job was with a regional public accounting firm as a staff accountant. During the last 20 years of his career Jeff acted as the CFO of varying sizes of global companies in many different industries, overseeing Accounting and Finance, Human Resources, Technology and Facilities. Jeff and his wife, Lori, moved to the Portland area in September of 2016, to be closer to grandchildren.
Jeff has served on different nonprofit boards through the years including several related to swimming, two that supported animals and their needs, two for Washington County (Oregon) and one for his local church.
Other philanthropic endeavors that Jeff and Lori support include an equestrian therapy center for disabled youth in Southern California and two separate perpetual scholarships for each of their alma maters.
Jeff enjoys spending time with his two grandsons, traveling with his wife and grandsons, helping those in need, mentoring others, and spending time with their two dogs.
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Paige Holland, Board Secretary
Paige (she/her) has spent the last decade working in HR, including 4 years working with healthcare nonprofits. Most of her career has been in the Recruiting/Generalist realm but she recently started a role as a Benefits Administrator for a local healthcare organization. She is very excited to support her community and work with Beacon Village.
Paige holds a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification, MA’s in both HR Management and Creative Writing, and am a Notary Public. On her off hours, she is most likely crafting, wine tasting, trip planning, or just hanging with her clutter of cats.
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Polly Brown
A retired research psychologist, Polly has lived in Portland since 2004. Since retiring, she has served as a volunteer at NAMI Washington and Multnomah Counties, as well as the Multnomah County Department of Community Justice. Through NAMI, she currently leads a monthly self-care group and presents her story of recovery from mental illness and addiction to various audiences, including law enforcement. For the past year, Polly has been a member of Recovery Café Roseway, where she volunteers as grants writer.
In her leisure time, Polly likes to play mahjong with friends, paint, visit family in the Seattle area, play piano, and commune with her beloved poodle mix, Arlo.
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Cameron McKillop
Cameron grew up in Portland and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Southern Oregon University in 2017. During college, he gained valuable marketing experience in the welding, healthcare, and software industries. After graduating, he returned to Portland to work at Rogers Machinery, where he developed his skills in sales, marketing, and project management.
In 2020, Cameron joined API International, a pipe fitting company, as their Marketing & Product Manager. The following year, he transitioned to CleanMark, a custom label manufacturer, as the Digital Marketing Manager. During this time, he also earned his MBA from Oregon State University. Since joining CleanMark, Cameron has driven improvements in efficiency, responsiveness, and quality across multiple departments. After several promotions, he now serves as Vice President of Operations, leading a cross-functional team.