Kim Leval
Fund Development Director
• About Me:
My family moved to Oregon when I was five. I grew up south of Oregon City and attended Carus Grade School, and middle school and high school in Canby. I picked berries on local farms to earn money for school clothes and my family owned a small antique store in Aurora. I went on to graduate from the University of Oregon (BA in International Studies) and Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, where I received my MS degree in Adult Education and Agricultural Extension. I’ve worked with non-profits all my life from Holt International Children’s Services in Eugene, Oregon and Phnom Penh, Cambodia; to Mobility International USA, Eugene; and Florence Area Council on Transportation, Florence, Oregon. From 1997 until I started with RDI I worked for the Center for Rural Affairs based in Nebraska. I started out managing half of the Center’s programs and then moved back to Oregon and served as the Senior Policy Analyst for many years while working from home. I worked with family farmers and ranchers and others to develop better rural and farm policy at the federal level. In my work with the Center I was able to blend my passion for social change, rural community development, and sustainability to make a real difference in the lives of rural people all over the country. Results of my work include more family farmers and non-profits receiving federal grant funds for value added agricultural projects, rural community development projects and other rural projects. I traveled all over the country. Then I met Pete Sorenson a Lane County Commissioner, and also now my husband. I worked on his political campaigns which taught me even more about fundraising. We got married in July of 2007 in a fabulous outdoor wedding that was loads of fun! Now I’m working with RDI, helping rural communities in my beloved state of Oregon and spending more time with my husband. I also enjoy hiking and all kinds of outdoor pursuits, gardening, cooking healthy meals for my family, exploring new places, and where I can make a difference in the world.
• What I do at RDI:
My fancy title is Fund Development Director. Currently, I am developing new and exciting ways that will allow our supporters to give to RDI: setting up the process for house parties, the ‘donate now’ function from our website, and our exciting endowment campaign that we will soon launch. In the midst of all this, I am also working to develop relationships with our funders including potential funders and researching for potential grant proposals to increase the capacity of RDI’s work.
• State where I was born:
I was born in Chico, California
• What I wanted to be when I was 8 years old:
I loved Little House on the Prairie and when I was 8 I really wanted to be Laura Ingall’s Wilder and become a teacher like her.
• Interesting previous job(s) I've held:
I spent a year in Cambodia working for Holt International Children’s Services and had to fly in a UN helicopter with big stacks of money (the riel had a low value) to the Northern part of the country to pay our field staff. That was pretty wild!
• One of my personal goals for :
I would like to pick one part of Oregon I haven’t explored and explore the heck out of it with my husband. I’m thinking of driving from Bandon clear across to the other side of the state and exploring all that the southern border of Oregon has to offer.
• A place I want to visit at least once in my lifetime:
I’ve traveled so much it is hard to pick just one place, but I’d have to say Tuscany, Italy.
• My favorite book and why:
One of my favorite books is The Brothers K by David James Duncan. Duncan paints a profound and vivid picture of a family struggling with the aftermath of the Viet Nam war and the relationships amongst and between the brothers. He also does magic with words and images. Just a beautiful writer – The River Why is another one of my Duncan favorites.
• My favorite board game:
Cranium.
• The coolest thing someone has done for me:
In 1998 I went through a divorce and my former boss at the Center for Rural Affairs allowed me to take my job and move from Nebraska back to Oregon because I wanted to be closer to my family. I felt so valued during what was a hard time.
> Click to Return to Staff Listing
Fund Development Director
• About Me:
My family moved to Oregon when I was five. I grew up south of Oregon City and attended Carus Grade School, and middle school and high school in Canby. I picked berries on local farms to earn money for school clothes and my family owned a small antique store in Aurora. I went on to graduate from the University of Oregon (BA in International Studies) and Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, where I received my MS degree in Adult Education and Agricultural Extension. I’ve worked with non-profits all my life from Holt International Children’s Services in Eugene, Oregon and Phnom Penh, Cambodia; to Mobility International USA, Eugene; and Florence Area Council on Transportation, Florence, Oregon. From 1997 until I started with RDI I worked for the Center for Rural Affairs based in Nebraska. I started out managing half of the Center’s programs and then moved back to Oregon and served as the Senior Policy Analyst for many years while working from home. I worked with family farmers and ranchers and others to develop better rural and farm policy at the federal level. In my work with the Center I was able to blend my passion for social change, rural community development, and sustainability to make a real difference in the lives of rural people all over the country. Results of my work include more family farmers and non-profits receiving federal grant funds for value added agricultural projects, rural community development projects and other rural projects. I traveled all over the country. Then I met Pete Sorenson a Lane County Commissioner, and also now my husband. I worked on his political campaigns which taught me even more about fundraising. We got married in July of 2007 in a fabulous outdoor wedding that was loads of fun! Now I’m working with RDI, helping rural communities in my beloved state of Oregon and spending more time with my husband. I also enjoy hiking and all kinds of outdoor pursuits, gardening, cooking healthy meals for my family, exploring new places, and where I can make a difference in the world.
• What I do at RDI:
My fancy title is Fund Development Director. Currently, I am developing new and exciting ways that will allow our supporters to give to RDI: setting up the process for house parties, the ‘donate now’ function from our website, and our exciting endowment campaign that we will soon launch. In the midst of all this, I am also working to develop relationships with our funders including potential funders and researching for potential grant proposals to increase the capacity of RDI’s work.
• State where I was born:
I was born in Chico, California
• What I wanted to be when I was 8 years old:
I loved Little House on the Prairie and when I was 8 I really wanted to be Laura Ingall’s Wilder and become a teacher like her.
• Interesting previous job(s) I've held:
I spent a year in Cambodia working for Holt International Children’s Services and had to fly in a UN helicopter with big stacks of money (the riel had a low value) to the Northern part of the country to pay our field staff. That was pretty wild!
• One of my personal goals for :
I would like to pick one part of Oregon I haven’t explored and explore the heck out of it with my husband. I’m thinking of driving from Bandon clear across to the other side of the state and exploring all that the southern border of Oregon has to offer.
• A place I want to visit at least once in my lifetime:
I’ve traveled so much it is hard to pick just one place, but I’d have to say Tuscany, Italy.
• My favorite book and why:
One of my favorite books is The Brothers K by David James Duncan. Duncan paints a profound and vivid picture of a family struggling with the aftermath of the Viet Nam war and the relationships amongst and between the brothers. He also does magic with words and images. Just a beautiful writer – The River Why is another one of my Duncan favorites.
• My favorite board game:
Cranium.
• The coolest thing someone has done for me:
In 1998 I went through a divorce and my former boss at the Center for Rural Affairs allowed me to take my job and move from Nebraska back to Oregon because I wanted to be closer to my family. I felt so valued during what was a hard time.
> Click to Return to Staff Listing