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Noelle Colby-Rotell
Senior Community Development Coordinatorl

• About Me:
I have lived in rural, eastern Oregon for over 10 years. I previously served as public relations director for a group of family owned sawmills in Grant County where I worked to build collaborative relationships between community members and leaders at the local state and federal levels on forest resource issues.

My program experience includes media relations, lobbying, technical writing, community relations and public speaking instruction. I have been extensively involved in community projects and boards ranging in scope from community development to youth promotion.

I received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Communication from Washington State University and am currently in dissertation phase for an Interdisciplinary PhD in Communication Psychology.

My husband Don and I live in Fruitland, Idaho and share two young children: Sawyer and Sam.

• What I do at RDI:
Eastern Oregonians are committed to crafting their futures by relying upon each other and drawing inspiration from the landscape. In my work for RDI, I help connect rural people to each other and to their potential. In turn, they inspire me to be creative in my thinking and challenge me to celebrate the rural qualities of life. To that end, I manage the Effective Organizations and Community Collaborations programs within the larger Ford Institute Leadership Programs and deliver these and various other trainings across the Eastern region.

• State where I was born:
Kansas, but moved to Hawaii before I turned 2.

What I wanted to be when I was 8 years old:
More like 11 or 12 years old. . . a Solid Gold Dancer!

• Interesting previous job(s) I've held:
I was an “Island Girl” Food Demonstrator in Hawaii

• One of my personal goals for :
To spend more time with my children Sawyer and Sam, helping them settle in to our new community.

• A place I want to visit at least once in my lifetime:
Samoa

• My favorite book and why:
My favorite book is actually a poem entitled, “The Sun Rising” by John Donne. I am a romantic- - more beautiful words about love have never been written. I have portions of this poem committed to memory.

• My favorite board game:
Not a game player….

• The coolest thing someone has done for me:
Days after being hired for my first real job out of college, an extraordinary large box arrived at my office from a childhood best friend, Marilee. Inside was a multitude of boxes filled with a brand new professional wardrobe from head to toe. We remain best friends today!

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