About Katie

A Proven Community Leader

Katie Riley is a native Oregonian who has committed a big part of her life to serving her community. She has successfully balanced a family, a career, and community service, and understands first-hand the struggles facing families in this economy.

Katie knows independent leaders and bipartisan solutions are needed to protect our schools, our communities and our families. She is an accomplished leader who has impacted Washington County as a volunteer.

Comprehensive Community Plan for Washington County

As Past Chair of the Washington County Commission on Children and Families, Katie coordinated the development of the county’s Comprehensive Community Plan. This plan addresses education, juveniles, housing, volunteering, seniors, libraries, foster care, child care, and food programs. These issues affect every citizen in the county.

Community Schools Program

As Chair of the Washington County Commission on Children and Families Katie helped promote a Community Schools program to Washington County to keep our kids safe and active after school and during the summer. These programs provide activities for kids and community members during non-school hours. Katie’s leadership facilitated collaboration with the school districts, the commission, and public agencies to work together to implement this program. As one of the founders of the Washington County Children’s Opportunity Fund Initiative of Washington County, now renamed Washington County Kids, she continues to work toward spreading the program.

Promoting Safety

As liaison to the county Juvenile Crime Prevention subcommittee for many years and a member of the Governor’s State Agency Team on Juvenile Crime Prevention, Katie promoted programs that emphasized prevention and early intervention with youth to help them grow into productive citizens. Her research on substance abuse treatment investigated effective practices. Katie has also helped organize community programs on Latina domestic violence and incorporated the topic of domestic violence into her Women’s Health class. She also served on the United Way Domestic Violence Prevention Mobilization Team.

Recognized for Outstanding Collaboration and Service

  • Oregon Public Health Association Lifetime Achievement Award, 2001
  • Department of Public Health & Preventive Medicine Service Award, OHSU, 2003 and 2009
  • Oregon Master of Public Health Service Award, 2005
  • Katie Riley Travel Scholarship (founded in her name), for the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, OHSU.
  • Harold M. Haynes Citizen Involvement Award from Washington County Citizen Participation Organization (CPO) 2015
  • Maureen Neuberger Award from Washington County Democrats together with Senator Chuck Riley for community service 2017

Proven track record managing budgets

Katie is dedicated to accountability, efficiency, and changing the way government does business. She has extensive experience overseeing budgets and managing multimillion dollar projects. As the department administrator of Public Health & Preventive Medicine at OHSU, and in the same role prior to service at OHSU, with the Department of Mechanical Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering at UCLA, Katie was responsible for analyzing and drafting projected budgets for research grant proposals to acquire funding for the type of research that benefits society as a whole. She has an excellent track record with projections and keeping balanced budgets. She also planned and implemented million dollar construction and renovation projects at UCLA and ensured that projects met their goals on time and on budget. In addition Katie was responsible for developing and administering a faculty mortgage loan program at UCLA, including writing loan documents.

Successful program and policy leader

Katie was instrumental in developing and implementing the Oregon Master of Public Health (OMPH), a collaborative program of PSU, OSU, and OHSU. Her proposal was accepted by the Oregon University System and Katie helped coordinate the accreditation process that solidified the OMPH program at the three Oregon universities. As Director of the OHSU track in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, she was a key member of the OMPH Coordinating Council. Graduates are working all over the nation conducting research for the betterment of people’s lives on various health issues such as heart disease and exercise. A scholarship was funded and named in her honor.

Education

  • Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Oregon
  • Master’s degree in Sociology from Washington State University
  • Doctorate (Ed.D) in Education from UCLA

Current Activities

Katie Riley continues her service to the community through her participation and leadership with the following groups:

She is also doing painting and crafts and enjoying grandkids.