Council Members
Elizabeth Farrar Campbell, Chair; Appointed October 2023
Ms. Farrar Campbell serves as Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Mighty Ripple Strategies, a mission-driven organization that empowers communities, businesses, and governments to solve problems that matter to women and children. Previously, she was elected and served for five years as Gilliam County Judge, where she led the effort to improve early learning and care access in her rural community. As a result of these efforts, Gilliam County is the only county in Oregon considered not a childcare desert for infants and toddlers. Ms. Farrar Campbell has held many titles, including in the Oregon State Capitol and on Capitol Hill, but her favorite is “Mommy" to 4-year-old daughter, Ainsley.
Katy Brooks; Appointed September 2019
Ms. Brooks is the Bend Chamber CEO & President, where she works partnering the local business community with education institutions to improve Bend's economy and education outcomes; as well as currently piloting a program to remove barriers to child care and housing. She has over 20 years of economic development and public affairs experience that she brings to the Council, including working for Oregon Department of Transportation and the ports of Portland and Vancouver, WA.
Peter Buckley; Appointed October 2019
Mr. Buckley is the Innovation Network Program Manager for Southern Oregon Success. He served as the State Representative for District 5 (Ashland, Talent, Phoenix, Medford, Jacksonville and Ruch) from 2005 until he retired in 2017. During his tenure in office, Rep. Buckley served as the House Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means for eight years and continuously fought for increased funding for all levels of education. After retiring from the Oregon Legislature, he was appointed as a senior adviser to Gov. Kate Brown on transformation and budget stability during the 2017 legislative session.
Robin Hill-Dunbar; Appointed October 2023
Ms. Hill-Dunbar is the Director of the Children, Youth, and Families department for The Ford Family Foundation based in Roseburg. The Foundation works to improve the lives of rural Oregonians. She joined the Foundation in 2016, where she is working to shape and execute the Foundation's strategies to support strong families and healthy children of all ages. Prior to coming to the Foundation, she served as the home visiting workforce development coordinator at the Oregon Health Authority/Maternal Child Health. While there, she created a comprehensive workforce development plan that included the development of home visiting competencies for Oregon's home visiting field, a workforce development plan, and helped embed the Infant Mental Health Endorsement in Oregon. Her extensive background includes work in early Intervention/early childhood special education, home visiting, parenting education, early learning local and statewide program management, and training and technical assistance in the early learning field.
Eric Hunter; Appointed March 2025
With more than 25 years of leadership experience in the health care field, Eric brings a deep knowledge of Medicaid policy, Medicare plan administration, commercial plans and the integration of physical and behavioral health care. Eric served most recently as Chief Operating Officer for Boston Medical Center Healthnet Plan. Previous roles include CEO for ValueOptions Behavioral Health in both Texas and Illinois, numerous roles with Schaller Anderson including CEO for Heartland Health Plan in Oklahoma. At Centene, he served as COO, Managed Health Services in Indiana, and served as COO of Total Carolina Care in South Carolina.
Dr. Margaret (Peg) Miller, MD; Appointed October 2019
Dr. Miller is a board certified pediatrician based in McMinnville where she practices at Willamette Valley Medical Center. Dr. Miller is familiar with the barriers to health that Oregon's rural youth population faces, having served rural Oregon in her practice for over 20 years. She provides a critical health care lens for the cross sectional work of the ELC. Currently Dr. Miller also sits on the Yamhill County Early Learning Hub and the board of directors of Headstart of Yamhill County. She received her MD from OHSU and completed pediatric residency at the University of Arizona.
Soobin Oh; Appointed December 2022
Mr. Oh is the Co-Director of Development, Communications & Strategy at Teaching Preschool Partners. He also serves on the State Interagency Coordinating Council and the Every Child Belongs Advisory Committee. Mr. Oh’s work revolves around pedagogies that position teachers, children and families to have agency in transforming their systems and communities for the better. Prior to joining Teaching Preschool Partners, Mr. Oh worked for the Children’s Institute where he supported school districts in implementing and aligning their early education practices with older grades. He has also supported policy advocacy through sharing research. Prior to this work, Mr. Oh also worked to develop state professional standards for early educators and consulted with early childhood center across the state. With over 15 years of experience as a classroom teacher, Mr. Oh shares promotes joy and love for teaching in Oregon.
Fariborz Pakseresht, Director, Oregon Department of Human Services
Fariborz Pakseresht has been the Director of the Oregon Department of Human Services since September 2017. Mr. Pakseresht came to the Oregon Department of Human Services from the Oregon Youth Authority where he was responsible for the state's juvenile corrections agency. During his time at the Oregon Youth Authority, he was honored with the Outstanding Administrator Award from the Council of Juvenile Corrections Administrators for his leadership contributions in the field of juvenile justice. Earlier in his career, he served eight years with Oregon Department of Human Services in a variety of leadership roles. He also spend eleven years with the Oregon Department of Administrative Services.
Ruby Ramirez; Appointed October 2023
Ruby Ramirez was confirmed to the ELC in October 2023. Ms. Ramirez is a Program Officer, for Early Childhood Programs at Oregon Community Foundation. In this role, Ms. Ramirez is a relational bridge-builder and cross-system strategist passionate about equitable early learning opportunities and healthy early childhood development. Prior to joining Oregon Community Foundation, Ms. Ramirez worked as an early childhood policy strategy consultant and held several roles in non-profit administration, early childhood workforce professional development, and supporting families with early childhood mental halth services.
Marie Simonds; Appointed October 2023
Marie joined Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in 2012 and serves as the Executive Director of the newly named Bandon Dunes Charitable Foundation (BDCF), working to support a thriving South Coast of Oregon. Through the support of BDCF, she is actively engaged in regional conservation, economy, and community projects such as: trails and tourism development, Early Learning Hub and Childcare projects, workforce housing development, watershed support, and more. Her work on the Bandon Community Child Care project, the local shared services alliance, and workforce challenges have driven and motivated her to work for change in the systems surrounding childcare businesses. Prior to joining the Resort, Marie was the Executive Director of the Southwestern Oregon Community College Foundation where she led their fundraising efforts as well as served as the Men's and Women's golf coach.
Ex-Officio Members
- Ben Cannon, Director, HECC
- Andrea Bell, Director, OHCS
- Alyssa Chatterjee, Early Learning System Director, DELC
- Dr. Sejal Hathi, MD, Director, OHA
- Liesl Wendt, Director, ODHS
- Dr. Charlene Williams, Director, ODE