Past Events

Presentation Information:   As EWEB prepares for its next century of service, the utility is looking at modernizing technology and practices, including how we read customer meters for billing purposes.   As you may have heard, EWEB has launched a 'smart meter' pilot project at about 100 area homes.  The goal of the pilot is to test customer preferences toward specific smart meter technology, and better understand how participants utilize the energy usage and cost information available from these devices.  
 
While the pilot is underway, EWEB is beginning a broader community education effort to explain why utilities are moving towards this digital meter technology and potential customer benefits.  The hope is to have a process that's deliberate, thoughtful and transparent, and is an opportunity to hear what neighbors are thinking about the possible transition to smart meters.  If you are unable to attend, please visit www.eweb.org/smartmeters for more information.

We will also hear about great incentives and rebate programs for businesses, presented by Colleen Wedin of EWEB.

Bio: Jeannine Parisi is the Community and Local Government Outreach coordinator for EWEB.  In this position, she is the liaison between EWEB and other public agencies, and supports a variety of public engagement activities related to utility projects that directly impact community members. 

Jeannine is a 20+ year resident of Eugene, is a UO alum, and is currently serving her first term as a LRAPA Board member. 

Bio: Colleen Wedin, Energy Management Specialist III
Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB)

Colleen Wedin has worked in the public energy sector for 16 years, and has been at EWEB for more than 11 years. She is currently the lead for the solar electric programs at EWEB, as well as its Greenpower grant administrator. Colleen has lived in the Eugene area for 25+ years, is a lifelong Oregonian and a tri-athlete.

Lorraine Kerwood, Founder and Executive Director of NextStep is joining us for a great educational luncheon presentation! "Keeping Resources Local to Empower and Educate our Youth"
Kerwood will discuss how businesses can positively impact their bottom line while positively impacting our community's most marginalized populations.

About Lorraine and NextStep Recycling: Lorraine, now 50, grew up in a family of 11 children. Her childhood was rough in a number of ways, including the fact that school was always a struggle. Very early on, Lorraine was labeled a special education child, and the combination of all these things resulted in her never believing she had any intelligence, that she could ever "be" anything—or even that she could compete on an equal footing with other people.

After 25 years of working class jobs, Lorraine was injured in a car accident and was forced to retrain. Her family urged her to try college. Loraine resisted when she learned students had to use computers. The computer was a symbol of "what smart people" use—and this was a barrier to her understanding that she could be successful in school. During this time, Lorraine was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, which she reports was “one of the greatest moments in my life.” Suddenly, life made more sense. Before the diagnosis, “I spent years thinking I was stupid, inferior, and a danger to others. When I was diagnosed autistic, I discovered my intelligence and capabilities. For that, I am forever grateful”. After additional prodding by her family, she enrolled in an adult education computer class to see if she could learn how to use a computer.

Lorraine was fortunate to have had a patient and supportive teacher and discovered that, like others who fall on the Autistic Spectrum, the computer was very friendly and a great communication tool. To her shock and amazement, Lorraine ended up graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of Oregon, with a Bachelor's of Education degree in Family and Community Services. Degree in hand, she went to work as a Social Service Specialist in the Oregon Department of Child Welfare in 2000, out of a desire to help children who were in situations similar to those in her own life. Because of her own struggles, Lorraine has always been determined to do whatever she could to make life easier for other children than it was for her growing up. Technology ended up being the tool she needed.

MacRenewal, now called NextStep, was born. After her first computer died, Lorraine discovered she had a knack at fixing computers, and so she set about finding old ones, refurbishing them, and then gifting them to children and families who couldn’t afford to buy them—many of these recipients were the people with whom she was working at Child Welfare. She quickly discovered that demand, and need, was very high. She moved her "hobby" from her own single car garage into her mother-in-law's double car garage—but quickly outgrew that space as well. She found some other folks in her community who were refurbishing computers and had the desire to address the digital divide, but not the means to find community members who needed access to technology. She brought the hobbyists, the geeks, and those who needed computers together.

In 2004 she took a giant leap: she quit her job and moved her little enterprise out of the garage into a real warehouse. Lorraine continued to work on building services and programs to address the needs of the community and today NextStep is a thriving community service organization with 42 employees, 14 volunteer reuse ambassadors, an ongoing group of Lane County Master Recyclers, and hundreds of volunteers. NextStep now occupies over 43,000 square feet in three separate locations—much of which is training space for community members. To date, NextStep has trained over 8,500 individuals, many who are on the autism spectrum. Lane County, OR has one of the highest autism rates in the nation – one in every 97 children are diagnosed as having autism. NextStep has refurbished over 24,000 computers, placing technology locally, nationally, and internationally and recycled over 10,500,000 pounds of electronics waste.

Lorraine is a member of the DEQ Oregon E-Cycles workgroup and a City of Eugene Human Rights Commissioner. She is the Eugene Area Chapter Coordinator for the Reuse Alliance. She is a past co-founder and Board Member of the GreenLane Sustainable Business Network, a member of the Lane Community College Computer Information Technology Advisory Committee, and is a proud Lane County Master Recycler. Lorraine is a passionate advocate for people on the autism spectrum, for trauma survivors, and for people who experience disabilities. Lorraine believes that all people are brilliant, no matter what label they carry, and should be treated with respect and dignity.

GreenLane also welcomes Mija Andrade from MECCA for our Membership Spotlight Presentation.