Reflections from the Friends of Trees Staff

Hi there, I’m Colin. I’m the person who puts together these stories. You might have met me at an event, or seen a glimpse of me in a social media post, but for the most part I like to step back and let other people shine. As the Friends of Trees communications manager, I see it as my job to amplify other people’s voices.

My favorite thing about that is getting to talk to people. Everyone has a story. I asked our staff to contribute their own stories, to reflect on their time at Friends of Trees, to you all a little more of some of the people who have helped us reach the milestone of a million trees and native plants.

Why am I stepping (briefly) out from behind the curtain? Well, I figured it’s only fair to not just write an anonymous little intro. I wanted to tell you all, as Colin, that our staff is a truly special group of people. The passion you see is not a performance—they truly, deeply care about bringing people together to make their community a better place. And for all the staff members you meet out in the world, there are more behind the scenes who care just as much.

Talking to my teammates for this project has been one of the highlights of my own time at Friends of Trees and I’m so excited to share their inspiring words with you.

JENNY

Volunteer & Outreach Manager

I started volunteering with Friends of Trees when I was ten years old. I have memories of going to the Sunnyside neighborhood plantings every year for several years. We’d walk to the church where the event was staged from our house.

In my family it was important to be part of collective community service. It was part of our faith practice. We also did soup dinners and litter cleanups. I was most drawn to anything working outside with other people, to the point that I pursued an education and career in it.

After college, working as a grassroots organizer, I realized that I love working with people on important issues and collectively we can make a big impact. When I started working at Friends of Trees, I recognized the potential of making a collective impact alongside people from all walks of life. Having come from climate organizing, I remember being astounded working on an issue with a near universal connection to people. Trees are a powerhouse issue that overlaps with nearly everybody’s interests. .

I think it’s common for a lot of people to come to Friends of Trees for the trees and stay for the people. I was inspired by the mission and wanted to bring my community engagement skills. That’s still true. Every day is different. Every month is different. It’s never boring.

It’s a brilliant combination: to bring together the power of trees and the power of community. We don’t “use” volunteers. We intentionally build programming around community engagement. It’s a total privilege to maintain this value and identity within the organization.

You know what’s also a privilege? Helping people connect with trees and the landscape. It’s a human right and need in my opinion, to commune with plants. And people recognize that. In our volunteer surveys, so many people just say, “Heck yeah! I loved learning how to plant, and making a difference with plants.”

Some of my favorite moments are when people who know each other from somewhere else in life see each other at an event and reconnect. They get to recognize in each other that they both care about this thing. It makes you realize you’re not alone in caring.

MARIO

Neighborhood Trees Specialist, Washington County

I love the magic of an event. Separate lives coming together for one specific moment. Sometimes I get a feeling of helplessness with all that goes on in the world, but when people who wouldn’t have met or hung out together otherwise plant 50 trees in 3 hours, that’s magical.

One of the highlights of my time at Friends of Trees was at the Tigard Library, where we planted a model for a climate resilient urban forest. That’s the project I always wanted to do, showing what an urban forest can look like. We planted some really cool trees.

When I started as a Neighborhood Trees specialist, I was super interested in learning about trees. Tree identification, ecology, things like that. It turns out, I also get a lot of satisfaction in teaching. Tree walks are the most fun, seeing people have a lightbulb moment. For a while it was a little out of my comfort zone but it’s great to get the knowledge out.

I know firsthand that learning a tree fact can really set your life in a different direction. I remember when a friend first showed me a thimbleberry, told me to feel how soft the leaves are and to taste the berry. That set me off on my interest in botany.

I’ve loved working in urban forestry. You learn that native trees aren’t always suited to the urban environment. When you’re pulling from trees from around the world, you get to learn the history of the species. In a way, we’re building an arboretum of the world.

Washington County is the most diverse county in Oregon. It’s not just wealthy suburbs, and our work there really aligns with our tree equity goals. We’re establishing new programming, creating more intimate planting events. I get to meet people from all over the world.

LOREN

Green Space Specialist

I was drawn to Friends of Trees because of the longstanding and authentic commitment to serving our communities. When I was going through the application process, everyone I talked to remarked on how they knew about Friends of Trees, loved the work, etc. I was also set on getting back into the plant world of environmental stewardship and can’t think of a better place to combine my passion for plants with community engagement. I’ve loved my time here thus far largely because of the amazingly kind, supportive, nerdy, and passionate people who champion Friends of Trees’ efforts.

I love trees and feel especially connected to them because of their steady, wise presence. When I need a reset, I head into the woods to be with the trees—they’re some of the best emotional support you can get.

If you’re angry, you can push on them and they will hold that frustration and remain standing strong. If you’re sad you can sit beneath them and sob and they will hold you close and absorb your tears. I have been looking to them especially as beacons of hope and resilience in a scary world.

In just two months I have been able to make more connections in my community thanks to being at Friends of Trees. I met a neighbor on my street after years of living here because she saw my Friends of Trees truck parked out front and started a conversation. I’ve connected a number of volunteers at events to other community spaces, and meeting people all the time who want to be part of caring for our environment.

MEGAN

Deputy Director

I started volunteering with FOT in 2013 because I loved trees. Initially, it was all about the trees for me.

I showed up the morning of the planting. People were standing around, eating donuts and sipping coffee. It was that slightly awkward moment when people didn’t quite know what to expect or what they’d signed up for. Before long we sorted into our planting crews and I headed out to plant trees. I was on the bike crew, so we attached trailers to several of our bikes and loaded them up with trees. The joy (and whimsy!) of planting trees by bike still makes me smile. Our crew leaders led us through the planting process, and before long, we were all planting trees and laughing.

What sticks in my mind is not the planting part though, but the potluck after. We were planting hundreds of trees that day and all these volunteers had come out to help, many never having planted before and not knowing each other. After spending the morning planting trees with strangers, when the planting crews returned we would all sit together and share a meal of pizza and homemade dishes. Over that meal, we got to know each other a little bit.

Seeing this for the first time was what made me recognize the magic that Friends of Trees creates. We bring people together to do something positive in their community and to foster connection.

I may have originally volunteered for the trees, but it’s the people that have made me stay.

WINNIE

Neighborhood Trees Specialist, Salem

Before working at Friends of Trees, I first volunteered for a college class. After that, I kept coming back a few more times—sometimes on my own, sometimes with friends—and it was always such a fun and welcoming experience.

Fast forward to when the Neighborhood Tree Specialist role opened up in my hometown, Salem, OR—I was so excited! It gave me a chance to reconnect with parks and neighborhoods I grew up in, and explore some new ones too. The cherry on top was being able to visit my parents more often which are memories I will forever cherish.

I love working at Friends of Trees because it lets me stay connected to urban forestry, my community, and the present moments. It reminds me to slow down and enjoy the little things—like catching a beautiful sunrise on an early event morning, holding a hot steamy cup of coffee, and soaking up that classic PNW weather, rain and all.

ADAM

Neighborhood Trees Field Technician

14 years ago, I quit a corporate job doing GIS. I didn’t like the bottom-line-oriented philosophy, and I quit without having anything lined up. I started volunteering at a farm and garden store, and at an urban farm. Both of those volunteer experiences turned into paying jobs, and that was how I transitioned into doing physical work and growing things. It turns out I really liked it. It felt good.

Through my work at the urban farm, I met a Friends of Trees employee who told me about a part-time field tech job. The 2018 planting season was my first. I quickly found I enjoyed the work and the people, and had an inkling that this job wasn’t going to be short term for me. Sure enough, I joined the staff full time in 2019.

It was a combination of timing and luck that brought me here. Maybe it was a make your own luck situation.

I started doing the work in the job description, and then I kept doing more, using some of my other skills and experiences. I like that at Friends of Trees we have the opportunity to do lots of different things. I like being helpful. I like that feeling. It’s a core value at Friends of Trees that people are not just their jobs. That’s not something I found to be true in some of my corporate jobs.

I don’t consider myself that much of a tree person. Don’t get me wrong, I like them a lot. I like that there’s so much to know about them. I like what Friends of Trees has taught me about them— that they bring people together. People want to get their hands dirty and be able to say, I planted that. A tree you planted is a reminder that you’re part of the place. They’re a link between the human world and the natural world.

As a field tech, I feel like I’ve gotten to know the whole metro area really well, seeing what places are really like, places I might not have gotten to know otherwise.

It’s really satisfying to make the swirling chaos of the week come together into an organized event where people have fun and plant trees.

My favorite part of the job is at the end of the event day when we’re back at the office, after we’ve unloaded, and I look around at the people I work with and think, I just really like working with these people. To work with people you like and respect, and to feel that they like and respect you, it’s so valuable.

TAYLOR

Eugene-Springfield Program Manager

For the last decade (what!?) I’ve been working with FOT. I have not only helped trees take root, but I’ve also rooted myself into the community of Eugene-Springfield. I moved to Eugene in 2013 and started volunteering with FOT in 2014.

The best part of the job is seeing the growth over time. Of the trees that establish and provide shade, habitat, and food for people and wildlife, and of the community members that join us each season. So much has changed. Like how Oregon white oaks are our top-planted tree now. That definitely wasn’t true when I started!

I’ve had so many cool experiences with folks that have just moved to the area seeking connection and with long time community members that share a plethora of local history. New folks hear of us through word-of-mouth, and that says a lot. People are talking about us!

There’s a group of physicians who come out every spring for four or five years now. They’re so nice, so hardworking, and have a great sense of humor. They might not be the people you’d expect to show up so reliably each year, but they are. It’s really cool. The joy of being outdoors is common ground for people here.

We have planted for some rad Eugene and Springfield residents including the current mayor of Springfield, one of the owner and founding members of Ninkasi Brewing, and the late UO track Olympian Wade Bell. I’ve also planted with folks that grew up near where some of us staff members are from including West Texas (me), Chicago (Jeff), and Orlando/Florida (Becca).

My favorite memories are just the fun times, the goofing around. Getting to meet cool people. Becca lounging in a debris pile after a pruning event. Sitting on the back of a truck bed and chatting at the end of a planting event. That’s the best.

CHRISTINE

Neighborhood Tree Specialist & Education Coordinator

When I moved to Oregon in 2013, I immediately felt a sense of peace and knew I had found home. I went to college in Salem and first volunteered with Friends of Trees in 2014. I thought it was a perfect opportunity because I wanted to be outside as much as possible and make new friends. I loved dragging friends to plantings on an early Saturday morning (which is an especially big feat in college). I still do that to this day, but now I work at Friends of Trees!

There is something so special about the tangible good we all do together at weekend plantings. I’ve been a Neighborhood Trees Specialist since 2021 and have probably coordinated the planting of close to 1000 trees over that time. I coordinate all those trees, yet it’s really the people I hold close. I hold a place in my heart for the crew leaders whose first planting event was the first event I led in Oregon City. I cherish the crew leaders who come week after week and always send awesome photos of their crews. I smile when I think about the high school honors society students who come to almost all of my plantings and plant trees like professionals.

I think fondly of my friends who have chosen to spend their Saturdays supporting one of my planting events. My college roommate who came with me to my first Friends of Trees planting in 2014 even visited from Boston in 2024 and came to one of my plantings. It really felt so full circle!

I get to teach others and share this special organization with so many. I remember the elementary students I worked with at Scott Elementary, the high schoolers at Helensview, and the preschoolers at Clarendon. I love working with tiny planters who are so excited to plant their first tree. The planting of that first tree is something they will probably remember for the rest of their lives and I get to be part of that!

Plus, I do this all with coworkers who I love planting with, singing karaoke with, and celebrating trees with. I know I have lifelong friends through many of the connections I’ve made through Friends of Trees.

It’s a one-of-a-kind place and we could honestly make a TV show out of all the shenanigans that goes on in our little house office in NE Portland. I wouldn’t have it any other way! There is so much care for the community in the hearts of the people who work at and volunteer with Friends of Trees.

CECE

Volunteer & Outreach Program Specialist

When I was attending PSU, I joined a Latina-founded sorority, Kappa Delta Chi, inc., KDChi for short. KDChi is a multicultural sorority that focuses on Academics and Service. One of my positions through my collegiate chapter, Beta Mu, was being the service officer. It was up to me to come up with different service events for my sisters and through a volunteer expo is how I learned about Friends of Trees.

Because PSU has a lot of commuter students, we had sisters who lived in several different areas where Friends of Trees hosted events. Naturally, no pun intended, it was a great fit! With the diversity of neighborhoods and natural areas Friends of Trees plants, we were able to contribute to many of our sister’s neighborhoods, where they grew up, currently lived or had a special memory of the area. After events, we would often go out to eat together at someone’s favorite local restaurant.

Looking back it’s definitely a fond memory of mine to go out planting and mulching with my sorority sisters. It was fun to work on something together, being out in nature, finding earthworms, breathing the fresh air and getting muddy. Many of us both worked and went to school full time and being at a planting event felt like a form of escapism from our busy lives and work.

Service is a core value of the sorority, and for me personally. Since graduating, I am still connected to that community, I am now part of our local alumni chapter and still do community outreach, now for my alumni chapter, and yes, we have planted together in one of our alumni sister’s neighborhood.

When I meet people at Friends of Trees events, everyone has a different reason for being there. It’s endearing to find out their motivations for being there and why they are choosing to spend either a Saturday or several Saturdays with us. There’s a wide variety of volunteers, from students completing service hours to tree recipients wanting to chip in.

For many, it’s just because.

A lot of what I had growing up came from volunteers and charities. I give back because I was able to benefit from kindness and the generosity of others. Other organizations have a more obvious direct service, which is great. With Friends of Trees, we’re making sure our neighborhoods are a better place to live for future generations. It’s humbling to see and meet folks who are involved in that type of service.

JILLIAN

Neighborhood Tree Specialist, Washington County

I’ve had such a wiggly journey through different positions! I started working at Friends of Trees in 2022 as a part-time field tech. I was in grad school and writing my thesis, then I started helping with the volunteer and outreach program. Now I’m a fulltime neighborhood trees specialist.

Sometimes I miss my days as a field tech. Going around neighborhoods and prepping for an event, for that week, I felt like I lived in that neighborhood. I got to interact with tree recipients in person. That was at a time when folks were really seeking reconnection. People were eager to share their gardens with me. Each interaction was a little treat.

I’ve never had a planting event go exactly as I imagined. That would take away from the specialness of it. When things don’t necessarily go as planned, that’s how we learn what’s important to that community. There’s not a blanket tree planting event that would cover everywhere with.

At my Forest Grove planting this spring, I remember driving in, not knowing what to expect, just thinking, “Okay, it’s gonna happen.” Then, everything was smooth sailing. There was a beautiful sunrise. It was a crisp sunny January day. Volunteers were receptive to talking about climate change. We had all the trees we needed. Driving away, I was thinking, “that was great.”

My favorite part about the job is that I can show up how I am and so many people are so down with it. We’re organized, we care about what we do, and we’re real people. Doing the work we do, it would be really hard to compartmentalize yourself.

After I finished grad school, the staff threw me a party. It meant a lot to me to be supported in both a personal and professional way. I’m incredibly grateful to be fostered by this community.

ADELA

Neighborhood Trees Specialist, Vancouver

I’ve made some of my dearest friends through my work at Friends of Trees. Friendships that transcend the pieces of our identities that sometimes segment us, put us into boxes – these relationships are intergenerational, interracial, intercultural. This work is about the trees, of course, but really it’s about so much more than that. It’s the people that have rooted me here.

I came to Friends of Trees after moving across the country—uprooting my life and community to take a chance on a city I’d never visited before, but heard a lot about.

This tree community was a soft landing pad for me – I’m forever grateful that my roots landed in this particular forest, because the soil is so rich, and the trees grow tall and proud.

LITZY

Community Tree Care Coordinator

I first worked with Friends of Trees as a volunteer in 2012. I was a crew leader, a pruning leader, a summer inspector, and I worked as a Friday volunteer, helping staff move trees to the staging site. I was drawn in by the sincerity of the staff and how they made me feel special as a volunteer. That’s still a central thread of what we do.

I started as a canvasser in 2014, during which time I got to see Portland on the ground, garden by garden. It connected me to the plants and trees of the community. In January 2016, I started as a full time staff member.

My time at Friends of Trees has really taught me to appreciate working with people. Having all those interactions over the years—witnessing the joy that people feel when they learn something, navigating the complexity of guiding and teaching.

That connection with people—both the staff and the public—is the most fulfilling part of the job. It’s what makes this job so special. We’re so lucky to get to be in partnership with the community itself. One-on-one conversations with people really fill my cup with joy and contentment. I had felt that before the pandemic, and now I really feel it.

During the pandemic, I remember helping someone plant trees at their house. They really wanted to learn. We were doing this physical thing together, we were connecting during a turbulent time, and we were talking about trees, which I love to do. Since then, I have felt really tuned in to moments like that.

I’ve been here a long time. It’s like a microcosm of my life. I’ve had the opportunity to grow, adapt, and change along with the organization and the people who work here.

KAITIE & CHRISTINE

Program Specialists, Friends

Christine and Kaitie first met in 2019 at a mutual friend’s dinner party, and quickly bonded over their passion for the environment. Kaitie had been working at the Bureau of Land Management and Christine was finishing her second AmeriCorps term as an Environmental Education and Outreach leader. After just one bowl of pho, they knew they were going to be fast friends.

After just this one meeting, they decided to become roommates when Christine moved to Portland later that year. They spent their weekends squeezing every drop out of life. They began spending their days camping, hiking, and even volunteering at Friends of Trees together! Friends of Trees combines two of their favorite things–being outside and building community!

They lived apart for a couple years, but decided to live together again during Christine’s first season as a Neighborhood Trees Specialist at Friends of Trees. Kaitie came to Christine’s plantings and crew led–planting trees like a pro! The following year, Kaitie started working at Friends of Trees as a Green Trees Specialist.

The two specialists are part of different programs and sometimes get to collaborate on educational projects and even occasionally carpool to work. They both share a deep care for other people and nature as well as the shared goal of maximizing the day. The two of them are usually the first to volunteer to plan or attend a fun social event with coworkers. It’s pretty rare to spend so much time with someone and want to continue hanging out with them! They live together, work together, and even travel together. They celebrate successful planting seasons by traveling in the summer to countries like Guatemala and Colombia. Their excitement for creating connections comes out even more when they are traveling internationally.

Kaitie and Christine have planted dozens of shrubs and trees together and they’re always doing it with a smile. This organization has brought so many core memories and inspiring people into their lives. It’s so special to be part of a friendship that supports growth in each other while supporting the planting of the millionth tree!