Oregon Public Performance Improvement Association
Interested in joining the OPPIA Board?
Read the Communications Chair Member Role Description | Read the General Board Member Role Description
Fill out the Prospective Board Member Questionnaire and submit to oregon.oppia@gmail.com
...since you cannot improve what you cannot measure.
OPPIA Board Members
Vice Chair
Andrea Comer
Change Management Practitioner, Oregon Department of Education
Andrea's love for process improvement began when she started working for state government in 2013. Over the last decade she has spent time at Oregon Judicial Department, Department of Transportation, and Department of Education. Much of her public service has been spent aligning the work of various programs, projects, councils, and advisory groups to execute their mission and maximize overall effectiveness for the communities they serve.
Andrea is a Change Management Practitioner, Certified Continuous Improvement Manager, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, and a trained Facilitator.
Board Chair
Brandon Cobb
Operational Improvement Leader, Oregon Department of Education
Brandon started his career in state government in 2009. Several of these years were spent working in DHS and OHA, where he provided training and coaching on Lean methodologies of continuous improvement. He has managed various continuous improvement projects helping teams to define their purpose, develop meaningful metrics, and set performance measures.
Brandon is passionate about helping state government find ways to improve its operations, no matter how complex the system might be. He believes that anyone, regardless of their position title can find ways to make processes better. In his spare time, Brandon enjoys spending time with his family and coaching high school football.
Past Chair
Ken Smith, PhD
School Accountability Group
Kenneth "Ken" Smith began his professional journey in Indiana as an Accountant with non-profit organizations focused on food and medical assistance in the mid-1980’s. He began teaching Accounting at the College level in 1989 and recently retired from Central Washington University after serving as the Department Chair from 2016 to 2019. In 2015 he was elected to the Northshore School Board, the 10th largest district in the state of Washington, just north and east of the city of Seattle and served until 2017.
He focuses on measuring the financial and non-financial performance of government and nonprofit organizations and is interested in how these organizations use information and communicate amongst one another. Ken was President and Co-founder of the Institute for Better Governance, past President of the Association of Government Accountants-Seattle Chapter and a co-founder of Oregon Public Performance Improvement Association in 2005.
You can read some of his published papers at the [link will leave this site] Social Science Research Network.
Treasurer
Matt Rosen
Continuous Improvement Manager, Oregon Youth Authority
Secretary
Renée House
Procurement & Continuous Improvement
Oregon Department of Education
Renée began working for the Oregon Department of Education in 2016. During this time she has worked with many offices within the agency to improve upon and create new processes in an online and collaborative environment. In 2022 she became Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certified and started to lead continuous improvement projects to implement process improvements within the Procurement team. She enjoys collaborating with others and is passionate about collecting data in a meaningful way and using it to inform change.
Renée enjoys getting lost in a good book, exploring new cuisines, and discovering the plentiful hiking opportunities within Oregon.
Communications Chair
Vacant
Matt has worked with and for government agencies since 2006 to utilize data in answering two critical questions: “Are we doing the work we said we would do?” and “Are we having the impact we expect our work to have?” As the Continuous Improvement Manager for the Oregon Youth Authority, Matt administers OYA’s Performance Management System, a core component to achieve positive youth outcomes by monitoring key processes throughout the agency, tracking their outcomes, and developing improvement plans as needed. Prior to working in state government, Matt served in several non-profits where he engaged his analytical and advocacy skills to improve and promote person centered services and supports to children; neighbors experiencing homelessness; and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Though originally from the suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri, Matt and his family move to Oregon in 2017 from Washington, DC. Matt regularly takes advantage of our amazing natural resources and is an emerging long-distance triathlon racer and whitewater kayaker.