Lilli Lessey
President
Lilli was born and raised in Beaverton, Oregon and has worked for OEM on FEMA Public Assistance Covid grants since 2020. She graduated from Quest University Canada in 2017 with a Bachelor's of Arts and Sciences, with a focus on international relations and conflict studies. Her passion for labor organizing and peer support started young, attending rallies for the Oregon Education Association with her mom and sister during the 2008 economic crisis to fight for her mom's job as a middle school teacher.This led Lilli to get involved with Local 3241, first as a member, then as a steward until she was elected president in September 2023.
When she isn't working, Lilli enjoys spending time with with her husband and dog Junie, as well as baking for her coworkers and crocheting.
Tom Jenkins
Vice President
Tom Jenkins has been a Member of AFSCME Local 3241 since being hired at the Oregon Office of Emergency Management back in November 2020. Prior to being in our union, Tom was a Member of Forestry Local 629 at the Oregon Department of Forestry for over 6 years, having entered State Civil Service in September 2014.
Tom lives out in Astoria with his wife, Cara, and their daughter, Skye. The Jenkins family knows first-hand the importance of workers rights, representation, and the collectively-bargained benefits that have lifted thousands of Oregonians into the middle class. Their first winter in Oregon, Tom and his family were a single-income household, dependent on the PEBB-managed benefits to support their new lives in Salem. More recently, Cara's career outside of government service offers few paid Federal holidays, but Tom is able to enjoy the time off and take care of Skye when the schools also close for the day. These experiences stand out among numerous others that have helped define how Tom views the union as a direct, positive benefit to him and his family. This has also inspired Tom to look for ways to get more involved in the union to help other workers trying to balance their professional careers, their personal lives, and the dreams they all have traveled across the Oregon Trail to pursue.
Teresa Hofstrand
Council Representative
Teresa works in the Salem office with a strong team of great people. As a former State employee, she knows the ins and outs of public sector work, along with the benefits & challenges. After discovering a passion for strengthening worker's rights as a member leader, she started at AFSCME as a contract specialist working with state agencies, getting involved in bargaining and working closely with members.
In her free time Teresa likes to spend time at the coast and enjoys road trips!
Althea Rizzo
Steward
Althea Turner Rizzo holds a Ph.D. in Design and Human Environment from Oregon State University. Currently serving as the program coordinator for the Geologic Hazards Program at the Oregon Office of Emergency Management, Dr. Rizzo actively engages in efforts to mitigate the impact of disasters. Althea has collaborated with Dark Horse Comics, contributing to educational comic series such as "Without Warning!"—an initiative aimed at raising awareness about natural hazards like earthquakes and wildfires. She is a past President and current Steward for the local union and is union through and through.
Her extensive interests span the Merovingian period, disaster risk reduction, and material culture, showcasing a unique blend of academic and creative pursuits. You can often find Althea in her “permaculture blended with historical garden and can’t be arsed to weed right now” or engaged in artistic endeavors within her studio. As an avid historian and culture enthusiast, Althea remains actively involved in the Society for Creative Anachronism, contributing to the recreation of medieval arts and skills. She also has a YouTube channel where she talks on and on and on about historical fashions, sewing, having ADHD, and coffee. Lots of coffee.
Born into a family of ten, she takes pride in her role as a parent. Her daughter, Meghan, has followed a path in energy systems engineering and Althea is happily married to Luc, an IT professional code monkey.
Brian Tipsword
Steward
Brian Tipsword is a Native Oregonian, and a retired Navy veteran.
The Navy provided him with many opportunities for travel; fifteen countries on four continents & over thirty thousand nautical miles aboard ship making a lap around the planet on the USS Coral Sea CV-43 while part of VA-196 (the top attack squadron in the Navy in 1983).
Brian has been working in IT for 37 years, and with the State of Oregon for coming up on 10 years in July. He's been with OEM (Oregon Department of Emergency Management, formally Office of Emergency Management under the Oregon State Military Department) since August of 2019 and has enjoyed the people and the work immensely.
Brian was with SEIU and has just gone through their steward training prior to taking up his stewardship with Local 3241. He's looking forward to many more years with OEM and growing in his role as an AFSCME Local 3241 steward.
In his off time. Brian enjoys enjoy having adventures with my wife Liz as well as restoring his Volkswagens, riding his mountain bike, camping, scuba diving & just about anything to do with playing outside.