A career-long nonprofit educator and administrator, Executive Director Andrew Mason has worked extensively with marginalized communities in the Portland metro area. Previously, in his role as Executive Director for Open School, he successfully diversified teams at every level of the organization and created significant academic gains for students who struggled in mainstream schools.

What drew Andrew to Willamette Falls was its power to connect people, creatures, plants and stories, and its continual invitation — over millennia — to diverse peoples, wildlife, flora, and fauna to learn to work together. As the first official staff member of the Trust, Andrew worked with local Tribes, communities, and other key constituents to build a strong foundation for this profound project. Andrew resigned in October of 2023 after helping to onboard the Trust’s new President, Kate Brown.

The stories of Indigenous people who have called Willamette Falls home since time immemorial lead Andrew to believe there is no place west of the Mississippi with a more powerful stage to explore how people gather, have gathered, and will continue to gather into the future than Willamette Falls.