Meet the ToolBox Project's Board of Directors
Celeste Peterson, Board President
Favorite tool: The pressure washer at the library is something I look forward to using every spring. It's so satisfying to blast the moss and dirt from the Oregon winter off my patio and driveway. It's cathartic!
Favorite DIY project: My whole house! Recently, I've replaced interior doors, painted walls and installed a new kitchen backsplash in my home. I have a long list of future projects planned.
Why I wanted to get involved with the ToolBox Project: Besides the fact that I've personally experienced the rewards and empowerment of accomplishing DIY repairs myself with the help of the tools at ToolBox Project, I also believe in the power of sharing resources to decrease consumption, save money and space in our homes, and connect with our neighbors. The friends I've been making at the tool library are enriching my life.
Favorite tool: The pressure washer at the library is something I look forward to using every spring. It's so satisfying to blast the moss and dirt from the Oregon winter off my patio and driveway. It's cathartic!
Favorite DIY project: My whole house! Recently, I've replaced interior doors, painted walls and installed a new kitchen backsplash in my home. I have a long list of future projects planned.
Why I wanted to get involved with the ToolBox Project: Besides the fact that I've personally experienced the rewards and empowerment of accomplishing DIY repairs myself with the help of the tools at ToolBox Project, I also believe in the power of sharing resources to decrease consumption, save money and space in our homes, and connect with our neighbors. The friends I've been making at the tool library are enriching my life.
My Background: My background varies from being a nonprofit fundraiser and for-profit business manager, dance improvisation teacher, seamstress, mom and pet-lover. I am the Director of People Development at Palo Alto Software. The business planning tools provided by this Eugene-based company help businesses and nonprofits around the world succeed.
Arwen Davis, Board Member
Favorite Tool: My design notebook. In our family, I'm often the one who is the creative energy. I love designing, drawing, and imagining what can be.
Favorite DIY project: We are what we referred to jokingly as a cat-forward home, with four feline friends living with us. As such, Christmas trees don't last long for us (minutes or maybe even hours instead of days or weeks). Together with my husband, we designed and built a low footprint wooden tree that allows me to display my ornaments, and during the off season serves as a way to display photos of our family.
Why I wanted to get involved with the ToolBox Project: As a Eugene newcomer, I wanted to find a way to meaningfully contribute to the area and to get to know my neighbors. As members of the living small community, I can't imagine a better way to be involved - reducing our overall ownership of material goods, while encouraging community building, creative works, and all around working with hands and hearts.
My background: I currently work in my hardest and most rewarding job to date, as Mama to my wonderful toddler, Ender, and those four adorable cats, and as wife to my favorite husband, Tom. In my previous life as a career-woman, I served as a operations and programs director for a relatively large nonprofit in an economically disadvantaged area of the Greater Pittsburgh region. I earned both my undergrad and graduate degrees from the University of Pittsburgh in areas focusing on nonprofit and government management.
Favorite Tool: My design notebook. In our family, I'm often the one who is the creative energy. I love designing, drawing, and imagining what can be.
Favorite DIY project: We are what we referred to jokingly as a cat-forward home, with four feline friends living with us. As such, Christmas trees don't last long for us (minutes or maybe even hours instead of days or weeks). Together with my husband, we designed and built a low footprint wooden tree that allows me to display my ornaments, and during the off season serves as a way to display photos of our family.
Why I wanted to get involved with the ToolBox Project: As a Eugene newcomer, I wanted to find a way to meaningfully contribute to the area and to get to know my neighbors. As members of the living small community, I can't imagine a better way to be involved - reducing our overall ownership of material goods, while encouraging community building, creative works, and all around working with hands and hearts.
My background: I currently work in my hardest and most rewarding job to date, as Mama to my wonderful toddler, Ender, and those four adorable cats, and as wife to my favorite husband, Tom. In my previous life as a career-woman, I served as a operations and programs director for a relatively large nonprofit in an economically disadvantaged area of the Greater Pittsburgh region. I earned both my undergrad and graduate degrees from the University of Pittsburgh in areas focusing on nonprofit and government management.
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Paul Wilson, Board Member and Operations Committee Chair
Favorite Tool: Soldering iron: Without my trusty baby blue 25 watt Weller iron, repair projects from planers and accordions to clocks and music synthesizers would be impossible. Favorite DIY Project: My all purpose AC/DC work bench power supply. Why I wanted to get involved with the ToolBox Project: In my retirement, I wanted to be involved in something that adds value to the community and to the physical environment. The ToolBox Project does both by providing our community with access to good quality tools at low cost, and by giving the earth a break from the endless resource extraction required for the manufacture of new tools for every consumer. As an adherent to the reduce/reuse/recycle philosophy, I feel like the ToolBox Project is an integral piece of the 3R puzzle. |
My Background: After a childhood on an Oklahoma farm, I studied Aeronautical Engineering Technology at Oklahoma State University, a field in which I was never employed. A somewhat short first career in radiopharmaceutical manufacturing (Texas) was followed by a second and longer career in radiological environmental remediation (New Mexico), and finally, a 21 year career as Facilities Manager for the large, local biotech company. After retirement and volunteer stints at Ophelia’s Place and ShelterCare, I finally landed at the ToolBox Project. Besides my term on the ToolBox Project board, I am a member of the Operations Committee, and work intermittently as a tool librarian and tool repairman.
Neil Mark Harvey, Board Member
Favorite Tool: Cider press. I am originally from England and grew up in the southwest of the country, known for its cider.
Favorite DIY Project: I like small projects of various kinds, fixing things and avoiding the need to replace them.
Why I wanted to get involved with the ToolBox Project: Initially, I lived directly across the street from the tool library and wanted to get involved in something that contributed to my neighborhood and the surrounding area. I have enjoyed seeing the benefits of community tool sharing in bringing the community together, providing low cost access to tools and reducing consumption. As someone who has lived most of his life in apartments, I also appreciate knowing tools of all kinds are available to those with limited options for storage.
My Background: I spent my childhood in Wiltshire, England. After gaining a psychology degree, I worked with adults and children with cognitive disabilities and severe challenging behavior for many years. I then spent almost a decade working on a large-scale, longitudinal study of twins assisting the director with administration, logistics, and grant applications. Life led me to Eugene, where I became a real estate agent with InEugene Real Estate. I have served as a volunteer tool librarian, on various committees, and am currently both a board member and member of the fundraising committee. I am also a business sponsor of this amazing community resource.
Favorite Tool: Cider press. I am originally from England and grew up in the southwest of the country, known for its cider.
Favorite DIY Project: I like small projects of various kinds, fixing things and avoiding the need to replace them.
Why I wanted to get involved with the ToolBox Project: Initially, I lived directly across the street from the tool library and wanted to get involved in something that contributed to my neighborhood and the surrounding area. I have enjoyed seeing the benefits of community tool sharing in bringing the community together, providing low cost access to tools and reducing consumption. As someone who has lived most of his life in apartments, I also appreciate knowing tools of all kinds are available to those with limited options for storage.
My Background: I spent my childhood in Wiltshire, England. After gaining a psychology degree, I worked with adults and children with cognitive disabilities and severe challenging behavior for many years. I then spent almost a decade working on a large-scale, longitudinal study of twins assisting the director with administration, logistics, and grant applications. Life led me to Eugene, where I became a real estate agent with InEugene Real Estate. I have served as a volunteer tool librarian, on various committees, and am currently both a board member and member of the fundraising committee. I am also a business sponsor of this amazing community resource.
Isabelle Le, Board Member
Favorite Tool: Scissors - practical, handy, and so versatile.
Favorite DIY Project: Building our outdoor garden area from a collection of found and given shelving, tools, coverings and plants. It started as a couple pots and my insistence that my partner help me figure out where I could install a pegboard but now it's grown. All the puns intended!
Why I wanted to get involved with the ToolBox Project: I wanted to learn how to repair things so I wouldn't have to keep buying things and contributing to waste. I wanted to use some tools that I don't own. I wanted to get inspired by my community, meet my neighbors, and get some help on projects. The ToolBox Project is the perfect space for that, and I hope to support their efforts to get tools, resources and skills into the hands of more people.
My Background: I grew up in Hawaii, where I learned about sustainability and community responsibility from Kanaka Maoli culture. I studied at Pitzer College in California, and learned the importance of empowering our communities and our selves, by working with and learning from people in the institution and the surrounding neighborhoods. After graduation, I taught at a high school in Miami with AmeriCorps, where I got to put these skills to the test in a completely new environment. Now I live in Eugene, where I work in Human Resources at Emergence. If the common thread through my life is trying to learn skills and share them with my community, along with the tools to be able to use them, then I believe the ToolBox Project is a great place to be. Ask me about my plants, cats or fish!
Favorite Tool: Scissors - practical, handy, and so versatile.
Favorite DIY Project: Building our outdoor garden area from a collection of found and given shelving, tools, coverings and plants. It started as a couple pots and my insistence that my partner help me figure out where I could install a pegboard but now it's grown. All the puns intended!
Why I wanted to get involved with the ToolBox Project: I wanted to learn how to repair things so I wouldn't have to keep buying things and contributing to waste. I wanted to use some tools that I don't own. I wanted to get inspired by my community, meet my neighbors, and get some help on projects. The ToolBox Project is the perfect space for that, and I hope to support their efforts to get tools, resources and skills into the hands of more people.
My Background: I grew up in Hawaii, where I learned about sustainability and community responsibility from Kanaka Maoli culture. I studied at Pitzer College in California, and learned the importance of empowering our communities and our selves, by working with and learning from people in the institution and the surrounding neighborhoods. After graduation, I taught at a high school in Miami with AmeriCorps, where I got to put these skills to the test in a completely new environment. Now I live in Eugene, where I work in Human Resources at Emergence. If the common thread through my life is trying to learn skills and share them with my community, along with the tools to be able to use them, then I believe the ToolBox Project is a great place to be. Ask me about my plants, cats or fish!