Our Staff

Lisa Pellegrino

Director
503-823-2939

Lisa has been with the Children’s Levy for 14 years. Before coming to the Levy, Lisa worked for the Portland Development Commission/ Portland Family of Funds on the agency's applications for New Market Tax Credits. Prior to that, she spent three years as the Policy Director for the Multnomah County Commission on Children, Families and Community, where she worked on policy initiatives in the early childhood and school-aged services arenas. Before entering the children's services world, Pellegrino was a part-owner of the Portland Pretzel Company for five years, and practiced law for four years in San Francisco. Lisa is PCL director and also oversees the After School and Hunger Relief grants. In her spare time, Lisa likes to be outside biking, hiking and walking the neighborhoods with her dog, cooking and hearing live music.

Meg McElroy

Assistant Director
503-823-2942

Meg has 20 years of public policy, project management, program implementation and research experience with a focus on children and families. Before moving to the Northwest, she worked with the Arizona Governor's Commission on Service and Volunteerism developing community-based service learning programs for school-age children. Meg has a Master in Public Administration from the University of Washington's Evans School, where she also worked as a research assistant with the Center on Reinventing Public Education. After graduating, she lived in Guatemala researching how to bring teen health programs to local communities. She has also worked as a substitute elementary school teacher and as an after-school teacher. Meg is PCL assistant director and also oversees the Levy’s grant portfolios of Early Childhood and Mentoring programs. In her free time, she enjoys visiting Oregon’s beautiful outdoors with her two young children, husband, and friends.

Lisa Hansell

Grant Manager
503-823-4133

Lisa has dedicated more than 25 years to improving the health, education, safety and wellbeing of children and families. Before joining the Children's Levy, she worked for the Multnomah County Commission on Children, Families and Community and the Health Department as the Child Abuse Prevention Coordinator where she worked with diverse partners to create the Community Safety Net. Prior to moving to the Northwest, Lisa was the executive director of the Del Norte Child Care Council, where she established several after-school programs, a teen parenting program and a co-op preschool. Lisa oversees the Child Abuse Prevention/Intervention and Foster Care programs. In her spare time, Lisa likes to spend time with family and friends, participate in Zumba and yoga classes, and relax at the beach.

Mary Gay Broderick

Communications and Outreach Director
503-823-2947

Mary Gay has more than 30 years of experience in journalism, public relations and marketing, including covering all aspects of education, children's issues, social services and public affairs. She was a reporter at five newspapers throughout the country, served as director of communications at a Denver school district and was marketing director of a Colorado engineering firm. Prior to coming to the Portland Children's Levy, she spent seven years in marketing and public relations for a wide array of medical, education, environmental and business organizations in Oregon. Mary Gay was a Kiplinger Fellow in Public Affairs Reporting at Ohio State University where she earned her Master's Degree in Journalism. She loves to travel, bike, ski and spend time outdoors with her family and shop with her girlfriends.

John Kelly

Fiscal and Administrative Specialist
503-823-2980

John has been at the Levy for over 9 years. Prior to joining the Portland Children's Levy, he worked as an accountant and auditor in Portland. John also has managed the operations of a small business and worked in program management in the nonprofit sector. He received his Master's Degree in Peace Studies from the Kroc Institute at the University of Notre Dame. He studied accounting at Portland State University.

John Coghlan

Community Outreach and Information Assistant
503-823-8735

John has more than 15 years of media production, social media strategy and digital marketing experience with a focus on issue advocacy and electoral campaigns. Born in Ireland, John studied Modern History and worked as a camera operator and editor, producing documentaries, commercials and news. Before joining the Children’s Levy in 2017, he led a small team in the planning and implementation of digital communications programs for a local political media agency. From congressional candidate races to statewide ballot initiatives, he’s managed more than 100 local, statewide and national digital campaigns and his favorites are always for issues related to young people and childhood education. Active in the local music scene and immigrant rights’ movement, in his spare time John enjoys traveling and producing short films for local non-profits and music festivals.