Theresa Deibele
Program Officer
Or Email:
theresa
[at]
mmt [dot] org
What I do at MMT:
I investigate grant and PRI proposals, helping to create a full picture of the applicant, proposed project, and potential community impact for the Trustees to evaluate.
What was your life experience before you came to MMT and how does it contribute to your work at MMT?
I have a temperament shaped by my years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Chad. I taught mathematics, in French, and had to work hard to make abstract principles more concrete and accessible for my students. Peace Corps, and later work at Legal Aid of Cambodia, developed my resourcefulness and collaboration skills.
Next I earned joint MPA / JD degrees, and practiced public finance law for five years at Ater Wynne LLP in Portland. It was a great way to feed my nerdy love of research and writing, while helping clients raise funds for hospitals, highways, affordable housing and other public projects.
After working fifteen years with nonprofits—as employee, volunteer, legal consultant and/or board member— I crossed into nonprofit management in 2008. Working as Finance Director of ChristieCare, a local provider of children’s services, I gained insights to the management and financial challenges of nonprofits. Later I assisted the agency through organizational change and its merger with Youth Villages.
As I transition to MMT in 2012, I bring my deep curiousity and enthusiasm for the powerful work of the nonprofit sector.
What high school did you attend?
Clackamas High, in the Portland suburbs. Or as we fondly referred to it, Clackatraz.
When you graduated from high school, what did you want to be?
How long did you follow that plan, where did it lead?
I followed it a couple years into college, until I realized that I wasn’t suited to a freelance profession.
If I met my high school self, I would say:
Let yourself make mistakes.
What were your favorite extracurricular activities in high school? What did you do for fun?
Dance team with the Clackamas Cavalettes (we were much better than our name!). We performed in muddy football fields at halftime, marched through Rose Festival Parades, danced during Blazer games and were a powerhouse at state competitions. Even more than dancing, I loved hanging out with sixty teammates.
What was your favorite music to listen to?
A child of MTV, I was devoted to General Public, U2, Elvis Costello, The Go-Gos, Duran Duran, etc. Violent Femmes was my favorite live show.
Complete this sentence: In high school, among my classmates I was most likely to...
organize something—a fundraiser, a party, a service project, or a prank.
You don't know me unless you know this about me:
I enjoy writing letters to friends and send at least one per week. Hey, somebody has to keep the Post Office in business…
