IDA Oregon ♦ Board of Directors
Shelbe Park – President
Shelbe Park is a native Portlander and now lives in Vancouver Washington with her husband. She has two grown children. She became active in the Oregon branch of IDA when her daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia at age nine. Shelbe has served on the Board of Directors, as Vice-President, and two terms as President. Her daughter is now a successful engineer and Shelbe contributes that to the support she received from IDA. Shelbe is a full-time tutor for students with Dyslexia and believes that it is important to teach students with dyslexia to advocate for themselves. She is the mentor of the IDA Oregon Student Empowerment Group. She is in awe of the amazing students she has met and mentored.
Danielle Thompson – Immediate Past President
Danielle’s journey into dyslexia began when people she cared about found out they were dyslexic and she realized she needed to learn more. The more she learned of the science of dyslexia and the science of reading, the more she began to understand why many of her high school students continued to struggle with reading, writing, and spelling despite their best efforts over the years. A public high school teacher for over 20 years, and a dyslexia screener and tutor, Danielle joined the Board of Directors of IDA-Oregon Branch out of a desire to improve the life of the next struggling student in her classroom, as well as all students and adults with dyslexia, and to share best practices with the educators, parents, and professionals who want to learn more. Danielle also serves as the Pacific Region Representative at the International Dyslexia Association.
Jim Snyder – Vice President
Jim spent the last 17 years in the education field as a marketer and researcher working with educators around the world. He has presented at conferences throughout the world (EARCOS, CEESA, NESA, WAFLT, ACTFL, Fusion, and AAIE, QM Connect) speaking on how growth measures, longitudinal data, assessments and online course design can support educators. He spent 8 years with the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) focused on competency-based assessment for core content areas. and with Quality Matters since 2013 working to market quality assurance in online education to Higher Ed and K12 institutions. His focus is on expanding Quality Matters presence in K-16 education space.
Jim has a BA in physics and mathematics from Kenyon College, an MS in Physics from the University of Oklahoma and an MBA from Portland State University. He earned an Ed.D. in 2010 from George Fox University and his dissertation was on the use of audio in computerized adaptive assessments. In addition, since 2003, Dr. Snyder has been the director of the NW Education Cluster. The cluster is a collection of more than three dozen Portland area companies who meeting regularly, networking to learn about each other’s businesses, discover synergies, and explore the potential of the education/training industry as an economic driver for Portland and its metro area. From 2019 to 2023 Dr. Snyder was the Treasurer for the Oregon Branch of the International Dyslexia Association and in 2024 he became the Vice President. Jim is married with 2 kids and enjoys running and playing soccer in his free time.
Tanya Haas – Treasurer
Tanya Haas is a graduate of the University of California, Davis (BS) and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (MS), and has had the privilege of living and traveling around the world for both work and pleasure. As a proud mother of 2 boys with dyslexia provided first-hand experience of living and navigating the world (and public school) with learning differences. For the last 30 years Portland, Oregon has been home and Tanya’s mission is to help, educate and support the next family that finds themselves on a similar journey with dyslexia.
Myrna Soule – Secretary
Ebonee Bell – Director
Ebonee Bell graduated from Smith College with a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Language, and received her Master’s degree from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Ebonee has been an Amazon Diversity series speaker, a Multnomah County Black History Month speaker, and a speaker at the Tualatin Martin Luther King Day celebration. She has spoken at the Rosewood Initiative, the Tribute to Toni Morrison, and the Tribute to Ursula Leguin. She works for the Books2U literacy promotion program — a program that encourages reading for public school kids in the 3rd – 5th grades, and she provides library services to pre-adjudicated minors in juvenile detention. Ebonee has dedicated her career to advancing the education of children and youth through the various literacy initiatives she promotes locally and nationally. She believes that books have the power to change lives.
Jesse Cox – Director
Lynn Lamping – Director
Lynn became interested in learning about dyslexia when one of her four children struggled to learn to read, write, and memorize math facts. She discovered a genetic marker for dyslexia in her family history. Over the next decade, Lynn learned effective methods to help her child learn how to read, write, spell, and achieve success in math. She is a licensed K-12 Special Education Teacher in the state of Oregon. Lynn earned her Fellow Level with the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators (AOGPE) in November 2018, and her Structured Literacy/Dyslexia Specialist with the International Dyslexia Association. Lynn is the director and trainer for the Oregon Dyslexia Institute. She spends her time training Oregon teachers how to recognize dyslexia, understand the foundational skills of the English language, and how to intensify instruction to meet the needs of struggling readers, including dyslexia, in compliance with the Oregon State Approved Dyslexia Training.
Katie Vincent – Director
For more information on IDA Oregon…please email: info@orbida.org