The SAR Foundation Board
He and his wife have two children. His wife manages the education dIvision of a local non-profit organization here in Bend.
An avid outdoors-person, Andrew spends his time backcountry snowboarding, fly fishing, camping, mountain biking and enduro riding.
Andrew’s non-profit experience began at an arts organization benefiting terminally ill artists. Working as part of the staff, helped with all facets of the organization, including fundraising and events. He has also worked for and volunteered for several environmental nonprofits.
Andrew’s professional background has been focused on scaling, running and growing teams and organizations. Today he works as a Director at a Marketing Technology company. Working primarily with global B2B high tech companies, he helps high growth organizations scale their marketing and revenue efforts. His work touches all marketing channels, including virtual and physical events. He also owns a fabrication & design business here in Bend.
Bark has extensive non-profit experience having worked as the Director of Operations and Finance at the Oregon Natural Desert Association from 2006 until he stepped down in 2023. He remains a Trustee for a US-based Family Trust overseeing assets exceeding $300 million invested across multiple asset classes. He was appointed Trustee in 2005.
Prior to moving to Bend, the Browns lived in Bologna Italy, Perth Australia, and San Francisco. Bark holds a Juris Doctorate and a Masters in Taxation.
John holds a BS in Engineering and an MS in Forestry, and spent a 34 year career with the Procter & Gamble Company. His experience includes directing forestry and mill operations in Wisconsin, Florida and Pennsylvania. In addition he managed production operations, engineering, and greenfield site construction for the manufacture of P&G’s paper products in both the US and Europe.
John is a dedicated conservationist and was a founding board member of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative effort in Pennsylvania. His focus and passion was training timber harvesters and landowners on wise use of privately owned forests for both current and future generations. He still enjoys cutting and splitting his own firewood.
As an avid outdoorsman, John enjoys both resort & backcountry skiing, hiking, road biking, backpacking, rafting, fly fishing, and sport shooting. With the flexibility offered by retirement, he and Janet combine their love of travel with outdoor activities via RVing throughout the vast Western public lands.
John joined the Deschutes Country Sheriff’s SAR squad in 2019 and currently serves on the air-operations, snowmobile, and ground teams.
She is a graduate of the 2020 SAR Academy, represents the Medical and Snowmobile Teams, Academy Team Coordinator, Recruitment Coordinator, and Training Team Coordinator.
Outside of volunteering for DCSOSAR, she volunteers for Mt. Bachelor National Ski Patrol (NSP), runs a business offering marketing support, and loves riding her mountain bike when there is free time!
Sven was compelled to join the Deschutes County Search and Rescue Foundation board in 2025 and became an active volunteer responder after graduating from the 2026 SAR Academy.
Professionally, Laura brings extensive financial and development expertise to the board. She is a former Certified Financial Planner with 15 years of experience in banking, followed by a successful fundraising career at the High Desert Museum.
An active community leader, she has served on the boards of the Central Oregon Symphony, the Central Oregon Estate Planning Council which she co-founded, and volunteered with the Sisters Trail Alliance. She is also the principal harpist with the Central Oregon Symphony. Now retired, Laura lives on an acreage outside of Sisters with her husband, Paul, where she enjoys hiking, cross-country skiing, and of course, playing the harp.
Ed was able to continue his outdoor trips over the years, first with Claire in the northern mid-west, then with their 3 daughters in the mountains and on the rivers of Utah. More recently, Ed has led trips for friends and family in Utah, Wyoming, and Oregon. After moving here, he re-discovered his love of solo backpacking, and is focusing on exploring the Wallowa Mountains one week at a time.
Ed had always wanted to join a busy Search and Rescue organization, but his business travel schedule and family commitments made that impractical until his retirement. He graduated from the 2015 DCSAR Academy and currently serves on the Ground, Medical, and Air Operations teams. In late 2015, he joined the Foundation board as a Special Resource for our Speakers Bureau program.
Ed is Vice-Chairperson of the Central Oregon SCORE chapter and provides free mentoring and advising to local start-ups and small companies. He also volunteers as an Interpretive Ranger for Deschutes National Forest. In his spare time, Ed likes to run, ski, bike, fish, and hang out with his grandkids.
Outside of SAR Jacob works as a Network Engineer at a local datacenter, and loves to take advantage of everything Central Oregon has to offer in outdoor recreation!