Our Team
Building community is at the heart of everything we do.
Laura Spidell
Executive Director, EngAGE Northwest
Laura has a Master's in Urban and Regional Planning from Portland State University. She worked as a city planner in California, focusing on community planning and housing accessibility, before moving to Portland, Oregon. Laura has also been involved with the Alzheimer’s Association and has served her community as a volunteer through her neighborhood association, farmer’s market, and her children’s school.
Shana Allen
Program Director
Shana has been a Qualified Mental Health Associate since 2019. She was born and raised in St. Helens, OR, and worked for the St. Helens School District for the last five years using a trauma-based approach to support students. Shana currently volunteers as the President of the local softball organization and is passionate about giving back to her community.
Letitia Alvarado
Program Director
Letitia is a native Oregonian and a graduate of Portland State University with a BA in Public Health Community Promotion and a minor in Child, Youth, and Family Studies. She has extensive experience working with both children and older adults, having worked in elementary schools and handled case management at senior homes and health clinics. In her spare time, she enjoys going on walks with her dog, reading, trying new recipes and hobbies, visiting new places, and spending time with family and friends.
Pauline McCourt
Program Director
Pauline has worked as an educator in Portland Public Schools for twenty years and as a classroom teacher and community service coordinator in private education for over ten years. Additionally, she was an educational director for The Meadow Day School, an early learning facility. Pauline was the founder and, for ten years, director of Kids for Kenya, a nonprofit that provided educational service trips to Kenya. She also has been a volunteer and educator for nonprofits providing services in gardening, food security, and shelter support for people experiencing homelessness.
Tim Carpenter
CEO/Founder, EngAGE
Tim founded EngAGE in 1999 to provide creative, wellness, and lifelong learning programming to older adults living in affordable apartment communities. To fully realize his goals, he subsequently developed the EngAGE Arts Colony model: communities built from the ground up to offer high end arts amenities and programs, at first for elders and now also for families. Tim has spoken about this transformative EngAGE model across the U.S. and internationally in Canada, Scotland, Ireland, Amsterdam, New Zealand, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
He also served as host/producer of the Experience Talks public radio show on KPFK-Los Angeles for sixteen years and, subsequently, a ZoomCast in 2020/21. The show highlighted the value of experience and the significant contributions of older people to our society.
Tim has received numerous honors for his work as a social entrepreneur, including an Ashoka Fellowship, a James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award, a Stanton Fellowship from the Durfee Foundation, and a Durfee Sabbatical Fellowship. He was also named one of Next Avenue’s Influencers in Aging. In 2020, Tim was appointed to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s task force on Alzheimer’s to create solutions in the aging arena in the state.
He is an Advisor to The Purpose Xchange, based in London.
Tim is an alumnus of San Francisco State College.
Nancy Goodhart
Chief Operations Officer, EngAGE
Nancy supports operations and staff, supervises programs, and works closely with developers and partners. She has taught at the K-12 through adult school levels and has directed many recreational and educational programs for both municipal and private organizations. Nancy holds a bachelor’s degree in Recreation Program Planning/Physical Education from the University of Maryland and a teaching credential from Cal State Long Beach in Physical Fitness, Health and Safety for Older Adults. She is also certified in Falls Prevention Training.