Adam Lane: Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance

Apr 15

Welcome to Terwilliger Plaza. Can you talk about your role as the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance?

My portfolio includes budgeting, forecasting, accounting, reporting, and long-term financial planning and strategy. I’m also responsible for managing the annual audit, insurance, and Information Technology. I work closely with the Finance Committee of the Board. The committee chair, Dick Teusch, who is also a resident Member at Terwilliger Plaza has a fantastic depth of financial experience and is a strong partner. It’s great working with people who are so talented and experienced.

Prior to Terwilliger Plaza you were the CFO at Prosper Portland, and previous to that spent over a decade at Ecotrust. However, you first started in the for-profit sector. What has been your path to Terwilliger Plaza?

I earned my undergraduate degree in mathematics and economics from Pomona College, and my first job was working at PriceWaterhouseCoopers until I went to Stanford University for my MBA. After business school, I worked at Intel for six years before making the transition to the nonprofit sector.

What influenced your decision to move into the nonprofit sector?

My early for-profit experience at Intel and PwC provided great training grounds to learn the basics of my trade. But there came a time at Intel when I recognized that the work I was doing wasn’t my passion. I decided that I wanted to make a shift away from positions where my primary goal was maximizing shareholder value. There are many wonderful for-profit organizations, run by very talented people. However, the profit motive will always win out because that is how those companies are structured. I had a set of skills that could be broadly applied and I decided, about 25 years ago, that I wanted my efforts to be in service of something bigger than monetary profits. I wanted to do something that was mission-based, people-centric and aligned with my values.

This decision brought you to Ecotrust?

When I began at Ecotrust it really felt like a homecoming. Based here in Portland, Ecotrust is a collaborative nonprofit recognized internationally for its work with community members and organizations toward a vision of an equitable, prosperous, and climate-smart future.

It was at Ecotrust that I was able to apply the technical skills that I had developed in strategy, accounting, reporting and project management for an organization whose values aligned with mine. Also, because it was a small organization my portfolio, in addition to financial management, had broad responsibilities including information technology and human resources, event management and facilities which I loved.

From Ecotrust, you then worked at Prosper Portland.

After 17 years at Ecotrust, I took the position of CFO at Prosper Portland. Another dynamic organization that fueled my passion. Prosper Portland is the city’s economic development agency serving the city and its residents, focused on building an equitable economy. During my time there I worked on their ten-year sustainability plan. This job allowed me to continue to develop both my strategic and tactical skills.

What drew you to the position here at Terwilliger Plaza?

My father died in February 2024. I was the only family that he had here in Portland and I was his primary support. I wanted to be there for him and realized that with all the roles that I was responsible for – father, son, employee of Prosper Portland, and husband - that I could do any three of those pretty well, but not all four. So, I made the decision to leave Prosper Portland to focus on supporting my father during the last year of his life.

After he passed, I took some time to get my bearings and began applying for a variety of jobs, when the position at Terwilliger Plaza came across my radar. My experience with my father built my appreciation for the importance for seniors and their families to have a strong and supportive environment. Through my research of Terwilliger Plaza, I learned of its reputation as a leader in the senior living industry, its unique representative self-governance board leadership structure, resident Member focus, and commitment to supporting a dynamic senior living community.

I was also drawn to Terwilliger Plaza’s economic diversity within its membership. While it doesn’t represent all the economic strata in Portland, given the wide range of apartment homes, the entry points are very accessible and that is an important aspect which aligns with my values of equity and social justice.

You speak to “the different paths” that you have taken which have brought you to this time in your life.

One of the things that I loved about Ecotrust and Prosper Portland was that both organizations shared an ethos of doing business in ways that restore rather than degrade the natural environment, and builds human capital, while also making money. That’s a triple bottom line approach. So, while the goals of an organization matter, how you get there matters at least as much.

And this extends to how you treat people, how you treat the environment, and how you show up for your community. It’s a frame of mind. It’s about the time horizon you are planning for and the impact of what you are doing.

It’s like the hiking mantra: Take only photographs, leave only footprints. The next level of that is leaving it better than you found it. For example, when my family and I hike we bring trash bags to pick up any litter that we find, because we want it better for the next people passing through. My son and I are also Block Ambassadors for the nonprofit AdoptOneBlock, and we walk around our block once a week to pick up trash.

How does this thinking translate to your work at Terwilliger Plaza?

I bring that same passion and values to my role here at Terwilliger Plaza. Finance is not a discipline that is generally known to be filled with people putting people first. I try to take a people-centric view of the functions for which I have been responsible. I care deeply about the staff that I work with and try to bring a communicative and compassionate approach to my management style in building community.

Some of the most important skills that I’ve developed in my career, in addition to the financial details, is having the ability to stand back and understand, from a systems perspective, what an organization needs to function well. But, it is essential to remember that software and processes are never divorced from the people responsible for maintaining them.

You also seem to have an underlying creative problem-solving trait in your skill set.

I grew up on a working ranch in Southern Oregon for the first 15 years of my life. It was very important to who I am, and my journey to now. It was very rural, about 35 miles outside of Klamath Falls. Being outside a lot, having real responsibility at an early age, and thinking creatively was an important part of my childhood and instilled many of my core values. At an early age I had to solve problems in the moment. Often, I would be out on my own with a task to complete. When confronted with something that wasn’t working right, my choices, given that the nearest adult was half a mile away, were either figure it out or make that half mile walk back to get a parent to solve the problem for me. It’s remarkable how quickly you learn to figure things out for yourself when it’s that hard to get help.

Your relationship with your parents influenced your decision to join Terwilliger Plaza.

I had a very close relationship with my parents and have always been incredibly appreciative of the wonderful life they gave me, not just as my parents, but as mentors and supporters. I have put a lot of thought into the many experiences I had with my father during the last year of his life. Too often seniors are not valued in our society. I care about social justice and have a deep respect for our senior population. It is vitally important to celebrate and support seniors as they transition through the complexities of aging. It feels great to be part of an organization that is building a dynamic community for seniors. Additionally, almost every day I meet a resident Member here who has lived a fascinating life. Getting to know them, build relationships with them, and hear their stories is a gift.

Can you speak to your volunteerism?

Touchstones in my volunteer work have been education and the environment. My longest board service was with the Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center, where I was a board member for eight years, six of those as Board Chair. I was also a mentor/executive coach a social justice / educational organization called ELSO and I served on the board of Live Wire Radio.

What has been your experience at Terwilliger Plaza?

Since I joined two months ago I have had some incredibly positive interactions with resident Members. I am amazed at the wealth of experience and the fascinating backgrounds of the people in this community. Everyone has been so welcoming. The staff is passionate and committed. Their respect for the Terwilliger Plaza community is clear, recognizing that we work in the home of our resident Members. I’m excited to be here and have a lot to learn!

Think Joule