OUR TEAM
Meet our team of incredibly talented and caring individuals!
ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
Lisa Burns – Founder
Lisa M. Burns founded the nonprofit Heart to Heart with Art 501(c)(3), as a passion project in 2011. As an artist, entrepreneur, community servant and social activist, she uses art and service projects to connect with others.
Lisa believes art can help others process feelings and be used as a tool for understanding, growing, and expressing yourself. It’s her goal to teach others to find beauty in their broken places, as they use art to work through personal trauma and connect with their feelings.
Through Heart to Heart with Art 501(c)(3), Lisa was able to provide a platform for others in the exhibit “Break the Silence Against Sexual Violence” as she shares her own survivor;s story along with others through a visual essay of photography, film and painting.
Lisa is a classically trained painter with more than 25 years experience. She has a B.A in Studio Arts from the University of Oregon and an M.A. in European Studies from K.U. Leuven, with a focus on Cultural Economics and Corporate Sponsorship of the Visual Arts. Lisa began her career by starting an all-female painting company in Portland, OR that specialized in mural commissions. After completing her studies in Leuven, Belgium, she designed, patented and launched a special travel bag company which she ran for 10 years.
Mona Abdelmonem
Mona Abdelmonem is a Co-Founder and Child Development Advisor with Rillet TV. After spending nearly a decade in the education field, Mona gained insight into the world of a child. She has also worked with children and families who experienced some form of life change leading them to counseling. Mona believes every person encounters situations in life which molds them and with our personal growth we get to see situations from another perspective.
Mona, a certified Mental Health Counselor, practices intervention based techniques with various populations. She has great knowledge in Crisis Counseling and Interventions, Human Sexuality, and Substance Abuse. She holds a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Florida International University.
Mona enjoys time with her loving husband and charming toddler in the California Bay Area. She makes time for her endearing family adventures, hosting friends, and lazy days reading books with her loves. Lead your days in ways you will appreciate.
Devon Zastrow Newman
Devon Zastrow Newman is an Administrative Patent Judge at the Patent Trial Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In this capacity, she decides appeals arising from adverse decisions of Examiners at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and presides over trial to determine patentability of claims in patents subsequent to issuance.
Prior to serving as a judge, Devon was an intellectual property attorney, shareholder, and head of the intellectual property litigation group at the law firm Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt. There, Devon worked with clients to procure and protect their valuable intellectual property rights and represent them in matters arising out of those rights.
Devon lives in Portland with her husband, two active boys, and even more active dog. She enjoys cooking and baking at home, and sampling Portland’s divine and varied cuisine when possible. She is an avid reader, amateur gardener, and closet writer.
Amanda Rasmussen
Amanda Rasmussen is a Captain for the Oregon Department of Corrections, currently working within the Office of the Inspector General. As a US Department of Justice-certified Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) auditor, Amanda works with state prisons to prevent, detect and respond to the sexual abuse and sexual harassment of inmates. She has partnered with community-based advocacy centers who provide services to incarcerated survivors, and actively works toward ensuring a culture of sexual safety within confinement.
Madeleine Philbrook
Madeleine Philbrook is an independent video producer and graphic/web designer. With a B.A. in Digital Technology and Culture from Washington State University Vancouver and a highly competitive video editor internship at Sony PlayStation under her belt, she has over five years of experience specializing in crafting stories for local talent, brands, and nonprofits. She is a diligent and devoted artist with a passion for digital storytelling in all of its forms. On her spare time, Madeleine produces independent documentaries and coordinates a number of music video contests across the Northwest.
Kristina Rudinskas
Kristina is a marketing executive with more than twenty years of experience in the Bay Area helping start-ups and larger companies grow user base, create cool products and improve consumer messaging. She is currently a Director of Product Marketing for search, voice and video products at Verizon Media / Yahoo. When she’s not working, Kristina enjoys taking painting classes at Stanford with her dad, pretending to do yoga and enjoying a good hike with her dog.
Claire Shifren
Claire Shifren is passionate about maintaining Art in school curriculum and an advocate for building financial literacy. As a board member for the organization Claire supports the mission of Heart to Heart with Art by bringing events and action together as well as volunteering her time. Her decades long career as a Senior Financial Advisor and Financial Planner is where she serves those who place trust in the financial planning process to help them achieve specific goals and build their financial security. Whether in the context of finance or others of life challenges, the first step is visualization and creative thinking to navigate a path forward.
Julie Keyantash Guertin
Julie Keyantash Guertin is a high school English teacher, who works with kids and curriculum to produce a connection to the arts and learning. Currently, she is also getting her Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
As a former television news reporter, videographer, and public relations professional, she is also connected to the production and professional aspects of media. After graduating from Oregon City High School in 1995, Julie attended the University of Oregon for both her undergraduate and graduate degrees. She resides in Oregon City with her husband and two young children.
Heather Vine
Heather Vine is a freelance artist specializing in graphic design, marketing, advertising and photography. After working for years as graphic designer for Sierra Nevada Brewing, Co., Heather started Vine Design and works on a wide range of projects; from being a contract designer for the music legend Carlos Santana, creating album covers and tour art, to designing marking material for companies and individuals. Heather also works on large scale print production projects for the Copy Center, the printing company that she shares with her husband.
Heather and Lisa have worked alongside each other, on a variety of art projects, for over 25 years. When Lisa began creating the Breaking the Silence Again Sexual Violence project for Heart to Heart with Art, she called on Heather to help collaborate on some art pieces to help bring her vision to fruition.
When Heather is not making art, she creates mischief with her husband and daughters Annapurna and Everest. She loves planning themed parties, sewing costumes and traveling to all the corners of the world.
Barbara Leese
Barbara Leese is a freelance writer and editor. She graduated from Portland State University with a Masters in English Literature, and from The Colorado College with a Bachelor’s in Psychology, and a Minor in Art: Theory and Practice.
Barbara has collaborated with Lisa on several Heart to Heart with Art projects over the years. She and her family have helped organize service projects for children, such as the Heart to Hope Bags packing for Cambodia and the Philippines with Dr. Enoch Choi.
As an artist, she was able to help guide the children while they were working on their Hope Board Paintings and hang their work in a local art show. Barbara was also instrumental in writing articles and marketing material for Heart to Heart with Art.
In her free time, she enjoys volunteering for Portland Public Schools, the Portland Art Museum, and the Oregon Food Bank.
Laura Blake
Laura Blake is the Director of Operations & Marketing for Timberland Homes, Inc., and has 12+ years of experience working in the custom home building industry. In addition to overseeing day to day operations, she also heads up marketing and public relations for the company. As a skilled graphic designer, she creates all the digital & print marketing materials, designs unique branding for each project, and maintains the company’s online presence.
Laura began her career as an interior designer, and then worked alongside Lisa as a design & color consultant for her painting company. Over the years Laura has collaborated with Lisa on a multitude of projects, and has provided sound advice and strategies for navigating through some of the more challenging aspects of various projects and business ventures. She’s a behind-the-scenes problem solver, and provides creative & logistical support to the organization.
Laura resides in Tualatin with her husband and Westie.