Wendy Willis (she/her)

Director

Wendy Willis (she/her) is the founding director of Oregon’s Kitchen Table, which puts her in the catbird seat to witness Oregonians from all walks of life bring their passion, creativity, and determination to the issues that affect the people and places we love.

Before that, Wendy also brought her irrational (but fervent) love for democracy to the Deliberative Democracy Consortium, Kitchen Table Democracy, and City Club of Portland, where she also served as director. Approaching democratic life from a different angle, she also worked as an Assistant Public Defender for the District of Oregon and a law clerk to Chief Justice Wallace P. Carson, Jr., of the Oregon Supreme Court.

Wendy is co-author of Collaborative Governance: Principles, Processes, and Practical Tool and is currently under contract to write another text book on community engagement that will be released in early 2026.. She graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown Law Center and holds an M.F.A. in poetry from Pacific Lutheran University and a B.A. in political science from Willamette University. Wendy spends the rest of her time pottering about her studio, her kitchen, and her garden, occasionally resulting in a poem, an essay, a quilt, or a cherry pie.

She lives in Southeast Portland with her family.