Who We Are
Heather Anderson is WCVA’s Tourism Sales Manager, serving as the main contact for tour operators, receptive operators, day operators and international travel leads for Washington County. She also takes meeting requests from planners looking for event space in the county.
As a graduate of Mt. Hood Community College with an A.S. in Radio Broadcasting, Heather found herself leaving the world of hospitality and hotels to pursue a career in radio. She worked in the programming and promotion departments for multiple stations at Entercom Radio for 4 years and moved to Clear Channel Radio as the Promotions Director for KRVO. Her passion for travel and hospitality led her to a Catering Sales Director position with Prism Hotels, then onto Pacific University as the Aramark-contracted Catering Manager. In March 2008, Heather began working at WCVA, which is her first role at a DMO.
Heather refers to herself as an almost “True Oregonian,” living here most of her life after moving from Alaska. In her free time, Heather looks for memorable outdoor adventures, music festivals or just some good family fun! Being a Washington County resident since age six, Heather makes time to share the favorite local activities she enjoyed as a kid with her daughter. Heather is astonished that she can find new things to do in Washington County after living here so long!
Birgitte Simmons joined the WCVA in November 2009 as Administrative and Sales Assistant. She provides support to the CEO and sales staff, including coordination of committee meetings, materials and volunteers.
A native of Aloha, Ore., Birgitte (pronounced Bur-GEET-uh) and her family lived in the Netherlands for a year-and-a-half, and Birgitte attended Brigham Young University in Utah and Brigham Young University-Hawaii in Oahu, from which she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in hospitality and tourism management. Prior to joining the WCVA, she worked for the Portland Rose Festival Foundation.
In her free time she enjoys hiking, body surfing, photography, cooking and traveling.
Allison George is WCVA’s Stakeholder Manager, and heads the WCVA “Westside Spotlight” monthly mixers. A native of Southern Oregon, and aspiring actress, Allison has lived in the Portland metro area for 10 years. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts from Carroll College in Helena, MT. Allison also played women’s basketball at Carroll College, and was inducted into the college’s sports hall of fame in 2006.
Angie Suchy Marsh is WCVA’s Communications Associate. She is responsible for furthering WCVA’s online and print marketing efforts, including social media, website content, the visitor guide and both consumer and industry eNewsletters.
Angie has worked as a web editor, communications associate and publications specialist for nonprofit organizations, including Multnomah Athletic Club, Mt. Hood Community College and the environmental organization Metafore. She is the author of multiple award-winning essays and publications. Angie has a B.A. from the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, and is certified in sustainability through Oregon Natural Step.
A Portland native, Angie can often be found pulling her younger daughter in a bike trailer around the area, searching for adventure.
Carrie Matsuo is a guest blogger, and frequent contributor to youth-sports oriented blogs. In addition to her other blogs, Carrie contributes sports-related posts from a mom’s point of view. Carrie grew up in Washington County playing Metro League sports, and she now spends many hours on local bleacher seats for her son’s games, supporting local players and covering tournaments. For more, visit carriematsuo.com.
Sylke Neal-Finnegan, APR is WCVA’s Director of Marketing & Communications. A native of Las Vegas, Sylke escaped the land of neon for greener pastures, and has proudly called Washington County “home” since 2007.
Although she feels like an Oregonian – her often unconventional personality is a better fit for the Pacific Northwest – and she embraces the cool, rainy days, she looks forward to the changing seasons, especially when spring is in bloom and tulips and daffodils color the green landscape.
When not shopping or catching a movie, Sylke often spends her weekends scoping out the area in search of new experiences. Being relatively new to Oregon, nearly everything is a new experience, so there’s a lot to discover. So far, her goal is to visit every shop, winery and restaurant listed on the WCVA website, and to find new and undiscovered places to explore. This should keep her busy for the next few years…..