Interviews are available by request. Please contact Lisa Manning at (503) 249-1721, x241.

Tony Hopson Sr., President, CEO, Founder of SEI
Tony began running youth programs when he was only 13 years old (running a summer program for neighborhood kids out of Boise School). Tony attended Jefferson High School in North Portland, and was co-captain of the 1972 boys basketball team that won the OSAA State Championship that year. After graduating, Tony attended Willamette University, eventually getting degrees in Psychology and Sociology, and a teaching certificate in 1997. Having grown up and attended school in north/northeast Portland, Tony returned to his neighborhood to found one of the best programs in the nation. The Center for Self Enhancement, the building that houses the SEI program, is built just a few blocks from where he grew up and is on the site of the neighborhood park he grew up playing in.

Keith Jackson, Business Owner, SEI Alumni
Keith Jackson grew up in inner northeast Portland, and attended the very first SEI Summer Camp in 1981. He graduated from Jefferson High School in 1984, and got a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from the University of San Francisco in 1989, but that wasn’t his initial goal. When Keith went away to college he eventually wanted to become an SEI Coordinator. However, mentored by Tony Hopson and other SEI staff, Keith was encouraged to “leave the nest” and pursue banking as a career option. Keith became Vice-President of Albina Community Bank, then moved on to form his own finance company, 5-Star Management Group. He has served on SEI’s Board of Directors for several years.

Jonicia Henderson, Youth Leader, SEI Alumni
Jonicia is working as a resource specialist at Madison High School. Jonicia came from a very troubled home life, and was raised by her grandmother. During Jonicia’s sophomore year of high school, she was diagnosed with Lupus and almost died. Jonicia became quite frail. The SEI family rallied around her during hospital stays and her recovery. Her Coordinators would conduct cheering sessions at Jonicia’s weigh-ins when she gained weight. It was a very healthy Jonicia that graduated from Jefferson High School in 2000 with an accumulative 3.0 GPA. Jonicia graduated from Dillard University in Louisiana, spending her summers coaching younger SEI students, and returned to Portland to help raise the next generation of high school students.

Rose Pickett, Multnomah County Health Nurse, SEI Parent
Rose has been in the SEI family for many years. Her children have been in SEI since they were in elementary school. Her oldest children are now in college. Her daughter, Aisha, was the winner of a full ride scholarship to the University of Portland. However, Rose doesn’t get a break. She is now raising some of her grandchildren. And just as she did with her children, her grandchildren are in the SEI program. Rose says the support and family relationships she’s received from SEI has helped her with the many challenges faced by parents and grandparents of inner-city children. A nurse for Multnomah County, Rose is never too busy to get involved in parent activities. Her ready smile is always a welcomed sight at the Center for Self Enhancement.

Linda Wright, Past SEI Board Chair and longtime supporter
Linda Wright served for many years as Vice President of Community Development for U.S. Bank and has been a tireless supporter and champion of SEI. Linda was first introduced to SEI when she attended a dinner celebration honoring a former governor. In a video saluting Oregonians who were making a difference, SEI was mentioned. The following week Linda contacted SEI and made an appointment to visit SEI’s offices. In a conversation with Ray Leary, SEI’s Director of Development at the time, Linda asked what SEI really needed and wanted but couldn’t afford. Ray said “a center for our kids”. Linda returned to work and presented the idea to the U.S. Bank Contributions Committee.

For the next six months, SEI worked to craft a request to U.S. Bank for funding for a new center to be constructed in N.E. Portland. With an endorsement of the project from the Contributions Committee, Linda and John Eskildsen presented the request to the board of directors of U.S. Bancorp. The request for $1 million was approved and Ed Jensen immediately agreed to head the campaign to raise over $8 million for the Center For Self Enhancement. That campaign was successful in raising over $10 million to build the Center.

To this day, U.S. Bank is still a major contributor to SEI. In addition to her board involvement, Linda has chaired both SEI’s Golf Tournament and its major fundraiser, the Art & Soul Art Auction Gala. She has introduced SEI to hundreds of people in the business world. Linda’s support hasn’t ended with the expiration of her term on the board. She is currently serving as a member of SEI’s Foundation Board, ensuring that SEI will be around for years to come. Her support of SEI is unwavering, and her love of the program and the children it serves is evident every time she tells the SEI story to her colleagues in the community.

Ellison C. Morgan, 2030 Investors, Longtime SEI Supporter
A number of years ago, Ellison C. Morgan (Eli) was introduced to a young, African-American man at the House of Umoja who talked with him about the hopelessness and despair that had engulfed him in the inner-city. This encounter moved Eli so much that he began to seek out programs that help inner-city kids before they get into trouble.

In 1994, Eli met Tony Hopson and heard the SEI story. SEI was just beginning its capital campaign to build the Center for Self Enhancement. In March of 1996, noticing that the Auditorium at the Center was yet unfinished, Eli donated dollars to finish the Auditorium. In December 1997, Eli presented Tony with a $5 million gift toward SEI’s capital campaign, the largest individual gift in SEI’s history.

To commemorate this gift, the gallery at the Center for Self Enhancement was named after Eli’s close friends, and great supporters of SEI, Sen. Mark and Antoinette Hatfield. Eli joined the board of SEI in February of 1997, and immediately began to make an impact in SEI’s fundraising efforts. He continues to be one of the biggest champions of the SEI cause. Eli is constantly introducing his many business and community contacts to SEI, convincing them to join the cause and fund students, classes, auction items, and SEI’s endowment. Eli’s passion for SEI is sincere and contagious. Because of him, many young men like the young man he met years ago have had a chance to better their lives and move from hopelessness and despair to hope and purpose.