Proteus Fund and Proteus Action League’s new board members, January 2019. From left to right: Jesse Beason, Ian Fuller, Nima Shirazi.
We are pleased to introduce three new members of the Boards of Directors for Proteus Fund and Proteus Action League. Nima Shirazi, a Director at Spitfire Strategies, is joining Proteus Fund’s Board. Jesse Beason, President & CEO of Northwest Health Foundation, and Ian Fuller, Managing Director of WestFuller Advisors, are joining Proteus Action League’s Board, with Mr. Fuller taking on the role of Treasurer.
These three social change advocates bring decades of experience in philanthropy and the social justice non-profit sector, including expertise in executive leadership, financial management, public education and policy advocacy, communications and strategy. They also bring extensive governance and advisory experience for non-profits ranging from environmental advocates and community media providers to housing agencies and civil rights organizations.
These wonderful additions to our ranks deepen our Boards’ capacity for leadership and strategic guidance, as we strive to enhance the scope and impact of our cutting-edge social justice philanthropy in this critical period in our country’s history. Please learn more about this distinguished class below.
Jesse Beason, President & Chief Executive Officer, Northwest Health Foundation
Jesse leads the Foundation in pursuit of its vision of health for everyone in Oregon and Southwest Washington.
Jesse has worked at Northwest Health Foundation since 2013. Before becoming President in January 2019, he served as Vice President of Strategy & Public Affairs. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2013, Jesse served as Executive Director of Proud Ground, as Senior Policy Director of Housing, Culture and Planning for then-Commissioner Sam Adams and in public affairs at Metro.
Jesse is a graduate of Neighborhood Partnerships’ Future Leaders Initiative, a Marshall Memorial Fellow of The German Marshall Fund of the United States, and recognized by Portland Business Journal as a top 40 under 40 and Portland Monthly as a Rising Star. He was a 2014 cohort member of the African American Leadership Academy.
Jesse serves on Proteus Action League’s and Color PAC’s boards of directors, the Steering Committee of the Portland African American Leadership Forum and Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation’s Advisory Board. He is also chair of Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Community Advisory Board. He’s member emeritus of the Portland Housing Advisory Commission, Regional Arts & Culture Council and National Community Land Trust Network (now Grounded Solutions).
Jesse moved from Denver, Colorado to Portland to attend Lewis & Clark College two decades ago. He’s a proud uncle, a semi-closeted sci-fi geek and a middling beekeeper. Jesse and his partner live in North Portland.
Ian Fuller, Managing Director, WestFuller Advisors
Ian is a co-founder and partner of WestFuller Advisors, a boutique wealth management firm in New York City that builds and preserves legacies of wealth for progressive individuals, families and institutions. A specialist in wealth planning, global investment counsel, and planned giving; Ian works closely with people and organizations to harness and empower their finances with purpose. He is dedicated to social justice, community development, entrepreneurship, and the Arts. As an activist and finance wonk, he is the board chair of Common Justice and serves as the treasurer/finance chair for Color of Change and The Workers Lab.
Ian received both a B.S. in Economics and an M.S. in International Affairs/Global Finance from New York University. He lives on the Lower East Side of New York City where he can often be found with a glass of red, a good book or training for an adventure race.
Nima Shirazi, Director, Spitfire Strategies
Nima Shirazi is a communications and program strategist, writer and editor, podcaster and media producer with over a decade of eclectic experience working at the intersection of culture and politics, media and narrative, advocacy and the arts.
At Spitfire Strategies, Nima directs communications, campaign and message development for a fearless group of clients dedicated to defending civil rights, desegregating education, dismantling government surveillance and discrimination, destroying white supremacy, and demanding the criminal legal system protect the most vulnerable instead of the most powerful.
Prior to joining Spitfire, Nima was a Senior Fellow and founding member of the Narrative Initiative, a training and network-building start-up designed to equip leaders and their organizations with a better understanding of how deeply-embedded stories and stereotypes shape the common sense and the unwritten rules of society. Previously, Nima managed communications, multimedia production, and media relations and grantmaking at The Atlantic Philanthropies. Nima’s past work has traversed the worlds of film, theater, and music.
A published political analyst, Nima is also editor-at-large for the digital foreign affairs magazine Muftah and co-hosts the popular media criticism podcast Citations Needed.
Nima is a native New Yorker, an Oberlin College graduate, and an erstwhile drummer with a very heavy right foot.