Board of Directors, Director

Colleen Marilley Lyman completed her nursing degree from Seattle University. Her career has taken her to Alaska, Washington and Oregon, where she has worked in both rural and urban areas, in Native American communities, and in clinical and hospital settings. She has focused her career on working with populations on the margins of society, starting with her time as a Jesuit Volunteer in Alaska working with a predominantly Inuit community.

Her experience has included neonatal intensive care, children and youth services, hospice care, and mental health services. Her most recent position was as a visiting hospice nurse with Providence, working closely with patients and families in their most vulnerable times. Her time at Providence included many visits to Mary’s Woods. Prior to that, she worked with Central City Concern at their downtown Portland mental health clinic. She was managing director of Hopewell House, a residential hospice facility, in the 1990’s when it was a program funded by Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon.

She and her husband split their time between Portland and Parkdale. They enjoy skiing, hiking, travel, and giving back to the community by volunteering. They have three children and three grandchildren, all living in Portland.