Meet us Monday: Lynn Renken

Mercy Corps Northwest has a new director with amazing skills and even better plans for the future.

Today is Mercy Corps Northwest’s first ever “Meet Us Monday”, and who better to feature first than the leader of MCNW in both Oregon and Washington. Lynn Renken is not only Mercy Corps Northwest’s new director, but has also been a synchronized swimmer and lived in Kenya for 3 years. Lynn is reexamining strategy and rolling out impactful plans to make positive change throughout the communities we serve. 

Her goals in a nutshell? To ensure that the majority of MCNW resources support underserved communities.

“In a word: equity, trying to address systemic change. There are so many institutional barriers, constraints and historic imbalances to overcome. It is our goal to role out explicit plans to reach individuals who have been oppressed by those systems.” 

Hearing from clients about how influential or impactful a program has been is what makes Lynn most proud to work at Mercy Corps Northwest. Be it a grant, business education, or mentoring, she says it is incredible to hear how individuals take those services and use them as a catalyst to impact their life and achieve their goals.

So what does Lynn do when she’s not working overtime to drive powerful change throughout the Pacific Northwest? Cheer her two kids on during soccer and swim meets! Right now her favorite restaurant is Firehouse in Northeast Portland where her family enjoys wood fired pizza. In terms of Pacific Northwest beauty, one of Lynn’s favorite places are the San Juan Islands off the coast of Seattle. 

We couldn’t be happier to have Lynn as our director for Mercy Corps Northwest. Stay tuned for more “Meet Us Mondays” as we introduce the rest of the team!