Andrew Mason

Open Meadow’s Executive Director is Andrew Mason. Mason joined Open Meadow in 1995, serving previously as Open Meadow’s Associate Director and Director of Transition Programs. He came to Open Meadow to develop the program CRUE (Corps Restoring the Urban Environment) into a full-time alternative education program for high school students. 

Mason holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from Portland State University and a Bachelor of Arts from Reed College. Prior to Open Meadow he worked as a Crew Leader trainer statewide for the Oregon Youth Conservation Corps, provided technical assistance to start-up programs, and served as a Crew Leader and Education Coordinator for the Cascade Education Corps in Forest Grove, Oregon.

Mason has established many new programs at Open Meadow for high school youth including Corporate Connections, to employ graduating youth, Open Meadow’s Youth Opportunity (YO) and Career Pathways programs, providing employment and post-secondary transition services to youth, and other project-based, social enterprise, and entrepreneurial ventures. His work with Open Meadow has received recognition from the United States Department of Labor, the National Youth Employment Coalition, the National Science Teachers Association, Oregon Youth Conservation Corps, the City of Portland, the Wetlands Conservancy, Tualatin Riverkeepers, and the Columbia Slough Watershed Council.

Recent speaking engagements have included:

• Oregon Diploma Summit, Salem, OR, March 17, 2009
• Disconnected Youth Learning Tour, Portland, OR, January 8, 2009
• US Department of Labor Multiple Pathways Learning Exchange, Washington, D.C., November 11, 2008
• American Youth Policy Forum, Sustaining Systemic Approaches to Reengaging Disconnected Youth, Portland, OR, October 6, 2008
• American Youth Policy Forum, Providing Multiple Options to Meet the Needs of Struggling Students and Out-of-School Youth, Portland, OR, March 5, 2007
• Georgia Association for Alternative Education Winter Conference, Athens, GA, February 2, 2007
• U.S. Department of Labor, Integrating High School Education And Youth Workforce Development Webinar, April 6, 2006
• National Conference of State Legislatures Fall Forum, Chicago, IL, December 2005
• American Youth Policy Forum, Washington D.C., October 2005
• Promising and Effective Practices Network National Institute, Washington D.C., September 2005
• National Association of Workforce Boards, Washington D.C., February 2005