Ethics Week 2022 - Panel

Theresa Vithayathil Edmonson

Vice President of Spiritual Health, Providence St. Joseph Health

Theresa has been in her current role with Providence St. Joseph Health since March 2021.  Prior to this position, she served PeaceHealth as Interim System VP for Mission, Theology, & Ethics and as the System Director, Spiritual Care & Mission Integration. She was well known to many at Providence as she served for nearly twenty years as a chaplain and Mission leader in various settings.   

Theresa's professional experience includes expertise in chaplaincy (board certified with NACC), diversity and inclusion awareness, and leadership formation. She is actively involved in the promotion of professional chaplaincy, with past service on the NACC Board of Directors and currently on the CHA Pastoral Care Advisory Committee. She is also actively involved in the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon, currently serving as the chairperson for the Board of Directors for Catholic Charities of Oregon.

Theresa has a Master of Divinity degree from the University of Notre Dame, where she also received her undergraduate degree. Theresa is a native Oregonian and child of Indian immigrants. She is married to Brett and is the proud mother of Catherine and Joseph. Theresa is an avid sports fan, especially during college football and women’s college basketball seasons. Theresa spends her personal time with immediate and extended family and cheering on her favorite sports teams (and until very recently, those with her favorite players…her children).

Jim Etzel

Chief Executive Officer, Sport Oregon

A Portland native with deep Oregon roots, Etzel has more than 30 years of diverse leadership experience in sports, live events, marketing, brand experiences and management.

Etzel, a 1985 University of Portland graduate, has a proven track record of cultivating meaningful and fruitful partnerships, and securing major-league business as a result. Prior to joining Sport Oregon, he was the founder, CEO and chairman of the ETZEL Agency, a national brand experience and live event agency originally established as SportsOne. Over his 23 years with the ETZEL Agency, he managed all facets of the agency and built a national reputation with an expansive roster of top-level clients, including the College Football Playoff (CFP), ESPN, Nike, adidas, Major League Soccer, USA Today/Gannett, NBC Sports Northwest, Sodexo and TrackTown USA, among others. 

In just over four years at Sport Oregon, Etzel has indelibly changed the dynamic and scope of the non-profit organization’s work, stewarding a new era of success for the state’s leading sports advocate. Importantly, Etzel has positioned Sport Oregon – the state’s sports economic development arm – as a critical catalyst for recovery and future economic growth. Through his work at Sport Oregon, Etzel and his organization have instilled a dynamic, ambitious and nimble approach to attracting new and broad-based events to Oregon, promoting community-wide involvement, and working tirelessly to harness the power of sports for the state’s overall benefit and enhanced quality of life.

Etzel is a University of Portland Pamplin School of Business Significant Seventy-Five esteemed alumni honoree and also a Dean’s Advisory Board member, and currently serves on both the Portland Business Alliance and Travel Portland board of directors as an Ex-Officio Member, as well as the leadership councils for Partners in Diversity and the Positive Coaching Alliance.

Jim and his wife, Carmen, reside in Portland with their dog, Sporty. They enjoy an active lifestyle, including working out, hiking, golfing, skiing and attending sporting and community events.

John Marick

Co-founder and Former Chief Executive Officer, Consumer Cellular

Consumer Cellular is one of the largest and longest operating mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) of cellular phone service in the United States. In October 1995, John – together with co-founder and COO Greg Pryor – launched Consumer Cellular. Under John’s leadership, Consumer Cellular grew to more than 2,500 employees and four million customers. He stepped down as CEO in December 2020, while remaining on the company’s board.

John began his career in marketing with McCaw Communications, which later became the country’s first nationwide wireless service provider before it was purchased by AT&T. Today, John leads the JTMF Foundation, with assets in excess of $250 million, in their philanthropy efforts. In addition to his board role for Consumer Cellular, he is a member of the University of Portland's Board of Regents and a board member for Meals on Wheels America.

John received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing from the University of Portland in 1987 and a master’s degree in business administration from Willamette University. He was named as a University of Portland Pamplin School of Business Significant Seventy-Five esteemed alumni honoree.

Michael Lewellen, ABC, APR

Vice President for Marketing & Communications

Michael Lewellen is the first executive to hold the position of Vice President for Marketing and Communications at the University of Portland (UP) in its 121-year history.  He joined the University in July 2019, and oversees the departments responsible for Marketing, Public Affairs, Internal Communications, Advertising, Social Media, Graphic Design, Printing/Mailing Services and Portland Magazine, the institution’s alumni publication.   Prior to joining UP, Lewellen served for seven years as Vice President of Corporate Communications for the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers as well as the Moda Center, Rose Quarter and Veterans Memorial Coliseum. 

Lewellen's award-winning career over the past 40 years also features leadership positions with Nike, Turner Sports, Fox Sports Net, Black Entertainment Television, NBC Universal and Heart of Florida United Way.  A native of Jonesboro, Arkansas, Lewellen holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Arkansas State University and is an accredited public relations practitioner through both the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).  In 2020, the Oregon Chapter of PRSA honored Lewellen with the William W. Marsh Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to public relations profession – the first-ever African-American practitioner to receive that recognition.