PAI Board

Who We Are

The PAI Board consists of educators, small business owners, leaders in technology and the arts. We are united by a passion for performance and culture and the desire to gift the Gorge with an outstanding facility. The Board is all volunteer.

David Silwa, President

Dave is a serial entrepreneur and executive with 30+ years of experience
in business development, sales, marketing, and business management. Dave worked at Insitu for more than 13 years and was instrumental in Insitu’s move into commercial and civil operations. Dave left Insitu in 2014 and has since been working as an independent consultant helping a variety of firms to grow and find new market niches. Dave has attended training seminars on the proper management of non-profit boards. He has served for many years on the board of Columbia Gorge Art in Education, and is currently on the board of the Oregon Aviation Industry coalition (ORAVI).

John Hardham, Vice President

John began working as an independent video producer in the Columbia River Gorge in 1985. His motivation to participate in the PAI is driven by the need for a venue that will provide adequate capacity, staging, and technical services to support multiple community needs. There is no one place in the Columbia River Gorge that meets all those requirements, along with adequate parking and ease of access. “It is my hope that we can build a state-of-the-art facility that will meet the needs of our community for many years to come.”

Mark Steignher, PAI Director Emeritus

Before retiring in 2015, Mark Steighner was the choral and instrumental music director at Hood River Valley High, a position he had held since the early 1980s. In 2015, he received the “Outstanding Educator of the Year” award from the Oregon Music Educators Association, recognizing his long service to music education. Mr. Steighner is also a composer, playwright, and director of over 60 musical theatre productions around the Columbia River Gorge. Mark is one of the founders and artistic director/conductor of the Columbia Gorge Orchestra Association, where he directs the Sinfonietta Orchestra. In his spare time, Mark is a technology writer for a number of online publications and has written thousands of video game and technology reviews, features, and interviews.

“The Gorge has the opportunity to be positioned as an epicenter for the performing arts. Our audiences are excited about both local and visiting professional music, theatre, dance, film, and spoken word performances, and a new large venue will give us a means to attract outside talent and further nurture our own. For literally decades, people have been asking for this, and PAI is dedicated to making the dream a reality.”

Ken Apland, Board Member

Ken Apland has made a career of designing and making fine jewelry for the clients of Apland Jewelers and Apland Design for over 35 years. He is an Antwerp-direct diamond importer and is involved in colored gem mining and cutting in East Africa. And is deeply committed to the care and education of those gem-mining communities through the foundation Gem Legacy. He’s been a member of the Mid-Columbia Sinfonietta for 36 years, and in a prior life was a member of a professional big band that often served as a backup band for touring acts like Bob Hope, Aretha Franklin, Red Skelton, Andy Williams, and Jim Nabors. Ken is a member of the Rotary club, where he is chairman of the scholarship committee, and when he’s not working, he likes to splash in mud puddles with his three young grandsons.

Duncan M. Walker, Site Selection Committee Chair

As an entrepreneur, Duncan has started and run multiple LLC’s in real estate and high tech.

He is experienced in business and market development, including program delivery, event planning and coordination, executive-level presentations, business management, and sales.

His international business experience includes logistics, dealer support, competitive market analysis, and product line management. Duncan is active in the community and is a former board member of the Ainsworth Foundation and a former advisory member of the Atkinson Graduate School of Management.

Tracy Ericson, Board Member & Treasurer

Tracy has been active in the financial services industry since 2000 and, since that time, has held positions in a range of departments, including Capital Markets, Commercial Banking, and several positions within Community Development , including Low Income Housing Tax Credits investments, private equity, and equity-equivalent investments to non-profit organizations. She is a graduate of Wells Fargo’s Wholesale Banking Credit Management Training Program and a recipient of the Golden Spoke award. In 2022, she was featured in the Top 100 People in Finance publication for her work in community development finance.

Tracy holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley. She received a Bachelor of Science in International Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish at the University of Denver.

Tracy is passionate about building community. She is on the Board of Directors of Black Rock Arts Foundation (“BRAF”), the subsidiary of Burning Man Project, tasked with bringing the Burning Man method of creating and coexisting with art to the world.

Rian Beach, Board Member

Rian is the Trial Court Administrator for the 7th Judicial District in Oregon and the co-founder of the Jackalope Jamboree music festival, a community-inclusive event in Pendleton, Oregon that originated in 2019. He is also the vice president of The Dalles Overground, a creative nonprofit in The Dalles, Oregon, that coordinates concerts, art installations, and community events. Rian holds a Master’s in Organizational Leadership from the University of Providence and a Bachelor of English from the University of Oregon. Rian has spent over 25 years promoting, hosting, and coordinating creative events in Oregon.