Our Team
Jeremy Wilson
Founder
Executive Director
Singer-songwriter Jeremy Wilson, a lifelong working musician whose bands include the Dharma Bums and Pilot, was inspired to launch the JWF in June 2010 after being diagnosed with a serious congenital heart condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White. This experience quickly exposed the harsh reality of navigating the healthcare system as an artist and independent contractor, and the need for better access to healthcare in the musical community. He was also struck by the incredible outpouring of goodwill and support he received from the friends, fans and family that helped him through four heart surgeries. Jeremy formed the JWF in hopes of replicating this model: uniting fellow musicians and music lovers to help provide critical support to individual musicians and their families when medical crises occur.
Jeremy was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1968 to civil rights activist parents who moved the family to Scott’s Mills, Or (pop. 200) in 1976. He started his first band the Watchmen at the age of 14 and has been gigging ever since. He has called Portland, OR his home for over 30 years where he continues to make music from his recording studio located in the lower SE industrial area a/k/a “East Bank.”
JWF Board of Directors
Rachel Melisa
President
Rachel is a lawyer, a mom, and an amateur pie baker. Though she chose to pursue a career in the law, her true passion has always been music — she grew up playing the piano and clarinet, and to this day takes refuge in listening to music of all kinds. Rachel also loves hiking, traveling, reading, and laughing about funny things with her family.
After graduating from University of Oregon School of Law in 2004, Rachel worked for two Oregon judges before moving to Washington, D.C. to work as a litigator at a large global law firm. Rachel returned to Portland in 2009 and began practicing environmental law with a focus on regulatory compliance. In 2020, she made another transition to join her family’s business, Melissa Data, as in-house counsel.
Rachel finds great joy in supporting the many talented artists in Portland’s music community, and is delighted to join the JWF in its mission to provide critical support for these artists.
Melissa Duclos
Director
Melissa is a novelist who is passionate about supporting the career development and success of artists of all kinds. Raised in Massachusetts, she lived in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Shanghai, and Brooklyn before making her way to Portland in 2009 on what she thought would be a one-year adventure. She is the founder of Amplify Writers, a project that seeks to provide community and career support for writers with identities, backgrounds, and lived experiences that are underrepresented in mainstream publishing. She received her MFA in creative writing from Columbia University.
Melissa is also passionate about racial justice and education equity. She is on the development team at Children's Institute, an organization that seeks to expand access to early education and health services for underserved children in Oregon and is the Co-Chair of the Justice, Education, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee at Lewis Elementary School, where her children are in third and fifth grade. She lives with her partner and four kids amidst the happy chaos of a blended family.
Melissa is an avid music fan (and enthusiastic karaoke singer). She's grateful for the opportunity to give something back to a community that brings so much joy to her life by volunteering her time in support of the JWF's mission.
Matt Garboden
Treasurer
While not musically inclined himself, his love of it came early. Born of an infatuation with a blue Jim Croce tape in his youth, it has endured throughout the years, always elevating the highs and being the hand up after hitting the ground.
Having been lucky enough to fall into a community of wonderful souls always willing to share their musical gifts for a worthy cause, Matt is honored to be able to repay all of them in service to JWF with talents of his own.
A lifelong Oregonian, he spends his work days as a CPA at a small, local firm, helping individuals and businesses navigate the tax and accounting world, with after hours consumed by the best the northwest has to offer, spending time in the great outdoors, running, biking, and enjoying good times with great people.
Stacey Heath
Secretary
Two of the words Stacey’s loved ones would use to describe her are “good audience.” She’s a loud clapper, lifelong learner and music lover, despite surviving some tough teenage musical choices. She delights in humanity and imagination.
Stacey arrived in Portland in 2009 from DC where she had lived and worked in social change for decades. In Portland, she discovered a local scene with plenty to love and explore. Stacey works as an organization development consultant and leadership coach, emphasizing inter-group dynamics, and integrating somatic awareness and trauma-informed healing.
Stacey volunteers for Street Roots and with other great people, and is happy to join the Board of JWF. Volunteering with JWF allows Stacey an opportunity to give a little back to the local music community that has brought so much uplift, joy and heartbreak into her life.
Melanie Bobbett
Director
Melanie is a social worker with a career-long focus on advocating for people navigating our unduly complex social institutions. Through her experiences, Melanie developed her passion for supporting those who are enduring health crises to access basic needs, including affordable health care. In her current work as a hospital Patient Advocate, Melanie provides guidance, mediation, and resources to people facing challenging issues within their health care experience. Outside of her work and JWF volunteering, she also takes any action she can toward free, national health insurance for all.
In her spare time, Melanie is chasing her toddler around, enjoying the company of her little family, and getting outside to take in the beauty and calm of the Pacific Northwest which drew her to this place she calls home.
Although Melanie is not a musician herself, she holds a deep love of music for the personal joy and inspiration that it brings her, and a strong admiration for how musicians share their creative gifts with the world. She greatly appreciates how her work with The Jeremy Wilson Foundation to serve local musicians in need so beautifully combines her life-long connection to music with her professional calling.