About Raz Mason

A life shaped by science, service, resilience and community

I’m Raz (pronounced “Roz”) Mason. My work has taken me across education, science communication, chaplaincy, nonprofit leadership, public service, community resilience, and protective practice. That breadth of experience has taught me to look for connections: between people and institutions, between livelihoods and landscapes, and between present-day decisions and the conditions communities will face in the future.

Experience

Many kinds of work, one continuing thread

Across very different roles, I’ve repeatedly been drawn to work that helps people understand complex conditions, prepare for change, and strengthen the systems on which communities depend.

Risk management and resilience

I’m the founder and principal consultant of CompreSec LLC, where I work in risk management, safety, resilience, and protective planning. My work focuses on helping people and organizations understand risk without losing sight of dignity, proportionality, and human relationships.

Science and climate-change education

I co-founded and served as executive director of the CO2 Foundation, concentrating on communicating scientific ideas to public audiences and helping communities think about climate change, extreme weather, adaptation, and resilience.

Teaching

As a secondary teacher, I’ve taught mathematics, science, social studies, government, civics, economics, English, and career and technical education. My science teaching included introductory biology, geology, and ecology, and during the COVID-19 pandemic I taught agriculture online.

Chaplaincy and pastoral care

I’ve served as a hospital and VA chaplain, offering spiritual care to people facing psychological crisis, serious illness, grief, major life transitions, and uncertainty, as well as to their families.

Long-haul truck driving

After college, I earned my commercial driver’s license and drove long-haul truck routes. The experience gave me a firsthand view of transportation, working life, rural communities, and the vast systems that move goods across the country.

U.S. Navy

I served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy’s Chaplain Candidate Program while preparing for ministry and chaplaincy.

Business and organizational experience

My business background includes work as a profit-sharing administrator for a large investment company, accounting work in a retail business, consulting, and nonprofit executive leadership.

Domestic-violence services

I worked for many years in the domestic-abuse field as a crisis counselor, case manager and advocate, trainer, and volunteer coordinator.

Oregon Roots

Connected to rural Oregon from childhood

I spent part of my childhood in Hermiston, where I participated in 4-H and showed at the Umatilla County Fair. I also spent time in The Dalles while traveling for swim meets and now make my home here. I graduated from Aloha High School in Beaverton and have lived and worked in several parts of Oregon.
Along the Way

A few chapters from an unconventional path

Some of the experiences that have shaped my understanding of work, service, rural life, and community happened far outside a conventional career path.

Raz Mason during her years driving long-haul trucks
On the road Driving long-haul after college.
Raz Mason as a U.S. Navy Chaplain Candidate Program officer
Called to service As a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy’s Chaplain Candidate Program.
Young Raz Mason with her 4-H goat at the Umatilla County Fair
Rural Oregon roots With my 4-H goat at the Umatilla County Fair in Hermiston.
Education

Mathematics, public life and the human dimensions of service

Bryn Mawr College B.A. in Mathematics, magna cum laude, with a minor in Political Science.
Seattle University Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies.
Harvard Divinity School Master of Divinity; Williams Fellow, with work in religious studies and education and preparation for secondary teaching.
Community Involvement

Service beyond paid work

Member, Oregon Women for Agriculture.
Adult volunteer and Committee Chair, Sea Scout Ship Freedom #399 in The Dalles.
Former steering committee member and presenter, Northwest Climate Conference.
Former secretary of the Chaplain Section of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Participant in local emergency-preparedness and resilience work, including CERT.
Longtime community facilitator, coach, teacher, mentor, and volunteer in civic and nonprofit settings.
Founder, while teaching, of The Dalles Middle School French Club and Language Lab.
At Harvard, designed and co-organized the national conference Ivies and the Military: Toward Reconciliation.
Current Work

Stewardship, resilience and public service

Today, my work centers on resilience, risk, public service, and what I describe as protective stewardship: the responsibility to care wisely for people, communities, institutions, and the systems on which life depends. As founder and principal consultant of CompreSec LLC, I work at the intersection of safety, preparedness, human dignity, and resilience.

My interest in the Wasco County Soil & Water Conservation District grows naturally from the same orientation: practical, locally grounded stewardship of the soils, working lands, streams, riparian areas, forests, habitat, and water on which communities and livelihoods depend.

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