Profile

For more than 30 years Kay Toran has worked to build up individuals and families and tear down the forces that contaminate our communities. Now as the President and CEO of Volunteers of America Oregon, a post she was appointed to in 1999, Toran continues that work. She strives to empower the individual and to create programs and collaborative relationships that promote education, self-reliance and equality for all people in our community.

Before joining Volunteers of America Oregon, Toran was the leader of the Oregon State Services to Children and Family, a post which she held longer than any other person in state history. She went into the child detention centers, talked to the kids, met with parents and sat down with families. She worked to make them part of the solution that would change their lives and improve our communities.

Prior to becoming director of the agency, Toran served as a branch manager, an assistant regional administrator and a Regional Administrator with the former Children Services Division. She worked with the division for over nine years.

Previously, Toran held a position as the Administrator of the State's Purchasing Division, Department of General Services. She also was an Assistant to Governor Vic Atiyeh where she served as the State's Director of Affirmative Action. Toran began her professional career after receiving her Master of Social Work degree from the School of Social Work at Portland State University.

She also taught there as an assistant professor. She received her Bachelors of Arts in Sociology, Psychology and Philosophy from the University of Portland, Portland, Oregon.