Kent Lewis

Executive Director

NextNW · Portland, Oregon Metropolitan Area

Dec 2024 – Present(1 yr 5 mos)

As the new Executive Director, I’m responsible for guiding an international board, volunteers, and strategic partners to execute our mission: to connect and elevate the creative and digital marketing communities across five States and two Provinces. NextNW is a next-generation organization and community unifying Pacific Northwest advertising, marketing, and media professionals, students and talent, built on over 120 years of history as The Portland Advertising Federation/ThinkNW, and 18 years of digital marketing via SEMpdx.

NextNW Agency Roundtable Member

NextNW

Jan 2007 – Present(19 yrs 4 mos)

Collaborate with executives and owners of Portland-area creative agencies to help each other improve our business and put Portland on the map as a creative hub.

Fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

Anvil Unlimited · United States

Jun 2023 – Present(2 yrs 11 mos)

I provide fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) consulting services to select clients. Services include strategic marketing consulting, integrated and digital marketing strategy, competitive benchmarking and business intelligence. I also assist clients with vendor selection and management, employee development and engagement. I advise clients on thought leadership and online reputation management programs.

Founder

pdxMindShare · Portland, Oregon Area

Dec 2000 – Present(25 yrs 5 mos)

pdxMindShare is an online career community focused on Portland, Oregon professionals. The organization has evolved from monthly networking events to online educational webinars, podcasts and a monthly newsletter featuring area jobs and events. MindShare is best known for managing the largest LinkedIn Group in Oregon for networking and career development.

EO Ignitor Advisor, Former Membership Chair & Board Member

Entrepreneurial Organization (EO) · Portland, Oregon Area

Jun 2007 – Present(18 yrs 11 mos)

As a Membership Committee member, I helped identify and recruit new members to EO. I've been on the board as Membership Chair in the past and returned support the team due to my love for entrepreneurship and EO. Over the past few years, I've been responsible for recruiting nearly half of the current members.

Marketing & Advertising Member Leader

Business Journals Leadership Trust · Portland, Oregon, United States

May 2020 – Jun 2025(5 yrs 2 mos)

As a Marketing & Advertising Member Leader for Business Journals Leadership Trust, I'm responsible to be a liaison between the Trust and its marketing-focused members. I organize and host monthly webinars, contribute articles and expert opinions to be featured on the website.

Volunteer Instructor

SCORE Mentors · Portland, Oregon Metropolitan Area

Jul 2014 – May 2025(10 yrs 11 mos)

Since 2014, I've taught an Advanced Social Media Marketing workshop quarterly for SCORE. It moved from a 3-hour in-person seminar to 2-hour virtual workshop during COVID.

President

SEMpdx · Portland Area, Oregon

Jul 2024 – Dec 2024(6 mos)

After taking a 16-year hiatus from the board, I’ve returned as President for SEMpdx. My role is to guide overall strategic direction, facilitate strategic partnerships and support the board.

Co-Founder, Past President, Strategic Partnerships and Advisory Board Member

SEMpdx · Portland Area, Oregon

Sep 2006 – Jun 2024(17 yrs 10 mos)

As President and co-founder of SEMpdx, I was responsible for helping create the organization's mission and vision, recruit board members and strategic partners, sponsors and support overall marketing strategies. I was also the co-creator of SearchFest in 2005, SEMpdx's annual search engine marketing conference, now known as Engage. I'm currently on the Advisory Board, helping to continue growth of membership, partnerships and sponsorships.

Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

DEKSIA · Portland, Oregon Metropolitan Area

Mar 2022 – May 2023(1 yr 3 mos)

At Deksia, my primary role was to oversee marketing for both the Deksia and Anvil brands. That included integrating with sales and account services and covers both traditional (advertising, PR & events) and digital (search engine & social media) channels. My goal was to disrupt agency marketing and rethink how we connect and engage with prospective clients. To stay engaged and in touch with the digital marketing community as well as local businesses, I speak at industry events like Digital Summit, teach quarterly workshops for SCORE and am a contributing writer for SmartBrief, Business Journals, ThinkNW and SEMpdx.

TV Host - More 2 Know

Daily Ad Brief · Jacksonville, Florida, United States

May 2022 – Jan 2023(9 mos)

I'm hosting a new show for DailyAdBrief. “More 2 Know” examines the best practices, practical solutions to tough client problems, savvy shortcuts, and much more. Each episode features quick tips that you can apply immediately, interviews with industry leaders, and forecasts on trending topics of the day.

Co Host

Podcast for Closers · Portland, Oregon Metropolitan Area

Sep 2019 – May 2022(2 yrs 9 mos)

After five years co-hosting DadsUnplugged, I decided it was time to get back into the podcasting game. I partnered with long-time friend and professional broadcaster, Mike Chase to create Podcast for Closers. Our focus is understanding how human behavior is influenced by sales, marketing, politics and society in general.

President & Founder

Anvil Media, Inc. · Portland Area, Oregon

Oct 2000 – Mar 2022(21 yrs 6 mos)

As Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Anvil and Deksia, I'm responsible for ensuring the two agency brands are relevant, consistent and integrated via a host of traditional and digital channels. My goal is to change the way agencies market to prospective clients and generally disrupt the industry. I was formerly President and Founder of Anvil Media, Inc., (until 3.1.22) where I was responsible for ensuring the company is living its mission and vision by managing overall corporate strategy, including operations, business development, sales and marketing. Specializing in analytics, search engine and social media marketing services, Anvil is a digital agency (now part of the Deksia family) which provides measurable marketing that moves clients’ businesses forward. Under my leadership since 2000, Anvil has accumulated the following awards and recognition: • Inc. 5000: Fastest growing private companies in America • Oregon Business Magazine: 100 Best Places to Work • Portland Business Journal: Oregon’s Most Admired Companies • Portland Business Journal: Fastest Growing Private 100 Companies • Portland Business Journal: Corporate Philanthropy Awards winner • Clutch: Top Pay-per-Click and SEO Agency in America

Adjunct Professor

Portland State University · Portland Area, Oregon

2000 – Feb 2022(22 yrs 2 mos)

Currently, I teach an annual Search Engine Marketing Workshop for the CEPE program as part of a digital certificate program. Since 2000, I've taught a host of courses at PSU, including eMarketing, Online Market Research and Business-to-Business Marketing courses.

Fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

ToneCommand · Corvallis, Oregon Area

Feb 2017 – Sep 2019(2 yrs 8 mos)

As contract Chief Marketing Officer for ToneCommand, my role was primarily focused on advising the company on overall business strategy, product roadmap, marketing and business development. I helped develop and define a go-to-market strategy for the early-stage marketing technology platform, ToneTip, identify strategic partners and facilitate introductions to prospective clients in the Pacific Northwest region. The ToneTip technology platform is currently in beta stage and the parent company, ToneCommand, is building a team and finalizing funding.

Executive Committee, Board Member and Marketing Chair

SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) · Portland, Oregon Area

Jan 2008 – Sep 2017(9 yrs 9 mos)

As a former board member on the the Executive Committee, I was responsible for oversight of the Executive Director, overall strategic guidance and ensuring the organization is accountable for delivering to its mission. As Marketing Chair, responsibilities included providing strategic guidance to SMART's internal marketing team, hosting regular meetings and providing marketing progress reports to the Board. I'm still an active volunteer reader for the organization.

Co-Host

Dad's Unplugged Radio · Portland, Oregon Area

Oct 2009 – Oct 2014(5 yrs 1 mo)

Dads Unplugged took a “different” look at the “other side” of parenting. By dads & for dads, we weren't afraid to speak our minds, at least until we got home. Unfortunately, all five years of our weekly podcast were accidentally removed from the internet by the hosting company.

President and Founder

Formic Media, Inc. · Portland Area, Oregon

Sep 2008 – Dec 2013(5 yrs 4 mos)

As President and co-founder of Formic Media, Lewis was responsible for taking the idea of an affordable search engine marketing agency servicing small & local business, from concept to reality, in less than six weeks. During its 5 year lifespan, he ensured Formic's overall mission and vision was implemented by the talented team. Lewis also supported strategic partnerships, business development and marketing for Formic. The agency grew to $1M before being merged with Anvil Media in 2014 for strategic reasons.

Editor-in-Chief

Anvil Ezine · Portland, Oregon Area

Oct 1996 – Dec 2006(10 yrs 3 mos)

Originally an industry trade publication for Interactive industry professionals, Anvil evolved into a lifestyle ezine dedicated to informing and entertaining readers through a variety of topical articles and related Internet media content. It is currently on suspension, but will likely reinvent itself in the future as it has in the past.

President and Co-Founder

eROI · Portland, Oregon Area

Nov 2002 – Dec 2003(1 yr 2 mos)

Co-founder and President of email and emarketing agency based in Portland, Oregon. Originally named emailROI, it was rebranded in 2002 as eROI, as I transitioned out of the company to focus on Anvil. Responsibilities included marketing, new business, strategic partnerships, providing email and emarketing strategy to clients and account team management.

Director, Internet Strategies

YRG (Young & Roehr Group)

Sep 2001 – Apr 2002(8 mos)

Responsibilities included management of Internet Strategies team, which provided search engine marketing (SEM) services. Direct responsibilities business development, sales and marketing for team as well as integration and overall operational responsibilities for full-service marketing agency.

Director of Marketing and Business Development

goodguys.com

Feb 2001 – May 2001(4 mos)

Responsible for developing and implementing all marketing activities, including advertising, public relations and emarketing. Also identified potential partners, structured partnerships and measured performance.

Vice President and Co-Founder

Wave Rock Communications · Portland, Oregon Area

Jan 1999 – Sep 2000(1 yr 9 mos)

Co-founded public relations and internet marketing agency. Managed Internet Strategies group, including business development, sales, marketing and operations. As member of executive team, helped grow company from 6 to 34 employees and $3.5M in revenue.

Director, InterCom Group

KVO Advertising

Jun 1997 – Jan 1999(1 yr 8 mos)

Created and managed specialized group within full-service agency of online marketers specializing in SEO PR . Grew revenue from 0 to $500,000 in less than a year.

Marketing Manager

Vivo Media/Verse DDG

Jun 1996 – Jun 1997(1 yr 1 mo)

Planned and executed all marketing activities including market research, collateral development, online promotion, advertising and media relations for Vivo Media and its Web development clients. Client's included US Bank, Tektronix, Intel and Healthsouth.

Account Executive

Insync Public Relations

Mar 1995 – Jun 1996(1 yr 4 mos)

Managed and supported public relations activities for high tech clients, including Traveling Software, Intel (DMTF and PCWG) and Tektronix. Took on pro bono PR for Vivo Media before transitioning to sister company as Marketing Manager.