Staff

Greg Brown: Founder, Director (School and Camp), Literacy Specialist, Teacher (Literacy, Math, Science, etc.)

Greg is originally from the Boston area. He studied media arts at Emerson College and focused on audio production, film, video, photography, and design. After college, he immersed himself in the local Boston music scene. He played in a band, worked as a sound engineer, and sold audio equipment.

Eventually, he returned to school to become a special education teacher. After completing his master's program, he moved to Portland and started his teaching career with PPS. He taught as a special ed teacher for several years. Then, he became a classroom teacher and was honored as Teacher of the Year.

While teaching with PPS, he operated Activate, which offered arts-based summer camps and private dyslexia tutoring. After 15 years with PPS, he resigned to pursue Activate full-time. When COVID hit, Activate transitioned into a progressive microschool.

When he's not teaching or running camps, he records music under the name ‘gbtn.’ He also enjoys collecting records, hiking, swimming, cycling, studying orthography, plant-based cooking, and reading about radical approaches to education. 

Carissa Harrison: Teacher (Literacy & Math), Summer Camp Staff

Bio coming soon.

Brenna Hodges: Teacher (Art), Aftercare Staff, Summer Camp Staff

Brenna grew up in northern Minnesota and studied Communications at the College of St. Benedict. She was then accepted to a teaching program, Teach for America, and moved to Nashville to pursue a career as a first-grade teacher.

Over the next decade, she received her master’s in elementary education, coached and mentored incoming teachers, helped open a new school specializing in project-based learning, and became a lead art teacher for grades K-6. She loved all of her educational roles, but becoming an art teacher was especially fulfilling as it perfectly blended her skills and interests. 

Brenna moved from Nashville to Portland with her husband in July 2022. She spent her initial year pursuing her own art career but has deeply missed working with students in a school setting. She is thrilled to be part of the team at Activate and can’t wait to see each student’s creativity come to life.