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Jane Jarrett has seen the best of times and the worst of times at the Architecture Foundation of Oregon (AFO). The organization’s executive director announced Wednesday that she will retire from the group on Dec. 31.

鈥淚t was good time as opposed to a bad time,鈥� she said, noting that a need to spend more time with her family was a key factor in the decision. 鈥淲e have a very strong board and very strong staff.鈥�

The group has made vast strides during Jarrett’s 16-year tenure at the helm, according to Hoffman Construction Executive Vice President Bart Eberwein, who formerly served on AFO’s board.

鈥淲hen Jane came on board, the organization was limping along,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t didn’t look great. It was little clubby (and) didn’t have as broad a reach as it does now.鈥�

Eberwein is an example of Jarrett’s efforts to broaden the group’s influence. When she took over as executive director, the board featured almost entirely architects. Her vision was to include construction and engineering professionals to the mix; now only about 10 of the board’s 30 members are in architecture.

Outreach efforts went hand in hand with those to boost fundraising. When Jarrett joined AFO, she was the only paid staffer and she worked only part time. Now the group has four full-time staff members.

鈥淚t is almost hard to remember what it was like,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he only income came from a couple of different fundraisers. We needed to diversify our revenue.鈥�

Success in those endeavors resulted in an increased budget that has allowed the AFO to sponsor public forums.

鈥淲e did weeklong forum on the Columbia River Crossing (in 2010),鈥� she said. 鈥淲e felt the public wasn’t getting the deep and broad coverage that they needed. We were delving into the design of the project. It was a real honor to work with people on the project.鈥�

The AFO also has added an outreach program to put building professionals in schools. The program has grown from serving 800 students in 2003 to serving more than 4,500 students in the Portland-metro area.

鈥淭he growth has been fairly organic,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t has been largely word of mouth from the teachers.鈥�

Building professionals spend 20 hours during a six-week period receiving training and then teaching area schoolchildren about the various aspects of the construction process.

Roderick Ashley, president of AFO’s board, said that continuing to build that program will be a key duty of the next director. He said he is hoping to have Jarrett’s replacement signed on by mid to late summer.

鈥淲e want to continue to strengthen the Architects in Schools program,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 suspect we will look national but focus regionally.鈥�

Jarrett said that while there were projects she wishes the foundation could have taken on during her tenure, she’s proud of its accomplishments.

鈥淭he nature of a nonprofit is that there is never enough time or money to get all of the things done,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e made tough choices, and I am really proud of what we did with the resources we have had.鈥�