About

Mission

Our mission is to build strong young lives
so that our community will thrive.

Our mission is simple but far from easy. We want to do everything possible to equip our youth to become positive and thriving adults in our community. Our mission is the heartbeat of our organization and it guides everything we do.

In addition to our mission, our core values and our four pillars continue to guide the work we do.

Our core values are as follows:

Family
Advancing Christ's Kingdom
Honest Communication
Collaboration
Innovation
Excellence
Integrity

Our four pillars shape the aspects of every program or service we offer:

Create Healthy Family Culture
Encourage High Character
Develop Future Leaders
Invest in Personal Relationships

Together, these 3 guiding ideals lead the way to high quality programming and care that all build strong, young lives!

Staff

Liavaa "Jake" Moevao
Executive Director

Liavaa Iakopo Moevao is known to most, as “Jake.” Prior to joining the Team here, Jake served as a Youth Pastor at Calvary Corvallis & also was involved with coaching high school varsity football at both Santiam Christian & Crescent Valley. Jake is very passionate about doing Family & Leadership well. Outside of work, Jake loves: spending time with his wife & daughter, hanging out with Family, traveling, watching sports, & having time alone to play sports video games.

Justin Talbert
Operations Manager

Justin Talbert is the Operations Manager and has been apart of SSYO since July of 2013. He and his wife, Amber, were married in 2018. He earned a Certificate of Biblical Studies through the Cornerstone School of Ministry in 2012. He is passionate about serving through the church, leadership, hard rock music, and good food. In his free time he enjoys cooking, board games, and spending quality time with his wife on dates.

Anna Jennings
Program Manager & RISE After School Director

Anna Jennings has been working at SSYO since October 2013. Anna graduated from Oregon State University in 2012 with a degree in Human Development and Family Science – Early Childhood Education. She has a passion for education and working with youth, and loves being able to help students navigate both academic and life issues. In her free time she loves being outdoors, reading, and traveling.

Jessica Henderson
THRIVE Kids & Development Director

Originally based out of Nashville, Tennessee, she and her husband Mitchell moved to Corvallis in 2017 when they felt God’s call on them to move to the Pacific Northwest. She has a B.A. in Foreign Languages with a concentration in Spanish as well as a B.A. in Economics and has always had a passion for inter-cultural urban development. Since her graduation from college she had the opportunity to teach Spanish to kindergarteners, work in refugee resettlement, and be a coach to inner city kids applying to college. Currently, Jessica enjoys exploring the West coast, hanging with kiddos and investing in the local community through church ministry.

Mitchell Henderson
THRIVE Teens Director

Mitchell began at SSYO in the summer of 2019. He graduated from Tennessee Tech University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2017 before he and his wife, Jessica, moved to Corvallis from Nashville, TN. They have since both joined our team here at SouthSide. He is passionate about loving God and loving other people in his work and in his personal life. His interests include exploring new places, playing and talking about sports, and spending time with family and friends.

Ashley Renz
RISE After School Staff

Ashley has been working at Southside’s after school RISE program for almost 3 years! Ashely says, that she has always had a desire to work with kids in some way, and our after school program was the perfect opportunity for her to do so. As well as working with kids, she enjoys reading, puzzles, cats and dogs, and watching the TV show Psych!