Meet Our Creators

  • A middle-aged man with gray hair and a gray beard, wearing a blue button-up shirt, standing outdoors with trees and yellow-green foliage in the background.

    Mark McIlraith

    Host/Founder/CEO

    The Rev. Dr. Mark McIlraith has been serving in leadership, ministry, and the academy for over 20 years in California, New York City, New Jersey, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington. Mark earned his BA at Whitworth University, his MDiv from Princeton Seminary, and his PhD from Gonzaga University. He served as pastor at the First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs (Colorado), Whitworth Community Presbyterian Church in Spokane (Washington), Moorpark Presbyterian Church (Southern California), and Lake Grove Presbyterian Church in Lake Oswego (Oregon). Mark launched soma.digital in 2023, innovating spiritual formation in the digital space and enjoys spending time with his three children and his wife, Paige.

  • A middle-aged man with short brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a white dress shirt and black blazer, smiling outdoors with greenery in the background.

    James Dirksen

    COO

    James Dirksen has over 30 years of experience working in nonprofits, start-ups, and public companies bringing products and services to the global market. He began his career as an internet security engineer in 1994 at Northrop Grumman and PwC. James specialized in performing needs analysis, designing systems and software to achieve organizational goals, and leading teams to develop and deploy the right solutions. Since 2011, James has specialized in helping non-profits and social enterprises research and deploy cost-effective tech solutions that allow them to achieve their organizational and growth goals. James lives with his wife Dana and near his six grown children in Portland, Oregon.

  • A man with glasses and a beard wearing headphones operating audio equipment in a recording studio.

    Ben Wilson / Cuaseway Collective

    Producer

    Ben Wilson has been filmmaking since before he could drive. What started out as cheesy superhero spinoffs made with neighborhood friends turned into his life’s work. After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Communications/Cinema Arts, Ben began working as a videographer and editor, producing and editing content for small and mid-sized businesses, nonprofit organizations, and various clients in fields like theater, reality television, music, acting, and sports. Ben has been a key player in developing immersive VR capabilities for soma.digital since the ministry's inception.

Meet Our Board

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  • Chair of the Board / Founding Board Member

    John Ewert values collaborative business relationships and leading technology companies through sustained rapid growth. As a business partner his over 25-year tenure includes Fortune 500 companies (5X), initial public offerings and numerous buy-side and sell-side acquisitions. Early in his career John earned his MBA from the University of California, Berkeley and as COO/CFO has led operations, development, legal, finance and administration, customer facing and investor relations functions. More recently he has served on non-profit and for-profit boards in both board chair and committee chair roles. When not indoors focused on business partnering, John enjoys spending time in the great outdoors adventuring with his wife and four daughters.

Photograph of a smiling middle-aged man with glasses, gray hair, and a beard, wearing a dark pinstripe suit, white shirt, and dark tie, against a plain brown background.


  • Secretary of the Board / Founding Board Member

    Ian King, former Beaverton city council member, earned his doctorate at George Fox University. He has his Master of Business Administration from Chapman University and Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from the University of Southern California. He currently instructs in the Management Department at the Oregon Institute of Technology.  His teachings focus on Business Administration, Ethics, and Economics.

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  • Founding Board Member

    Tyler McKinley is a senior product and intellectual property executive who has delivered digital products and technology within data, imaging, analytics, signals, mobile, SaaS, and connected devices. He is an inventor or co-inventor on twenty-one patents in fields of precision timing and geolocation, mobile devices, steganography, smart meters, synchronized metrology in power systems, and video encoding. He is dedicated to the craft of product design, development and growth, and loves building strong teams. He is a multi-time start-up founder and CEO, having his most recent venture acquired in 2017. Tyler is currently a Managing Director at GTT Group, a strategic patent advisory and transactions firm and serves as a Managing Director of Ideaship, its venture fund.

  • Board Member

    Daniel Pimentel, Director of the Oregon Reality Labs, is an Assistant Professor of Immersive Media Psychology at the School of Journalism and Communication in Portland. Daniel’s research primarily focuses on cross-reality (XR) media platforms: virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). Specifically, he conducts experimental research examining how XR storytelling experiences can contribute to prosocial attitude and behavior change across various contexts, including climate action, wildlife conservation, and mental/physical well-being. His XR projects and prototypes have been funded by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), Thompson Earth Systems Institute (TESI), and the Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC).

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  • Vice Chair of the Board / Founding Board Member

    Steve Sanders has worked at numerous startups and small businesses and multinational corporations over his forty-year career in communications, management, and marketing. He was an initial partner in launching soma.digital. Steve received a BS in Mathematics from Stanford University and an MBA from The Anderson School at UCLA. As a volunteer, he provides strategic communications consulting for one of the largest K - 8 sports and camp nonprofits in the U.S., a faith-based organization.

  • Board Member

    Tony Sturgeon is a software services and digital transformation executive with more than 20 years of experience leading enterprise sales, global account management, and complex technology programs for Fortune 1000 clients.  He serves as Vice President of Enterprise Sales at Dualboot Partners, leading the firm's move up-market by shaping mission-critical consulting and software development engagements across industries such as insurance, healthcare, capital equipment, and aerospace.  Tony earned his MBA from Portland State University's School of Business and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Oregon State University.  He lives in Lake Oswego, Oregon, with his wife and 3 sons, bringing to soma.digital a deep commitment to using technology to create meaningful, human-centered digital experiences.

-Emeritus Board Members-

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  • Founding Member / Emeritus Board Member

    Donna Davis is an expert in virtual reality (VR), digital embodiment, tech equity and inclusion, and digital social capital. At the University of Oregon in Portland, she is an associate professor and director of both the Oregon Reality Lab and the new Immersive Media Communication Master’s program that launched in Fall 2023. Her ethnographic research focuses on the potential uses of social virtual worlds, gamification, and other emerging immersive media, with a special interest in marginalized and vulnerable communities.

  • Founding Member / Emeritus Board Member

    John Kurdelak is the Executive Director at Trinity Academy, a Christian school serving students in grades 6-12 in North Portland, OR.  Before that, he was the Senior Director of Advancement at Trinity School at Greenlawn in South Bend, IN.  John has been known to take on singing projects from time to time, and he has a specific passion for ardbringing Christians together across denominational lines. He brings a breadth of advancement and nonprofit governance knowledge.  John is Vice President and Secretary of the Oregon Federation of Independent Schools, and as a 2X Notre Dame graduate, he serves on the board of the ND Club of Portland. John and his wife Claire have seven children.


  • Founding Member / Emeritus Board Member

    Chris Murphy is the pastor at Newberg First Presbyterian Church in Newberg, Oregon. He received his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary. In addition to pastoring, Chris is a spiritual director and retreat leader who occasionally teaches with Renovare, CFDM Northwest (Christian Formation and Direction Ministries), and Portland Seminary. He is excited to partner with SOMA Digital in providing creative ways to bring spiritual formation to people on a journey to know and love God deeply. Chris is also grateful for his wife Karen and two daughters, Cate and Chiara.


  • Founding Member / Emeritus Board Member

    Amy Carter received her BS in Nursing at South Dakota State University and MS in Nursing Leadership in Healthcare Systems at Regis University. She worked many years as a Registered Nurse and now enjoys fitness, gardening, reading, and cooking. She is a wife, mom of two grown children, and grandmother of two little ones. Amy finds community, family, and friendships wherever she and her husband Steve are living.