TERESA ALONSO LEÓN
ABOUT TERESA
Teresa Alonso León is the Representative of the 22nd district of the Oregon House of Representatives, and a founding member of LACE. She is the first immigrant Latina to be elected to the Oregon Legislature. The daughter of migrant farmworkers, Teresa grew up in House District 22. Teresa holds a bachelor’s degree from Western Oregon University and a Master’s in Public Administration from Portland State University. Education was Teresa’s path to success, and as a legislator, she wants to increase opportunity and access for all Oregon students. Among her recent victories is the passing of the Driver’s License for all Act, the Paid Family & Medical Leave Act, which has been nationally-recognized as the most inclusive in the country. Furthermore, she worked to help pass the Student Success Act, which will invest an unprecedented $1 billion in Oregon schools annually. She was also recently named the new Secretary for the Executive Committee of the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators. |
VERONICA BAÑUELOS
ABOUT VERONICA
Veronica Bañuelos is a bilingual / bicultural Chicana focused on Organizational Development, Intercultural Communication and Restorative Processes. As an independent consultant she spends her energy supporting people and organizations move closer to their mission and each other through team building, coaching, training, restorative processes and mediation. Her professional studies are a reflection of both her personal interests and life purpose. These practices ground her wholistic personal approach to values of social justice and love with commitment to service and healing in the world. Veronica is relationship-based leader. Her practice centers caring for relationships and connections, she brings people together in partnerships to move closer towards common goals. As a natural asset-based leader, influencer, organizer, and communicator, she knows the importance of truly listening for understanding. |
LORENA CARRILLO
ABOUT LORENA
Lorena Carrillo currently works as the Associate Director of Economic Sustainability for El Programa Hispano Católico (EPHC) and oversees programs that support members of the Latino/e/x communities with housing and energy assistance services. Previously, she served as Public Affairs and Community Relations manager for a district that manages flood infrastructure in a historic floodplain where she helped raise awareness of flood management systems, the Vanport flood, and facilitated the creation organization's first equity policy. Lorena's love for the environment had her start her professional journey with the Columbia Slough Watershed Council where she managed outreach and recreation programming to promote the restoration, enhancement, and protection of habitat and biodiversity in the Columbia Slough watershed. Lorena is a graduate of the Center for Diversity and the Environment’s E42 program and works to promote awareness, understanding, and further behaviors and policies that support social and racial equity. She holds a B.A in International and Sustainable Urban Development and a Project Management certificate from Portland State University. She also holds a certificate of French language proficiency from CIEP for France’s Ministry of Education; she is fluent in French and Spanish. |
CAROLINA CASTAÑEDA DEL RÍO
ABOUT CAROLINA
Carolina Castañeda is an executive coach, consultant, and mental health professional specializing in leadership and organizational development with a socially conscious approach. She holds a BS in Psychology from Iberoamericana University, a Specialty in Family Therapy, and a master’s degree in Behavioral Sciences from University of Guanajuato, she holds a Certificate in Nonprofit Board Consulting from BoardSource and a Certificate in Financial Success for Nonprofits from Cornell University. Carolina has worked in healthcare, and diversity, equity and inclusion for over 10 years, and is currently the Director of Community Impact at Social Ventures Partners Portland. Her work with communities that live in poverty inspired her understanding and passion on how to impact the structures of inequality. Carolina is passionate about strengthening leaders, systems and structures that support the full development of all individuals, especially those who suffer disparities and social injustice. |
SARA CURIEL PAEZ
ABOUT SARA
Sara Curiel Paez is an experienced bilingual and bi-cultural community engagement and capacity building consultant. With a background in Participatory Leadership, Sara has experience in leadership and organizational development, she brings an equity and inclusion lens to all her projects. As a first-generation Mexican American woman, Sara deeply believes that leadership happens through reflection, listening and dialogue. Sara has worked throughout Oregon as a trainer, facilitator, and DEI coach. Sara has delivered the Ford Institute Leadership Program in rural communities as well as board development and strategic planning training. She has experience developing curriculum on civic engagement for the Latino community. Internationally, Sara has worked and studied in Spain, Bulgaria and Mexico. |
CAMERINA GALVAN
ABOUT CAMERINA
Camerina Galván is a community-centric fundraiser and grant writer with over ten years of experience leading non-profits in the creation of equitable program and services. She has dedicated the last three years to supporting organizations’ fundraising strategy and exploring what equitable fundraising can look like. She is on a new path to reclaim her identity as a visual artist. Her people are from Cuautla, Jalisco and her fondest memories are of living with her grandmother in Cuautla and planting corn with her family in Los Coyotes. Camerina lives in Milwaukie and can be found gardening, listening to podcasts, and cooking. |
CECILIA GIRON
ABOUT CECILIA
Founder and owner of Giron & Associates, LLC, Cecilia Giron specializes in culturally specific executive coaching, fund & program development, and community engagement. She has over 20 years of experience empowering and inspiring underrepresented and underserved audiences around the state. Cecilia is currently an executive advisor for the Listo Family Literacy Program. Indigenous from Oaxaca, Mexico, she has dedicated her career to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts while positively impacting 1000's of Latinx children, youth, and families. With her leadership skills and commitment to the community, she has a proven track record developing and leading culturally relevant after-school programs, partnering with school districts, nonprofits and businesses. In 2013, her work was recognized by the Oregon Commission for Women as the recipient of the "Women of Achievement Award”. Other leadership roles in advocacy include Oregon State Director for The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and Director (2021) of Washington County Public Affairs Forum. |
GUADALUPE GUAJARDO
ABOUT GUADALUPE
Guadalupe Guajardo PhD, has worked as a Senior Consultant specializing in organizational and leadership development, and cultural competency. Guadalupe holds a PhD in Transformative Learning and Change from California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco; an MA/ABS in Organizational Development from the Leadership Institute of Seattle; and an MA in Theology from Mt. Angel Seminary. Guadalupe can be found out in front on issues of justice, racism and human rights. She is committed to healing and repairing the world. She brings us back to the constant search for understanding each other connecting us to an ever evolving spiritual community. Her secret formula is living in the full sum of herself: as a mixed heritage person (Indigenous Mother, Sephardi Jewish immigrant father), lesbian identified, and as a wise elder woman. |
LINDA JARAMILLO
ABOUT LINDA
Linda Jaramillo is a management and leadership consultant, utilizing her professional education and experience to support nonprofit organizations. She has over 40 years of program and executive management experience working with nonprofit and government programs in Oregon, nationally, and globally. She is a skilled advisor to organizations during executive and/or governing body transition. An ordained clergywoman in the United Church of Christ, Linda served for 10 years as Executive Minister for Justice and Witness Ministries where she oversaw the church’s work on human rights, racial, environmental, economic, and gender justice in the U.S. and around the world. Linda was born into a farm working family in Southern Colorado, where she spent her childhood and teenage years. Linda is the proud mother of two and grandmother of five amazing grandchildren! She cherishes engagement with intercultural and multilingual communities and believes that, regardless of our age, stories and wisdom are invaluable across every generation. |
ALLISON LUGO KNAPP
ABOUT ALLISON
Allison Lugo Knapp (she/hers/ella) brings over fifteen years of experience to her consulting, having worked with philanthropic and nonprofit organizations across the United States, and internationally. Allison consults in the areas of organizational development, community engagement, and program design and management. She also works with foundations to provide support for strategic grantmaking practices. She has worked as a program director at a university overseeing a national training program for foundations, as a community foundation program officer, and has served on various boards and committees nationally in the field of philanthropy. Allison is a co-founder of Latina Network of West Michigan, the largest professional development network for Latina women in the state of Michigan. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her two sons, and husband. Allison was born in Peru to Colombian parents, and enjoys sharing her love of Latin food, music, and culture with family and friends. |
LEOCADIA MONTERO-HAINLEY
ABOUT LEOCADIA
Leocadia is an Afro-Latina who helps organizations use a productive approach to address conflicts. Leocadia uses trauma-informed and popular education models to facilitate her work. She works with organizations, government agencies, families, and individuals. In her work, she addresses the subjects of: conflict resolution, DEI, and restorative justice, and forgiveness. Leocadia is a psychotherapist, trained in the Cognitive Behavior Therapy Model. She is the principal of Leocadia Consulting and an Associate with LACE Oregon. Leocadia is from the Dominican Republic, where she earned a law degree and served as a prosecutor. She loves spending time with her husband and their three boys. |
YVETTE PEREZ-CHAVEZ
ABOUT YVETTE
Yvette Perez-Chavez is a California native that has spent the last 8 years living in Oregon getting to know its landscapes and communities. Over the last 10 years Yvette has spent her career working between the worlds of academia and nonprofits. She has always had a strong interest in empowering youth and challenging institutions to adopt more culturally inclusive curriculum, practices and policies. As time went on, her interest in addressing the disparities within higher education which exist between white students and students of color grew to include the persistent inequality that continues post-graduation, the racial wealth gap. She now works within the asset building field hoping to contribute towards a more economically just society. Yvette currently lives and works in Portland Oregon. She spends her free time serving on the board of the Portland Guadalajara Sister City Association, attending community events, and going hiking. |
RUTH ZUNIGA
ABOUT ruth
Dr. Ruth Zúñiga has a PhD in clinical and community psychology with a rural and indigenous emphasis from the University of Alaska. She has been working in collaboration with community-based organizations and community leaders to address the mental and emotional health needs of the Latine community across Oregon. She has developed and managed multiple community-driven programs focused on “bringing mental health” to the Latine community, removing stigma and supporting mental health access and utilization of services by underserved communities. Dr. Zúñiga serves on several boards of directors and advisory boards of community-based organizations in Oregon. She has been teaching, researching, consulting, and presenting on the subject of Latine mental health and wellness and program evaluation for 10 years. She has been providing culturally affirming mental health services for over 15 years in the areas of resiliency, immigration, healing and trauma informed care, chronic disease management, and overall mental health concerns. She is a former associate professor, and founder of Sabiduría: Latinx Psychology Emphasis at Pacific University, an academic and clinical program focused on training culturally informed masters and doctoral level clinicians to work with the Latine community. She is the co-founder and executive director of Raices de Bienestar, an organization focuses on strengthening and fostering mental health within the Latine community. She is a licensed psychologist. Dr. Zúñiga is originally from Costa Rica and she loves the outdoors, cooking and above all spending time with her husband, daughter and furry friends. |
ELAINE RODRIGUEZ
ABOUT ELAINE
Elaine Rodriguez is a 20-year veteran of the department of social services. She has worked with marginalized communities through her job and as a community organizer in Los Angeles California, and now in Roseburg Oregon. Elaine is passionate about what she does, she is both a servant and a fierce advocate for the Latinx population. Through her outreach events, she works to improve access to public benefits, promote civic engagement, and encourage community involvement. Elaine's lifelong commitment to improving the lives of others stem from her first-hand experience of overcoming the challenges of immigration, poverty, and homelessness. Her life experience, compassion, and understanding, give her a unique perspective that allows her to bridge the gap between the Latinx community and local government/businesses. |
JESSICA RODRIGUEZ-MONTEGNA, PhD
ABOUT JESSICA
Jessica Rodriguez-Montegna is a founding member of LACE. She received a dual PhD in Political Science and in Migration Studies and has 17+ years of global expertise across the United States, Latin America and Europe in research analysis, organizational development, the political representation and leadership of women and immigrants, collaborative governance facilitation and mediation of high conflict political issues. Jessica's work is driven by concerns for the inequalities underlying the causes of migration, the structures that lead to the marginalization of vulnerable populations in the public sphere, and the limited protection of their rights. Through scholarship and activism, she focuses on engaging policymakers, advocates, and community organizations to create dialogue, challenge assumptions, and reshape institutions towards equality and justice for everyone. Jessica has also earned an M.A. in Conflict Transformation and a double B.A. in Psychology and Communications. She was raised in Texas by her hard-working immigrant parents and is a first-generation college graduate. |
ALAIDE VILCHIS-IBARRA
ABOUT ALAIDE
Alaide Vilchis Ibarra loves dogs, hiking, hanging out with family and road trips. She is a DREAMer who became a United States citizen in 2014. She found her voice testifying in Kansas’ legislature to protect access to higher education for immigrants like her. This experience sparked a passion for nonprofit work and public policy. Alaide is the Executive Director of the Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice (IMIrJ), a statewide organization that equips faith communities in Oregon to advocate for immigrant justice. Before joining IMIrJ, Alaide worked in Washington, DC leading advocacy work focused on immigration and foreign policy. She continues to be connected to foreign policy advocacy as a member of the Board of Directors of the Latin America Working Group Education Fund (LAWGEF). Having closely worked with grassroots communities, government, and nonprofits, Alaide has a passion doing work that better connects all three. |
KATHIA DAMIAN
|
NEIDEL RODRIGUEZ
|
TANIA PINEDA
|
MAYA MUNOZ-TOBON
|
ABOUT Kathia
Kathia Damian was born and raised in Anaheim, California. After earning her bachelors in Literature at the University of California Santa Cruz, she fell in love with the community-oriented nature of small towns and moved to Ashland. Through her previous experience as News Director at a student-run radio station, Kathia discovered the power of narrative as a tool for transformative justice. This influences her work as Development Manager in communicating the gap in food resources people need and the ones that exist, as well as illustrating the impact that RFU’s work has locally and statewide. Kathia believes in meeting people's material needs while fighting the systems that made inequality possible. In her free time Kathia likes to be on eight wheels, read (mostly nonfiction), and hang out with her cat named Gnocchi. |
ABOUT NEIDEL
My roots in community started long ago in my high school years after attending my first Latino Leadership conference in 1996. Then moved me to apply for the Oregon Council for Hispanic Advancement in 1997 led by Executive Director Maria Elena Campisteguy. This is where it was rooted in my passion for community. Then into my years at Portland Community college to National Hispanic University to San Jose State. I focused on participation with organizations, Pueblo de San Jose Kiwanis to LULAC in college until Graduation from SJSU in 2007. I also became a member of the Hispanic Chamber of commerce Silicon Valley. This has fostered connections in the community but helped build my business as an Allstate Insurance Broker for 15 years in Almaden Valley. In 2017 my younger sister’s health brought changes to our family and relocated me back to the Portland Metro area. And found an insurance servicing job at AAA Oregon/Idaho and opportunities to attend Adelante Mujeres events, Latine Home Fair at PCC, and Latino Cultural Festival in Downtown Hillsboro. And with encouragement from HMC Leadership Cohort class 17, I applied for the Outreach role at AAA Oregon. And now my current role as the community outreach and partnerships specialist for AAA Oregon/Idaho has been instrumental in forging meaningful connections across Oregon and southern Idaho. My work provides me with participation in and organizing events like SOLVE, Sunday Parkways, Latine events and regional gathering all of which serve to uplift and strengthen our communities. With participation with over 50+ events annually it takes strategic financial planning, marketing, and commitment. Along with commitment to the internal employee resource group Unidos, providing bilingual resources for employees to succeed in their daily service. Designing a resource page to utilize those Spanish tools for work colleagues for both states. The dedication to my role and community has been recognized by my peers and other organizations. My enthusiastic advocacy for Hispanic business community and a resolute member to LACE. |
ABOUT TANIA
Tania Pineda is a bilingual community engagement coordinator for a non-profit organization in Southern Oregon. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Innovation and Leadership with a minor in Spanish from Southern Oregon University. Following the devastating loss of her home in the 2020 wildfires, Tania became acutely aware of the disparities impacting her community, particularly within the Latinx community. This experience inspired her to transition into the non-profit sector, where she is eager to acquire new skills to support those in need. In her personal life, Tania enjoys spending quality time with her two children, attending their soccer games, and camping on weekends whenever possible. She believes in the power of food to unite people and create meaningful connections. Tania's dedication to her community and her family reflects her commitment to making a positive impact in the world around her. |
ABOUT MAYA
My name is Maya Muñoz-Tobón (they/she/ella/elle) and I am a gender-fluid Latine immigrant, a Colombian living in diaspora in Oregon. I am a committed arts and environmental justice advocate, and a place-based, political, and sensorial facilitator. I have been a community educator and facilitator for over two decades, as an advocate for public health, immigrant rights, environmental justice, and community-based cultural development. All of this work has taught me the importance of connection, and of the ability to heal in relationship with others in order to create worlds we want to live in. And throughout my diverse roles I have seen how so many of us need systems and opportunities that give us space to cultivate our resilience and self-care, in order to keep showing up for ourselves and others. I understand that we as individuals do not live in a vacuum but in structures and systems that have exploited, overused, and marginalized our humanity and natural environments, and that has hurt us all deeply. This is the reason I am doing the work I am doing, to find our innate collective wisdom to creatively build safe and dignifying lives and communities. I invite people to find that safety within their own bodies through self-reflection, systems thinking, imagery, movement, rituals, and more, in order to find alternative and new meanings to the challenges faced. I am a Registered Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist (through ISMETA). My work is guided by the connections of our cellular, social, and political contexts to our physical, mental, and spiritual health. I do this through body-based awareness, and nervous system work to integrate traumas, challenges, and ancestral gifts. In addition to bringing in the power of the art-making process that nourishes our collective resilience and creativity to build new worlds. |
CLAUDIA ARANA COLEN
|
MIRYAM VALDIVIA-ROMERO
|
ABOUT CLAUDIA
Claudia has been a policy and systems advocate and change maker for twenty-five years, with the majority of her time spent working with and advocating for immigrants, refugees, and Black, Indigenous, People of Color. Her public sector experience includes community development work and work with the city-wide race and social justice initiative within the Seattle Mayor Nickel's office; constituent services within U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell's office; and seven years aligning public health and racial equity policy and systems change efforts. Claudia is now part of the development and fundraising team at Borealis Philanthropy, a national philanthropic intermediary supporting a range of progressive causes including trans communities, LGBTQ2S+ leaders of color, Black-led movements, community safety initiatives, racial equity in journalism, and more. Immediately prior, Claudia served as the Development Director for Unite Oregon, a statewide race and social justice organization. During her time there, she led a strong fundraising strategy that tripled the organization’s budget, strengthened relationships with institutional funders, and streamlined internal processes for fundraising and prospecting. Claudia holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Washington, a Bachelor's degree in English from Duke University, and a certificate in Financial Success for Nonprofits Certificate from Cornell University. Claudia is a native of Baltimore and has lived in the Pacific NW for 25 years. The daughter of immigrants from Colombia and Peru, she currently lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and three young children. |
ABOUT MIRYAM
Miryam Valdivia-Romero is a Peruvian-American Life and Leadership coach, consultant and speaker, specializing in executive equity-centered leadership coaching, organizational development, program design and management, team building, and mediation. As a first-generation college graduate, daughter of immigrants, woman in leadership and military veteran, she has navigated systems of oppression and assimilation from an early age. It is her mission to create supportive environments where everyone can thrive. Miryam holds a bachelor's in criminal justice and criminology and a master's in legal studies from Arizona State University, with a focus on international law and human rights. Her expertise helps clients challenge systemic inequalities to create inclusive environments. A certified international master coach in neurolinguistic programming (NLP), Miryam uses advanced techniques to reprogram negative thought patterns and enhance communication. Her trauma-informed approach ensures sensitive and supportive coaching, promoting healing and growth. Skilled in compassionate communication and mediation, Miryam fosters authentic relationships and effective conflict resolution, crucial for supportive work environments. Miryam has over 10 years of experience in strategic planning and project management in diverse industries such as higher education, international and domestic NGOs and the male dominated military. Miryam is a connector, passionate about cultures and learning foreign languages. |