CORE members

Quincy Brown

Pronouns: he/him/his
Affiliation: We All Rise
County of residence: Multnomah

Why does racial equity matter to you?

Racial equity matters to me because although I hold trauma and generational pain in my body, the strength and passion my community holds fills me with light. I know that my ancestors, my community, and my city deserve a world where our culture and every culture is celebrated, cultivated, and freely expressed. I love my hometown and believe that working together we can find pathways to better support each other regardless. I hope that the CORE will lead Portland to further correct a generational pattern of displacement onto its indigenous, black and brown folk.

Related experience

I grew up in Northeast always learning about structural and historical inequalities deeply nested within Portland’s history. From an early age I wanted to challenge perspectives around school access, housing security, and environmental justice. My academic research focuses on the effects of gentrification and displacement on communities of color. I left Portland to attend Claremont McKenna College ‘19 where I studied urban planning focusing on race and public space. I am the co-founder of We All Rise: a Black and woman-led consulting firm developing strategic partnerships across sectors to advance the integrity of community development at state and local levels. I am excited to continue the fight for racial justice in my hometown!

Brandon Culbertson

Pronouns: he/him
Affiliation: Beaverton School District
County of residence: Washington

Why does racial equity matter to you?

Our survival at every level depends on it, as a species, a society, a community.

Related experience

Brandon is from the Northern Arapaho Nation (WY) and Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes (MT). He is an alumnus of the University of Oregon and Wind River Tribal College. He has 15 years’ experience working on and off reservation within Native Education. Currently he works as the Native Education Coordination and Development TOSA for the Beaverton School District. His work there involves implementing tribal history/shared history, tribal language(s) and Indigenous science into curriculum, CTE and classrooms (K-12). Brandon has had success progressing institutional change in partnership with the board and staff to include disaggregating AI/AN Data, changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day, recognizing Native American Heritage month, and renaming Timberland to Tumwater Middle School. He currently serves as the vice chair of the Oregon Department of Education American Indian/Alaska Native Advisory committee and serves as a sergeant within the Oregon National Guard.

Anthony Deloney

Pronouns: he/him/his
Affiliation: Self Enhancement, Inc.
County of residence: Multnomah

Why does racial equity matter to you?

Racial equality has always come down to a simple belief for me, “If you are not at the table, you're on the menu”. Black and brown people have been left out of the conversation on far too many decisions in our city, county, state and country. There has been a racial reckoning across our country, and I'm excited to play my part in being a loud voice for the people I represent.

Related experience

I am a 47-year native of Portland. Specifically, Northeast Portland. I have dedicated my entire professional life to serving my community and I’m currently in my 25th year at Self Enhancement, Inc. I am a father, husband, coach, mentor, teacher and servant to those around me and I believe I have a lot to offer this committee.

Rebecca Descombes

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Affiliation: Multnomah County
County of residence: Washington

Why does racial equity matter to you?

I am Inupiaq Eskimo from Utqiagvik, Alaska, a very remote town located at the top of Alaska. As remote as Utqiagvik is, I grew up in a pretty diverse community. Racial equity to me means that all voices can and will be heard in a safe and open environment for the collective good.

I didn't learn the word and/or meaning of diversity until I moved to Portland about 10 years ago, though I knew and practiced the concept very well. My grandfather, Eben Hopson, paved the way for many Alaskan Native / Native American communities throughout Alaska's territories in the 60s-80s. The biggest lesson I learned from him is the importance of having a voice and to speak up for or against systems of oppression that doesn't generally support Native voices. Times have changed since then yet there are still communities that still have no representation and/or voices to be heard on policies that directly impact them. I was raised and taught to continue to fight for Native communities wherever I may live as I have found a home right here in Washington County.

Nabin Dhimal

Pronouns: he/him/his
Affiliation: Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO)
County of residence: Multnomah

Why does racial equity matter to you?

As a refugee and a person of color with my lived experience, racial equity work is very personal and close to my heart. Racial equity concedes us to recognize and acknowledge the historical perpetual systems of oppression and exclusion. Personally, racial equity is about breaking a cycle of marginalization and disenfranchisement in society. Racial equity is crucial in dismantling oppressive systems to cultivate a more inclusive, equitable, and just society.

Related experience

Currently, I work at the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization as a program coordinator in School Linked Youth Academic Programs overseeing the program’s vision and assuring it aligns with best practices in the field. Specifically, with Restorative Justice, culturally responsive teaching, social and emotional learning.

In my role as a program assistant, I worked in developing culturally specific programs, create opportunities, policy advocacy to dismantle barriers for ESL students in Portland Public Schools. I was instrumental in organizing PPS’s Youth Leadership Council to increase access to leadership opportunities for historically underrepresented and marginalized students. Also, as a Community Youth Ambassador, I worked at the City of Portland’s Parks for the New Portlanders program to design culturally specific programs to make sure services and spaces are welcoming and accessible to communities of color. I advocated, organized, and engaged youth and families in identifying barriers and challenges related to access to services.

With a broader community, I have been doing equity and decolonizing work as a board member at the Willamette River Network and Unite Oregon’s Multnomah County Leadership Council.

Jamila Aurora Dozier

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Affiliation: Portland Housing Bureau
County of residence: Multnomah

Why does racial equity matter to you?

As a person holding multiple sociocultural marginalized identities, the pursuit of racial equity is vital to my very existence and overall survival. Racial equity matters as every human being deserves the right to self agency, housing, food, wellness, joy, community, safety, and radical imagination. Racial equity allows us to create social systems that are rooted in collectivism, healing, and love, and move away from the oppressive and insidious institution of White Supremacy. Centering racial equity as the framework toward liberation allows for us to acknowledge and affirm the experiences, movements, contributions, brilliance, beauty, livelihoods and contexts of Black/African Diasporic, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian/Pacific Diasporic peoples, while dismantling the systems that have, for far too long, plagued our communities and prohibited them from fulfilling their own destinies.

Related experience

For the past two years, I have served on the Human Rights Commission for the City of Portland, working collectively to provide policy recommendations to address houselessness, racist policing structures, and racial and gender discrimination. With the Human Rights Commission on hiatus due to the lack of staff capacity within the Office of Equity and Human Rights, I am looking for a new way to create equitable change where I live, especially in the midst of the global pandemic, natural disasters, and current political climate. In a professional sense, I serve as the East Portland Policy Coordinator for the Portland Housing Bureau, working toward creating housing stabilization for Portlanders who have been displaced, and implementing preventative programs to prevent further displacement. Aside from my work at the Portland Housing Bureau, I am an independent consultant doing strategic, organizational equity work, training, and workshops for a plethora of organizations and individuals with varied foci and needs.

Nura Elmagbari

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Affiliation: Portland Refugee Support Group
County of residence: Washington

Why does racial equity matter to you?

Without racial equity we will never truly be a civilized society that works together for a common good. Racial equity matters because until it is reached, we will always have a population of the human race that will feel subservient to another and I do not want to live in a world like that.

Related experience

I am a Muslim woman who arrived into this country as a refugee. I have been in this country since I was a child but not much has changed in terms of how people perceive me and what I can accomplish. I want to change the perception about Muslim women as well as do my part to improve my community, all while encouraging other Muslim women to become more involved. I have two years of experience in community and system building, non-profit work, youth development, and working with minority groups. The experience and knowledge I would bring is how to communicate with different communities by developing relationships and taking the time to humbly learn about people, their needs, their struggles, and their desires to live in an inclusive community.

Saara Hirsi

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Affiliation: Advocacy Consulting Refugee Community
County of residence: Multnomah

Why does racial equity matter to you?

Racial equity is matter to me because I believe that it is a process beginning of inclusive. I am disabled immigrant/refugee community and person of color. Disabled refugee community will like to get access, opportunity, and to achieve their dreams. Racial equity recognizes and acknowledge that advantage and barriers exist that we all don’t all start from the same place.

Related experience

I am a community organizer, mentor, and working as advocacy consulting for disabled refugee community. I was addressing racial equity barrier impact disabled refugee community during the course of my education, trainings, and volunteers. I had ability to create program and did awareness events support for disabled refugee community. I served Oregon Commission for the Blind and Portland Commission on Disability.

Wade Hopkins

Pronouns: he/him/they
Affiliation: Portland YouthBuilders and the NE STEAM Coalition
County of residence: Multnomah

Why does racial equity matter to you?

I grew up in Portland and have seen many waves of immigration and migration. Racial equity matters to me because there is beauty and strength in diversity. If we want to live in strength and beauty we must foster inclusion and equity across our community. I love the many eras of Portland and am committed to helping systems adopt equitable plans, policies and procedures. I do so with a confidence that anti-racism and racial equity help create the community we need to face the challenges of the 21st century.

Related experience

I am a member of the Digital Inclusion Network, a coalition of community organizations interested in raising awareness about digital equity barriers and developing solutions to bridging the digital divide. I am also a member of the NE STEAM Coalition. The NE STEAM Coalition was organized in 2014 with the goal of ensuring that all children of color in the Portland metro area, particularly African American children, have equitable access to STEAM education, activities, and careers in technology. I have served a full term on the board of Kinship House. Kinship House provides comprehensive outpatient therapy and advocacy for children experiencing foster care and adoption. I have also been a community partner with OMSI, IRCO, Multnomah County Library, and Senior Centers in my role as the technology program manager at Portland YouthBuilders. This work was focused on digital equity and internet safety.

Maria Magallon

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Affiliation: Clackamas County
County of residence: Clackamas

Why does racial equity matter to you?

I come from a migrant farmworker family; my parents are from small countryside villages in Mexico. I was born in Texas; my parents moved with the seasonal crops so I consider Mount Angel, Oregon my home town. Racism and discrimination were evident to me at a very young age. We were one of a few Mexican families in a predominantly white German town. I have experienced firsthand the effects of racism from being referred to as intruders to being placed in a special needs classroom because I was not fluent in English. My childhood experiences shaped me in to the social justice advocate I am today. I am very passionate about doing what I can to dismantle systems of oppression and lifting up underrepresented communities. It is important to engage diverse communities in planning conversations and utilize their strengths and experiences to determine how to best meet their needs.

Related experience

I have been employed with Clackamas County for almost 25 years; for 20 years I worked in public health and social services providing direct case management to farmworker families and families who were houseless. For the past five years my focus has been on evaluating services, policies and procedures to assure they are equitable and there is meaningful community involvement for underrepresented populations.

Ernesto Oliva

Pronouns: he/him/el
Affiliation: Unite Oregon
County of residence: Multnomah

Why does racial equity matter to you?

Racial equity is essential to me because it means we as humans are more intentional about building a functioning and inclusive society that serves everyone. Equity and equality go hand-in-hand. An example I often use to explain this concept to my students is: Imagine if one day I came into the classroom with 20 pairs of shoes to gift them to each student – that is equality. However, let me ask you this, does every student have the same shoe size? No. That is where equity comes into play. To be equitable, I would have to know each student’s shoe size, favorite colors, and more. Racial equity works similarly but goes further into personal and cultural identity, recognizing the harm of the past and being culturally responsive. In addition, it is identifying the barriers for underserved communities and working collectively to stop generational trauma. I look forward to working alongside other community-driven leaders who share the same goal in this committee.

Related experience

I am a product of hardworking immigrant farm workers born in a small border town near Yuma, Arizona. I identify as Queer-Latinx-first-generation (Mexican), and I am passionate about working with refugees, immigrants, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, at-risk youth, and low-income communities. As the Washington County Director for Unite Oregon, I focus on community-centered work, leadership development, grassroots fundraising, equitable strategic planning, and political advocacy. One of our many initiatives includes the economic involvement of community leaders who work to obtain pragmatic change, resources, and opportunities to ensure the wellness, sustainability, and safety of all marginalized communities. My goal is to empower diverse community leaders by providing them with the tools needed to enact change and the confidence to sit at the table with decision-makers who can uplift their voices in their community.

Daniela Ortiz

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Affiliation: Portland State University
County of residence: Washington

Why does racial equity matter to you?

I believe that in order for historically underserved communities to be able to thrive, their voices need to be heard. We need to ask the community members what they need, as opposed to taking action from what others think they need. There’s no better way of getting an answer to a question than to just ask it, listen, and take action from there. Racial equity is important to me because it’s about listening to the people that haven’t been heard, and getting each person what they need to not just survive, but thrive. A happy and healthy community requires everyone to come together. I believe it takes the whole village to move forward, but the pueblos need to have outlets to speak and be heard.

Related experience

I grew up in a low-income community, first generation immigrant along with my parents. I had the wonderful opportunity of volunteering in different parts of our barrio, thanks to my mother who was always an active leader in the community. My brothers and I would volunteer at schools, churches, cultural centers, and even attend marches alongside my parents. I have seen what collaborative action from the people can do, and I’m excited to see what we will accomplish working together.

Tristan Penn

Pronouns: he/him/his
Equity hashtag: #HowDoesRaceAffectThis
Affiliation: NTEN
County of residence: Multnomah

Why does racial equity matter to you?

My lived experience as a Diné (Navajo) Man, as well as a Black Man growing up in Central Kansas profoundly shaped my deep and unshakable relationship with racial equity. Indeed, my family, felt the impact of structural, systemic, and institutionalized racism throughout our lives. These early experiences shaped and molded who I am and how I now navigate through the world as a Black Man and a Navajo Man. Although these iterations of racism were always covertly or overtly at play as a child and adolescent, my parents endeavored to instill a strong sense of our family's unique racial identity in my siblings and I. My mom worked hard to enforce and instill Diné culture and identity into my upbringing while my dad taught me about the dignity and pride of being black. Conversely, they also were acutely aware of how important it was to understand and recognize the systems working against us; the racial inequity. They were my first teachers about the systems of racial inequity. Racial Equity matters to me because members of our community deserve to live, work, play, grow, and THRIVE in an equitable society. If I have the opportunity to work towards racial equity and be a part of dismantling the systems that have long marginalized Black, Indigenous, and people of color, I will always choose "yes".

Related experience

I began my professional DEI work with Pacific Educational Group's three-year cohort/professional development initiative "Beyond Diversity: Courageous Conversations I & II" while working for Boys & Girls Club and Lawrence Public School and recently completed Beyond Diversity III at the National Summit for Courageous Conversations in New Orleans. Additionally, I've served on previous organizations' Equity Teams and was a facilitator for DEI in the workplace. Additionally, the work that I have most recently worked on in my current role at NTEN has been the implementation of Racial Affinity Spaces at the annual national conference my organization puts on, The Nonprofit Technology Conference; as well as the formation of a DEI committee on our organization's board. We've implemented so many more changes and I'm so excited about all of the upcoming impact that our organization will make because of this important work.

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