| Lani Williams | Lani's work with youth in both residential and therapeutic foster care settings sparked her interest in serving youth involved in the juvenile justice system. Lani’s goal is to coordinate better prevention services to divert youth away from the juvenile justice system and support them and their families. |
| Cindy Daniels | Currently, Cindy is employed at a county behavioral health clinic working with individuals experiencing severe mental health issues.It is her belief that people can heal from mental illness and go on to achieve their life goals. Cindy grew up in rural Oregon and values the environment and believes we are all connected to the natural world as well as each other. She is interested in mental health practices that connect nature and people. The impact of grief and loss on an individual and society is another area of interest to her which she would like to focus on as a social worker. |
| Namon Franklin | Namon worked at Black Parent Initiative, where he helped set up their men's mental wellness program. As an African-American clinician, Namon wants to work with Black families to help understand their mental health, as well as, disorders. |
| Ambur Plaster | Ambur has worked in healthcare for over sixteen years. As the Deputy Director for Telehealth services at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Ambur is interested in bridging the divide between traditional and modern therapeutic interventions specifically with attention to the mind/body connection. |
| Christine Little | Christine is a Lummi Nation tribal member and first generation student, currently acting as a liaison for her tribe's behavioral health department and tribal school. As a Certified Peer Counselor and Agency Affiliated Counselor, Christine's position provides extra support to those in school who have mental health clinicians and attend the Lummi Nation School. |
| Stephanie Cordell | Stephanie is an artist, social worker, educator, and so much more. As a social worker, she sees social work as art, and is finding the art in being in relationship with others. |
| Rita Pinchot | Rita Pinchot has worked in the social work field for 15 years, and started out working with young people in residential treatment. She currently works in schools providing mental health services and advocating for student needs. Rita is passionate about increasing access to services in rural communities with a focus on youth-friendly models of care. |
| Carla Canesco-Maca | Carla began her social worker career as a Bilingual immigration specialist, and has continued her work with this population as supervisor at a group home for immigrant and refugee youth. As a Mexican-American, she enjoys working with Hispanic/Latinx adolescents and families, and hopes to one day help educate her community on resources and knowledge on dissolving the stigma behind mental health. |
| Diana Cerventes Cuevas | Diana Cervantes Cuevas identifies as a first-generation Mexican-American and a member of the Latine community. She is passionate about supporting families through the process of diagnosis and establishing strong network systems within her community. Diana aims to increase the awareness of mental health within the Latine community. |
| Priscila Rosales | Priscila is dedicated to community outreach, community health work and advocacy work, predominantly using her bilingual/ bicultural skills to serve Hispanic/ Latinx communities. She strives to uplift and build resiliency within community members by listening and navigating systems together. |
| Sarah Rushen | Sarah has had an interest in becoming a social worker since the beginning of her healthcare career as a care coordinator at a cancer treatment center. As a BIPOC healthcare professional, Sarah has an interest in reducing healthcare disparities for BIPOC communities and strives to provide culturally competent care to the populations she serves. |
| Lucy Baldino | Lucy has practiced as a nurse assistant in Southern Oregon, served houseless youth and families with basic need items and housing resources, and piloted a program within a mental health clinic, serving as an integrated mental health case manager within a primary care clinic. Lucy believes that something magical happens when a team of providers work together to collaborate on the ways to best meet the needs of individuals within our community. |
| Keterinne Camey Requec | Keterinne began her social work career providing case management to low-income families and their children through a nonprofit Head Start program. She is passionate about working with marginalized communities and her goal is to help them access and receive resources to better their lives. |
| August White | August is passionate about community-driven and restorative solutions to gaps in care systems. They hope to work in palliative care, death advocacy, and bereavement for medically under-served communities such as trans and gender non-comforming individuals, those experiencing houselessness, and rural communities. |
| Kristy Hines | Kristy takes pride in serving the Black/African American (AA) community by providing Doula services (prenatal, birthing, postpartum, and bereavement), resources, and advocacy. She hopes to earn her Master’s in Social Work and continue a career within Hospice. Kristy’s life motto is “I just want to love on people.” |
| Jovanna Centre(Bishop Paiute/Standing Rock Sioux) | Jovanna is an enrolled member of the Bishop Paiute Tribe of Bishop, CA and brings over 20 years of non-profit experience, and providing services in rural CA, OR, and WA. Increasing access for BIPOC to behavioral healthcare is a focus Jovanna is pursuing through a multicultural lens as a Native American provider in a community mental health agency in Walla Walla, WA. |
| Bianey Jiménez | Bianey Jiménez has worked with the Latine community from Southern Oregon for the past 15 years and has experience in many social work sectors, including domestic violence, immigration, and education. Bianey enjoys serving the community by using culturally appropriate approaches and centering diversity, equity, and inclusion in her work. |
| René Tago | Rene’ Tago's passion is mental health. She currently works as a skills trainer for intensive outpatient youth in The Dalles, Oregon. |
| Craton Highways | Craton has used his lived experiences as refugee from Myanmar to educate others and advocated for increased employment and recreational opportunities for immigrant and refugee communities in Portland. As a published author, poet, ESL teacher, and LGBTQ+ rights activist, Craton often conducts educational workshops for his international audience. |
| Eleanor Crescenzi | Recognizing disparities in end-of-life services within her community led to Eleanor's decision to become a hospice social worker. She appreciates the person-centered message of hospice and is committed to supporting a dignified quality of life for all. Eleanor seeks to reexamine the current hospice model in order to increase services to individuals with SPMI as well as individuals experiencing houselessness. |
| Mayra Itzel Capstrán | As an immigrant clinician, Mayra has devoted her career to building culturally inclusive therapeutic partnerships. Mayra is trained in culturally centered CBT, native medicine, native traditional health and wellness, and school mental health. Mayra is a staunch advocate of refugee and immigrant communities. |
| Michelle Zellers | Michelle is a queer, disabled student with a lifelong visual processing disorder. They plan to specialize in providing individual and group therapy for disabled clients. Their approach to therapy draws on insights and perspectives from the disability rights and disability justice movements. |
| Hezekiah Rinn | Hezekiah became immersed in the field of social work providing truancy case management services. Passionate about building on the strengths of individuals, Hezekiah’s orientations include ABA, ESDM, and CBT practices. |
| Caryn Shebowich(They/She) | Caryn is a white, queer, Ashkenazi Jewish lover of nonviolent communication, facilitation and learning peoples' stories. As the child of healthcare professionals, Caryn grew up knowing that humans have the right to integrated health care, and she is committed to contributing to a future where that is a reality. |
| Ana Arredondo-Franco | As a bilingual and bicultural Latina, Ana approaches social work through a culturally informed lens. Ana is working towards the school of social work certification, where she looks forward to using macro skills to influence educational policy. |
| Diana Molina | Diana provides case management for at-risk youth and their families. As a Latina, she is passionate about supporting Latin-American communities and advocating for social justice issues surrounding mental health access. Her future goals are to work in an integrated setting to continue to support and advocate for equal access to mental health services for her community. |
| Molly Kingsley Holzshu | For most of her life, Molly has been involved with the Deaf and hard of hearing community; a group of people who have their own culture, language, traditions, and values. Her culmination of experiences have allowed her to see the systemic barriers in medical and mental health services. She is enthusiastic about furthering her advocacy for direct access to healthcare through a culturally sensitive lens. |
| Haku Kealiihoalani Toshie Mease | Haku is a gender expansive, chronically sick, and hard of hearing Japanese person whose families are Hawaiian, Japanese, and White. Haku’s current work facilitating holistic wraparound care at a Culturally specific organization centers Culture as prevention by holding the duality of short-term intervention and long-term vision based strategies. |
| Kendhal Batiste-Ball | As an African American woman born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Kendahl has a strong desire to become another resource for her community in the behavioral health field, continuing to advocate for equitable service delivery in a way that actually serves the needs of historically marginalized communities. |
| Ferns Jensine | Ferns works primarily with queer youth at an independent living program who are transitioning out of homelessness and/or incarceration. As a queer and transgender individual, Ferns is passionate about working alongside LGBTQ youth and adults to support their social and emotional well-being. |
| Celeste Jenisch | Celeste hopes to eventually become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a specific focus on supporting individuals experiencing both developmental disabilities and mental health concerns, and to bring greater awareness to the healthcare community regarding the needs of this population. |
| Olivia Bormann | Olivia is a queer, biracial social work practitioner who enjoys working with QTBIPOC folks. She's interested in supporting individuals through one-on-one and group work, as well as working at the mezzo and macro levels to address policies and practices that are harmful. |
| Michael Velasquez | Michael's passions are positioned in using a social work lens to transform the community and lives of those he collaborates with. He specializes in providing strengths-based and client-centered practices that are trauma informed. When he’s not providing a social work service to his community he is outside enjoying the wonders of Southern Oregon. |
| Taylor Guzman | Taylor is passionate about mental healthcare advocacy, intersectional equity, and bridging the gap in access to healthcare for the Latino community. |