Baher Butti
Portland, Oregon
A member of the board of the Center for Intercultural Organizing, Dr. Butti immigrated to the United States from Iraq three years ago. Since that time, he has become a vocal advocate for the rights of immigrants and refugees in Oregon.
Tim Conmee
Maine
An active community leader with Maine People’s Alliance, Tim is also a nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Among other activities, Tim has played a key role in outreach to small business owners.
Gary Delgado
Oakland, California
Formerly Executive Director of the Applied Research Center, Gary was an initial organizer of ACORN, a lead organizer with the National Welfare Rights Organization, and a co-founder and director of Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO). He was a scholar-in-residence at the Institute for the Study of Social Change at UC Berkeley.
Beverly DeLeonardis
Medford, Oregon
Formerly a union steward for Communications Workers of America and an IBEW member, Bev is now retired. She is President of the Board of Oregon Action and a member of OA’s health care and housing committees.
Bob Fulkerson
Reno, Nevada
Bob is Executive Director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, which he founded in 1994. Bob is a recipient of the prestigious Leadership for a Changing World award.
Jesse Graham
Portland, Maine
Jesse is Executive Director of the Maine People’s Alliance (MPA) and the Maine People’s Resource Center (MPRC). He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1998. He has worn many hats at MPA/MPRC since he was hired in 1999, serving as Field Director, Community Organizer, Associate Director and liaison to many coalitions.
Michaelynn Hawk
Billings, Montana
Michaelynn has been a longtime community leader focusing on education, health care, policing, and other issues. She now directs Indian People’s Action in Montana.
Dan HoSang
Eugene, Oregon
Dan was formerly the Executive Director of PUEBLO a citywide racial organization in Oakland California. Dan is now a professor of American Studies at the University of Oregon in Eugene.
Kayse Jama
Portland, Oregon
Kayse is executive director of the Center for Intercultural Organizing. Born into a nomad family in Somalia, Kayse Jama left when the civil war erupted, and finally found sanctuary in Portland. An original founder of the Center, Kayse was most recently a Trainer/Organizer at Western States Center under a New Voices Fellowship.
Deana Knutsen
Lynnwood, Washington
Deana is the mother of a son born with hearing loss and facial deformity, and medical bills have forced her family to live at poverty level. She has been a leader in Washington Community Action Network’s Health Care Project since 1992, and in 1999 she was elected to the board of Stevens Hospital, a public hospital serving south Snohomish County, where Deana lives.
Jason McKain
Denver, Colorado
Jason is Co-Executive Director of the Colorado Progressive Coalition. For more than twelve years, he has been developing outreach tools, processes, communications and organizing actions for many social, environmental, and independent media initiatives.
Molly Moody
Missoula, Montana
Molly is the director of the Montana Organizing Project. Previously, she directed the state’s Health Care for America Now coalition as a member of the Alliance for a Just Society (NWFCO) staff.
César Palomeque*
Brooklyn, New York
César serves on the board of directors of Make the Road New York, representing the organization’s immigrant justice committee. A longtime community leader, he also works at a kidney dialysis center.
Sonia Peña
Oakland, California
Sonia is Associate Director of the Applied Research Center. She led the Minority Activist Apprenticeship Program at the Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO) from 1988-1993. Sonia also served as lead organizer on CTWO’s Action for a Better Community project and later as both the organization’s training and associate director.
Will Pittz
Seattle, Washington
Will became Executive Director of Washington Community Action Network in June, 2006, after working as an organizer with NWFCO. He received a master’s degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and subsequently joined the Applied Research Center, where he headed the organization’s policy department.
Adán Ramírez
Heyburn, Idaho
Adán is a former farm worker who organized sheep shearers in California. He has lived in Burley, Idaho for the past thirty years. He is an active member of the Burley chapter of Idaho Community Action Network, ICAN.
Ramón Ramírez
Woodburn, Oregon
Ramón co-founded Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN) in 1985 and has been PCUN President since 1992. Ramon also co-founded CAUSA, Oregon’s immigrant’s rights coalition, in 1996.
Javier Valdés*
Brooklyn, New York
Javier is Deputy Director of Make the Road New York.
Ron Williams
Portland, Oregon
Ron is executive director of Oregon Action and has extensive experience in community organizing. Ron was also a founding member of the Recovery Association Project (RAP) and has worked for Central City Concern as an Alcohol and Drug Intervention Specialist and as the Coordinator for the CCC West Portland One Stop Career Center.
* These board members are pending confirmation from their organization.
