Preface

Before being elected to serve as your current Oregon Education Association President, I served OEA as a Board Director, as well as being a former National Education Association Director. In these roles, I have actively empowered educators and students in our community. The community needs an association that is reflective of Oregon’s diverse education professionals. We the members are experts in our field and should guide and shape ambitious educational policies and objectives.

Using my privilege as your OEA President, I strive to give a voice to all educators, students, and communities who have been historically oppressed. As a united union, I know we will succeed in bringing this vision to reality. I lead by example and am driven by a love for education and longtime involvement in the labor movement. Passion and action are the pillars needed for true systemic change that will transform oppressive policies that hinder educators and students into educational practices that make our institution a truly liberating force.

In my mission to bring about this change, I have advocated for members’ and students’ lives by fighting for social, racial, and economic justice. I have consistently done this as a local president, bargaining team member, and member of the OEA Board of Directors and NEA Board of Directors. I have advanced policies and implemented systems that improve all membership classifications, including those at Clackamas Community College, Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC), National Education Association (NEA), and the Oregon Education Association (OEA).

I am an innovative and transformative leader. I possess the ability to bring diverse perspectives together to move us in a common direction while motivating others to become involved in the fight for issues of equity and justice. More than anything, I am passionate and empathetic, wholly committed to elevating and advancing the voices of historically marginalized communities.