Shadiin Garcia is Chicana and Laguna Pueblo from New Mexico and has lived in Oregon for 16 years. She has worked for over 20 years as a teacher, as a public school administrator, researcher, a policy analyst, Indigenous education leader, and as a consultant. She has a Bachelor's Degree from Yale University in English with a specialization in education; a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership and a PhD in Critical and Sociocultural Studies in Education from the University of Oregon. She is currently an Executive Vice President at the Metropolitan Group.

Courtney Mersereau is a Financial Advisor with Vision Capital Management, a women-owned, independent firm in Portland. As a CFP®, she is passionate about providing her clients the opportunity to make smart, confident financial decisions. She’s a founding member of Ninety-Nine Girlfriends, loves playing just about every sport and hanging with her Wire Fox Terrier, Dexter.

Gilda Montenegro-Fix is a Costa Rican woman, mother, wife, world traveler and global citizen. She represented her country in two Olympic Games (Barcelona ‘92 and Atlanta ‘96), in the sport of whitewater slalom kayak, being the only woman from all Latin America to compete in this discipline. This was the culmination of an international 10-year career in outdoor adventure leadership.

Gilda studied Psychology at the University of Costa Rica, worked as a bilingual/bicultural family advocate with multicultural families for 10 years in Hawaii and Medford. Ms. Montenegro-Fix is the founder and senior consultant of Celebrate Diversity! a consulting and training company in Cultural Agility successfully providing services to a variety of organizations in Oregon. Having worked in the fields of outdoor leadership, social work, early childhood, cross cultural communication and EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion), she is passionate about facilitating understanding, cultivating harmony and building bridges that connect us all.

Laura Rodriguez is a first generation Cuban-American. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Florida Atlantic University and a Master’s degree in Social Work in Community Organizing, Planning, Policy and Administration from Boston College. Laura is currently pursuing a PhD from Portland State University. Her research will focus on improving health care systems’ ability to provide equitable services to children who have special needs and who hold multiple intersecting marginalized identities.

Laura’s professional experience includes service coordination, supervision, program management, full-scale program direction and management, and systems analysis. She has had the privilege of working with multiple populations, including run-away homeless youth, homebound elderly, and children/youth with special health care needs, in addition to spending several years in the reproductive health field. In her free time, Laura likes hiking with her wife and their dog, and is obsessed with watching foreign detective dramas.

Brook Shelley lives in Oakland, CA with her cat Snorri, and works for Slack. Her writing has appeared in Queer Quarrels, The Toast, Lean Out, Transfigure, and the Oregon Journal of the Humanities. She speaks regularly on queer and trans issues, and is also on the board of Basic Rights Oregon.

“Working alongside a visionary board of directors to build a new foundation, from the ground up, is the opportunity of a lifetime. I’m delighted to be part of this work, in part to help realize my grandmother’s long-held ambition that women in ​Oregon would ​break new ground in equality and achievement. I believe our foundation is the missing link that will transform the generosity of Oregon women into lasting change for women and girls ​across the state.”

Born and raised in Ashland, Oregon, Emily was formerly​ the​ Lead Development Officer at the Forum for Youth Investment, a nonprofit think tank in Washington DC. During her five-year tenure, ​Emily directed an annual multi-million dollar fund development effort and partnered with national and local foundations all over the country. Prior to her work at the Forum, ​Emily helped launch the Women’s Leadership Institute in Washington DC as Interim Director of Partnerships and Advancement. While there, she secured the largest board member gift in the organization’s history and helped produce events featuring notable women leaders including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, NPR’s Linda Wertheimer, and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar. While completing her Master’s in Public Administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, she was president of the Maxwell Women’s Caucus. ​Emily’s undergraduate degree is from Bryn Mawr College. ​​Emily lives ​with her partner and two kids in NW Portland.

Marilou Carrera (they / siya / she) is a health equity advocate, community health practitioner, and cultural worker. Their experiences as a Filipina and Japanese person who immigrated to the U.S. as a child, as well as their time practicing as a registered nurse, advocating for communities of color / community-driven decision-making, and promoting public health and reproductive justice have long persuaded them of the importance and imperative of sharing power, sharing stories, and centering communities to influence policy and affect systems change.

Marilou is based in the area currently called Portland, OR and Multnomah County, which are also known as the stolen lands of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Tumwater, Tualatin Kalapuya, Wasco, Molalla, Cowlitz and Watlala bands of the Chinook, and many other Tribes who made their homes along the Columbia River.

Martha has been a high-level assistant supporting C-suite executives for over 20 years within both the corporate and non-profit sector. Particularly skilled at interpersonal verbal/ written communication and client relations, she has additional experience in recruiting, customer service, fundraising and donor management.

Upon graduating from Boston College, Martha relocated to California for many years, spending 17 years in San Francisco and 5 years in San Diego. She recently moved back home to the Greater Boston area, currently residing in Salem, MA with her boyfriend and 2 spunky cats. Martha is a creative, flexible and innovative team player with a great sense of humor.