Board of Directors
The Center has a long history of recruiting Board Members who reflect the organizations and constituencies in which we work. The Center's 2010 Board of Directors includes:
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George Cheung, Seattle, WA (Treasurer)George is the Executive Director of Win/Win Network. George founded and served as first Executive Director of Equal Rights Washington, the state’s largest LGBT advocacy organization and founded Lopez & Cheung, Inc., a public affairs consulting firm specializing in social science research, demographics and civic engagement. Prior to his consulting work, George served as a civil rights investigator for several state agencies and completed a Masters in Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. |
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Leslie Griep, Portland, ORLeslie, a CPA, is currently the Senior Finance Manager for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. Previously, she was the Controller at REACH Community Development, Inc., a Staff Accountant at Moss Adams, LLP, and the Administrator at McKenzie River Gathering Foundation. Her activism and work in not-for-profits includes nuclear disarmament, anti-violence against women and children, anti-racism training, and queer rights. |
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Marjory Hamann, Portland, ORMarjory is Executive Director of the McKenzie River Gathering Foundation, which funds social justice groups in Oregon. She has 19 years organizational development experience and has completed doctoral research on the motivations and barriers white people experience when they take action in support of racial equity. She has served on the Boards of Grantmakers of Oregon & SW Washington, the national Funding Exchange and TACS. |
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Amy Herzfeld, Boise, ID (Chair)Amy
is Executive Director of the Idaho Human Rights Education Center. Born
and raised in Idaho, she has been active in statewide progressive
movement building for over twelve years. Her work experience ranges
from nonprofit advocacy and community organizing to electoral
management and award-winning journalism. Amy is a graduate of Western
State Center's Western Institute for Organizing and Leadership
Development. |
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Cathy Howell, Salem, ORCathy is the Assistant Director for Leadership Development in the Political and Field Department of the national AFL-CIO. Cathy returned to the Northwest after having spent many years in North Carolina as Organizing Director at Grassroots Leadership, Director of the Carolina Community Project and with the AFL-CIO. Previously she worked for NARAL and Oregon Fair Share, and in 1995-7 served as director of Western States Center’s Community Leadership Training Program. |
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Terry Kendrick, Missoula, MTTerry Kendrick grew up on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana. She has more than 25 years of experience working for social justice organizations. She currently works with Montana Women Vote and is a regular commentator on Montana Public Radio. She has worked as a lobbyist for the Montana Human Rights Network and the Montana Indian Education Association. Terry wrote the 2002 Montana Women’s Report and co-authored Election 2004: Revisiting the Montana Miracle. She graduated from Gonzaga University with a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership. |
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Francisco Lopez, Salem, ORFrancisco is Director/Lead Organizer with CAUSA, Oregon's statewide immigrant rights coalition. Francisco is originally from El Salvador, and a graduate from the University of El Salvador where he organized among students, Christian Base Communities, and the FMLN party. After coming to Texas as a refugee from the war in El Salvador he worked with church and social service groups and as an organizer. Prior to directing CAUSA, Francisco managed support programs for youth and families in Oregon and was Field Director with Voz Hispana's Vote Project. |
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Dan Neal, Casper, WY (Secretary)Dan is the Executive Director of Equality State Policy Center, having spent much of his career as a journalist with the Casper Star Tribune, where he served as Editor from 2000-2004. He has also served as a strategist for both Congressional and ballot initiative campaigns. |
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Kenya Pierce, Las Vegas NVKenya is Board President of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. A Professor of Sociology at the Community College of Southern Nevada, Kenya is also the co-founder of TRENDZ, a youth mentoring organization. |
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Sharon Gary-Smith, Portland, OR (Emerita)Sharon continues her lifelong commitment to racial and social justice through consultations with nonprofits and philanthropies. She is the former national programs director of the National Black Women's Health Project, and former National Programs Director of Be Present, Inc., a national organization dedicated to training black women and girls, other women of color, and white women, to work together to build a social change movement in a world where racism, classism, and homophobia still exist and historical barriers have divided us. |
Leah Henry-Tanner, Bremerton, WA (Emerita)Leah is coordinator of Native American Women's Dialogue on Infant Mortality. She has extensive experience on issues ranging from violence against women of color to tribal sovereignty. She is a member of the Nez Perce Tribe and a graduate of the Center's WILD (Western Institute for Leadership and Development) program. |
