Board of Directors

Amy Casso, San Antonio, TX

Amy is the Senior Policy Analyst for La Fe Policy Research and Education Center and Co-Founder & Associate Consultant for Collective Flatlander. Amy has held positions with PCUN, Oregon's Farmworker Union, and CAUSA, Oregon's Immigrant Rights Coalition. She was a field organizer for the National Organizer's Alliance.

Amy is a graduate of Western State Center's WILD Program (Western Institute for and Leadership Development).

Leslie Griep, Oakland, CA (Treasurer)

Leslie is the 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. 

Amy Herzfeld, Portland, OR (Chair)

Amy is the Oregon State Director for Working America, a national community affiliate of AFL-CIO. Born and raised in Idaho, she had been active in statewide progressive movement building for over twelve years before relocating to Portland in 2011. Previously, Amy was the Executive Director of the Idaho Human Rights Education Center.

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.

Mariotta Gary-Smith, Portland, OR

Shahid Haque-Hausrath, Helena, MT

Cathy Howell, Salem, OR

Cathy is retired as the Leadership Development Coordinator at 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 to 1997 served as director of Western States Center’s Community Leadership Training Program. 

Terry Kendrick, Missoula, MT

Terry is the Special Projects Director for the Office of Public Instruction in Montana and is a regular commentator on Montana Public Radio. Prior to this, she was the Special Projects Director at Montana Women Vote. 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 grew up on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana. She has more than 25 years of experience working for social justice organizations. She graduated from Gonzaga University with a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership.

Francisco Lopez, Salem, OR

Francisco is Director/Lead Organizer with CAUSA, Oregon's statewide immigrant rights coalition.  Prior to directing CAUSA, Francisco managed support programs for youth and families in Oregon and was Field Director with Voz Hispana's Vote Project.

He 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.

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.

Kenya Pierce, Las Vegas, NV

Kenya 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.

Uma Rao, Seattle, WA

Uma is the Regional Development Organizer, Western Washington. Pride Foundation. Prior to her position at the Pride Foundation, she was Program Director at Social Justice Fund. 

She began organizing 13 years ago, with a focus in communities of colors in issues of violence and social justice.

Sharon Gary-Smith, Portland, OR (Emerita)

Sharon is the Executive Director at McKenzie River Gathering Foundation.

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.