Tierra Salmón is a mother, traditional midwife, farmer, survivor, birth worker, community facilitator, equity consultant, and land-based practitioner rooted in Portland, Oregon. With over a decade of experience in out of hospital birth and postpartum care and community health, and more than 20 years of holding individuals, families, and groups through sacred transitions her work weaves together somatic practice, herbal knowledge, and culturally grounded approaches to healing and connection.

In service to community her work spans across direct care, systems change, and community-rooted leadership. She has played key roles in developing and facilitating culturally specific initiatives across Oregon. Her contributions have included strategic planning, curriculum development, facilitating housing-based community engagement initiatives, and supporting the advancement of reproductive justice policy and legislation.

Tierra's facilitation practice is grounded in popular education, trauma-informed approaches, and a deep commitment to collective care. She creates spaces where participants can engage with honesty and depth while remaining resourced, connected, and anchored in their autonomy.

Alice Van Os, MSW, CSWA is a therapist in Portland, OR who works exclusively with young people impacted by the sex trades. Alice is a former sex worker and survivor of interpersonal violence. Combining her experiences in the industry with her work in social services and mutual aid, Alice has over 10 years of experience supporting sex workers and survivors. Alice has previously worked as an individual and group therapist for survivors of sexual assault. Alice is passionate about harm reduction, liberation psychology, and decriminalization. 

Luna Rain Ascenzo is the New Day Crisis Intervention & Stabilization Coordinator. Utilizing her lived experience as a street based sex worker, a survivor of trafficking, living street entrenched and working on the New Day team for three years, Luna Rain is able to work with youth where their individual needs lie. In her position as the Crisis Intervention & Stabilization Coordinator, she helps youth from all backgrounds find stability, safety and their own voice while navigating traumas of all kind.

gita mehrotra is a daughter, sister, friend, educator, researcher, and community member living in Portland, Oregon and working at Portland State University She has been involved with anti-violence work for over 20 years in a variety of capacities with a focus on BIPOC and LGBTQ communities. gita has also been active in QTBIPOC community building, community-based funding for social movement work, and providing technical assistance and training to South Asian and API community-based organizations around the country. She loves the ocean, yoga, being with her people, and trying different shades of lipstick.

claire barrera is an artist, activist and educator based in Portland Oregon. They have been part of the anti-violence movement for over 20 years and currently work in the anti-trafficking field. They are also an avid ally to youth, and have organized with Brown Girl Rise for the past 7 years. Their creative work is in writing and dance, where they have recently focused on intergenerational performance. You can find them on Instagram @tlalcihuatlx or Vimeo.

Michelle Carmen Fisher is a dedicated youth advocate and mentor specializing in trauma-informed, culturally specific care for the Latino community. Currently serving as a Youth Mentor for survivors of sex trafficking and a Youth Prevention Advocate at El Programa Hispano Católico (UNICA), Michelle provides critical case management and school-based advocacy within the Gresham-Barlow School District. Her work focuses on dismantling the stigma surrounding generational trauma and domestic violence through bilingual education and community-based prevention. A seasoned speaker, she has presented on cultural connections and trauma at the National Sexual Assault Conference (NSAC) and OCADSV. Michelle holds a B.S. in Social Work from Portland State University and is currently pursuing her MSW with the goal of becoming an LCSW to provide culturally specific therapy for youth. 

Gia Gigler is the housing coordinator at New Day Collaborative (part of New Avenues for Youth) and is currently pursuing an MSW at Portland State University while maintaining a passion for the arts. 

Kat Salas (she/her) serves as the Director for Community Prevention and Intervention at New Avenues for Youth, which encompasses the sex trafficked youth and gun violence early prevention programs. Since beginning as a street outreach worker 11 years ago, Kat has continued to design and implement programming that centers survivor voice, including a survivor co-create housing program, which won both the Judge Herrell award and Skidmore Prize.

As sex worker and survivor of sex trafficking, she is and deep believer in the power of community organizing and implementing lived experience.  She hopes that her work is testimate to the brilliance of her fellow sex worker, survivors, co-workers, friends, family, and ancestors.

Sarah Nedeau (she/her) is originally from Illinois and moved to Portland in 2007 to attend Lewis & Clark College. Since 2011, she has been working in advocacy, shelter and housing, community and systems across a variety of non-profits and at Multnomah County. She has worked with survivors of sex trafficking throughout her career from her roles at Raphael House and Janus Youth, to the Department of Community Justice, as a former Committee and Board member at the Oregon Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Task Force, and in her current role as Senior Director of Programs at New Avenues for Youth. Outside of her work, she is an avid cross-stitcher, covets a day or weekend at the coast, and loves her dogs. 

Sonja Good Stefani is the Director of the Community Law Department of the Metropolitan Public Defender, a 501(c)3 located in Portland.  She has been at MPD for the last 10 years and was one of the founding attorneys in the Community Law Department when it was formed as a civil legal department in 2016.  She took over as Director of the unit in 2021.  Community Law practices in three main areas: Housing Defense, Immigration Defense, and Collateral Consequence Barrier Reduction.  Many of the clients that Community Law serves identify as survivors, and most of them have had some kind of system involvement (criminal, eviction or immigration system).  Sonja graduated from Berkeley Law in 2015. Before her law career she mostly worked to build a non-profit organization in Ghana, West Africa.  She moved to Oregon from Vermont where she was raised on a sheep farm in the country.  She now lives in Hood River with her two daughters and partner. 

Ariel Test is an experienced attorney currently serving as a Chief Attorney of the Community Law Department at the Metropolitan Public Defender. In this role, Ariel works collaboratively with her colleagues, clients, and partner organizations to address legal and systemic barriers stemming from involvement with the criminal legal system, advancing holistic, client-centered advocacy. Prior to joining Metropolitan Public Defender, Ariel spent a decade at the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights, where she led and expanded interdisciplinary civil legal initiatives, managed complex programs and teams, and developed system-level strategies to improve outcomes for children, families, and communities impacted by the juvenile legal system. Ariel began her legal career at the Orleans Public Defenders where she built a strong foundation in public defense and trial advocacy. Ariel lives in Portland with her partner and child.  

T Eggleton has facilitated Yin & Restorative Yoga for five years. They volunteer their classes to survivors, folks that work with survivors & folks in their addiction recovery process. T loves working with folks that are new to body awareness or finding the beauty in stillness. They found an immense amount of healing from trauma they endured in life & support other on their path in healing as well. There approach is for any body, any ability, and trauma sensitive. Come take a breath with T & lead your body in whatever way feels the most healing for you in the moment.  

I’ve worked in domestic violence advocacy for almost two years and am very passionate about supporting immigrant survivors. Having gone through the immigration process myself, I understand how confusing and intimidating it can be, which is why this work is especially meaningful to me. I’m grateful to be able to support survivors and collaborate with advocates and community partners.

Ey-Anna Shrishti is a former sex worker and a DV/ST survivor. Currently, they aid marginalized communities in Portland as the coordinating supervisor for Portland Sex Worker Resource Project and the BIPOC mentor for New Day. Ey-Anna is deeply passionate about drug policy reform and the decriminalization of sex work. They use their knowledge and understanding from their lived experience to foster radical transformation in these spheres. They spend their free time writing poetry, studying and practicing divination, and performing flow arts for electronic music events. As a queer, multiracial, 2-Spirit advocate and activist, they live every day as a revolution and encourage you to do the same.