Silvia Genel

Born on November 6, 1965 in the small town of Coalcomán in the country of México, Silvia Genel not only worked her way toward becoming a community leader for ethnic minority psychologists in Portland, Oregon, but also to being a dedicated educator and clinician in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Silvia was from the state of Michoacán, and, after living there for the early years of her life, she moved to the United States in 1974. She became a resident of Oregon in 1975 and graduated from South Salem High School in 1983.

Even as a young adult, Silvia’s character surfaced as a dedicated contributor to the welfare of others. Although the youngest of her siblings, she became the family’s leader in educational attainment, perseverance, and community development, as she eventually pursued a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in International Business from Warner Pacific College. During the summer months of her undergraduate college years, she worked at an orphanage in México, as her original life goal was to become a missionary. After her graduation from Warner Pacific in 1987, she worked for the State of Oregon’s Health Department’s HIV Program, where she increased the skills of health professionals to provide culturally appropriate education and counseling to Hispanics. During the late 1980s, she traveled nationally for the Columbia-Willamette segment of the United Way and served on their Development Fund Committee. After her marriage in November of 1988, Silvia gave birth to her only child, Gabriel Genel-Torres. She then attended Pacific University School of Professional Psychology and graduated in 2000 with a doctorate in Clinical Psychology.

Prior to her graduation from Pacific University, Silvia served as one of two Oregon-California representatives for an Immigrant Women Leadership Conference. In 1988, she served on the National Latino/Hispanic AIDS Committee as a Northwest delegate representing AIDS-related concerns of the Hispanic community to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. Silvia’s passionate community service also included being a member of the Board of Directors for the Sisters of the Road Café, where she specialized in training the homeless to work in the food service industry. She also served as the coordinator of the Pacific Hispanic Institute, was a member of the School of Professional Psychology’s Human Diversity Committee, a member of the Multicultural Advisory Board for Linfield College, and a member of the Diversity Advisory Board for the Vancouver campus of Washington State University. She was also a member of the Pacific Northwest Providers and served as the President of the Board of Directors for that organization from 2006 to 2007.

In addition to community service, Silvia participated in two projects for Oregon’s Research Institute. She excelled in the professional role of training: not only did she deliver numerous workshops in the Portland-Vancouver area on a variety of topics ranging from domestic abuse and substance abuse to adolescent pregnancy, marriage, and working with Mexican-American populations, she also presented with two colleagues, Dr. Michelle J. Kirton and Dr. Amy Kobus, in the 2004 Oregon Psychological Association annual conference. She conducted numerous professional speaking engagements and did not hesitate to work with students at various Northwest universities. Her role as an educator included being an adjunct professor for both Pacific University and Portland State University, where she developed and taught courses related to culture and the provision of mental health treatment to culturally diverse populations. At Lewis and Clark College, she worked as an advisor to international students to help with immigration issues, orientation to the university setting, and completion of academic endeavors. In addition to working for Clackamas County’s Mental Health Center to provide alcohol and drug abuse treatment and clinical assistance to her peers, she also provided mental health services to children and families of Clackamas County. She even provided clinical supervision for the Desarrollo Integral de la Familia of Clackamas County Mental Health. By her graduation in 2000, Silvia had established her name in the Portland community and its surrounding areas.

In terms of personal support for minority psychologists of the Portland-Vancouver area of the Pacific Northwest, Silvia founded the “Good Food Consultation Group,” which was a safe haven for a number of psychologists in the area. She continued to lead workshops, teach, supervise, and she served as a role model for budding psychologists in the community. As a mother, she attended to her son’s personal, social, intellectual, and creative development, while maintaining her involvement in numerous professional activities. Before her death on September 23, 2007, she was one of the few bilingual psychologists in the states of Oregon and Washington during the earliest segment of the twenty-first century. In addition to her son and other family members, she left behind a tenacious and ferocious love for her siblings: Manuel Martinez Jr., Eren Martinez, and Elvira Genel Ramirez. Silvia’s steadfast dedication to service is still greatly admired, and her contributions will always be etched into the memories of communities and individuals in the Portland area.