Adreana Kusaba | She/Her/Hers | Latino/a/x | English

Community leadership is taking responsibility for the well-being and continued improvement of a community.  Honestly, I never really considered myself a leader and yet I've found myself in various leadership positions.  I think that others see a leadership quality in me and I've been fortunate enough to have a few people that have encouraged me to play to that particular strength.  I am a member of various employee resource groups at OHSU, including Pride and the Women's Employee Resource Group (WERG).  I am also the current Chair for the Culturas Unidas Employee Resource Group (formerly Latinos Unidos ERG).  

I would say I've had participatory engagement with the Beaverton community.  I regularly attend the Beaverton farmers market, night markets and library events for children (my daughter is a big fan :).  I'd like to gain a better handle on community engagement.  I am a combo learner, part visual and part hands on.  I'm really hoping to hone my leadership and negotiation skills in particular.  I am new-ish to Beaverton.  My family and I moved out here about four years ago now.

Alysia Quintana | She/Her/Hers | Latino/a/x | English

To me, leadership is just the facilitation of uniting members of the community.  Finding a common goal or point of change and organizing towards it for the betterment of the community as a whole.  Personally, I have always been very passionate about things but haven't known how to go about changing them.  I don't see myself as a leader simply because I don't yet know how to BE one, and actually make things happen.

I haven't engaged with the city or the community.  I feel like I don't know where I stand in this community, like I'm sort of just on the sidelines.  I wish I would've heard of this program much sooner in life!  Confidence, tenacity, the ability to look to the future with hope and not just uncertainty. I'm a hybrid of visual and kinesthetic learner.  I'm not entirely sure what I hope to gain... Confidence in my place in this community?  A brighter outlook on my future?  A direction for myself?  Maybe all of those things.  I am not new to Beaverton but this has been my home for the majority of my life and I would love to be more involved in shaping it.  I have never had the privilege of seeing what action in our community looks like, and I'd love to discover that.

Carolina Martins | She/Her/Hers | Latino/a/x | Portuguese, English

To me, leadership in my community means to represent the voices of people like me and ensure they’re heard and taken into consideration in decision-making process.  It also means to understand that one size does not fit all, and we have to ensure the solutions proposed to the problems of our community meet their needs and they not being proposed for the sake of having a proposal in the paper.  I see myself as a leader.  I never had no one to advocate for myself in this county, but I had never silent my voice.  I worked as a student leader when I took classes at PPC.  This experienced help me understand that I can work to take space to represent other people’s voice and make the space for those who deserve a space at the table to join the conversation where decisions are made.  I have listened and  helped friends and people who have gone through the same difficulties that I experienced to find resources and the help they need to thrive.  I want to see them succeed and thrive.  If they have questions, I help them find the answers and help them learn how to find the answers to continue to advocate for themselves.  I am always looking for resources to help those who like me are immigrants and are facing challenges to access denied to health care, education, employment, and housing.

I am not currently involved with community organizations, but I have just finished a course with the Civic Leadership Course organized by Adelante Mujeres.  I identify as Latina and I’m an immigrant.  The course by Adelante Mujeres  helped me understand that BOLD can be a good fit for me, and that’s where I’d like to start to learn more about how I can help my community.  I have a strong desire to support the community of immigrants and refugees who live in Beaverton.  I'd love to engage with the community and with the City to understand how I can support and help my community grow and how I can contribute to make positive changes. I want to improve my knowlege about the City,  the organizational structure, and current resources that the city provides for immigrants and refugges.  I want to understand how I can advocate and how to better use my voice to represent immigrants and what are the current resources for immigrants and refuggess.  I do not have a lot of free time, and I would like to learn the pathways to use my voice to represent my community in a more efficient way.  Even though I don't have a lot of time, I still want to do something to support immigrants and refugges in Beaverton as I know many of them struggle to access housing, education, and health care.  I want to learn which resources in the City have a channel to community with immigrants and refuggess.  And if not, how can I advocate to create them and how I can advocate to improve the resources for these communities.  I like visuals and presentations.  More knowlege to learn who are the people who I should talk to advocate for my community, what are the departments and divisions that can be reached out, and learn how to talk to them.  I currently work for Washington County with the Sustainability Division.  I've been living in Beaverton for 13 months, and I plan to continue here.

Class President - Catherine Ngaingne | She/Her/Hers | African | English

Leadership in my community means guider and pacifier.  Yes, I see myself as a leader.  I am the Head of family fraternity.  And I am aspiring to be as well at work.  The community-based organization I have been involved in is Church Community by doing bible study. I am still trying to make a plan to engage with the city and the Beaverton community.  I hope to be able to impact my church as an African immigrant.  I learn best through Experiences and practices.  I hope to gain more courage and boldness to speak out from this program.  I have an eager to wake the leader that is sleeping inside me.  I want to impact African immigrants women, wives,  and mostly single moms.  I want to guide them in order to make their lives easier based on my own life experience and the resources available.

Delfina Andrade | Ella | Latino/a/x | Español (Mexico)

Leadership en mi comunidad significa informar a las personas sobre sus derechos y cómo defenderlos. Me veo a mí misma como líder porque tengo confianza en mí misma.

Soy voluntaria en varias organizaciones y trabajo con Unite Oregon como Trabajadora de Salud Comunitaria. Me gustaría aprender más y conocer a más personas en Beaverton.

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Leadership in my community means informing people about their rights and how to defend them. I see myself as a leader because I have confidence in myself.

I volunteer with several organizations and currently work as a Community Health Worker with Unite Oregon. I am interested in learning more and getting to know more people in Beaverton.

Emebet Alemu | She/Her/Hers | Jewish, Ethiopian | Amharic, Hebrew, and English

Leadership is to motivate people in achieving and participating in different goals.  I don't see myself as a leader right now because I feel like I'm just starting to live again after raising two amazing and strong girls.  But I know I can be a good leader.  I have never engaged with the city and it's community, I would want to change it by bringing people together.  Skills I hope to gain by participating in this program are effective communication skill, ability to work as a team, advocate for others and build self confidence.  Visual is my best way of learning.  I hope to gain self confidence and to have the tools that I need in order to involve in my community.  I'm a big believer of being positive.  I've been living in Beaverton more than 10 years and I would like to involve more.

Eugenie Adamah-Tassah | She/Her/Hers | African | French, Fulani, and English

In my community, leadership is defined as a skill to gather the community and help them work toward a positive outcome. For example, if a community is struggling in a given area, the leader is one who can invite the community to work toward a creation of a solution.

I have been involved in youth leadership since my early youth. I led community organizing activities such as tree planting and summer cleaning activities with youth. I have also led radio broadcasting in the area of community education in my hometown. And here in the US I work with refugee communities to help them navigate the system and also address the challenges that many youth face as they try to adjust to the new culture they are in.

I would like to know how I can participate in inviting my community to get involved and engage in making Beaverton their home and a welcoming place to people of all walks of life and ethnicity.

I want to learn and see in what area of my life I could apply these knowledges. All opportunity to grow is welcomed and helps me to fine tune my skills to produce a better service to those around me, especially those I a called to serve.

I am looking forward to benefiting from this educational opportunity and to see in what area I could participate in making Beaverton a place that welcomes people of diverse ethnicity.

Jaime Leonardo Cabrales Leiva | He/Him/His | Latino/a/x | Spanish (Venezuela)

Veo el liderazgo en mi comunidad como un agente de cambio dentro de la sociedad, generando incentivos que permitan el crecimiento social y educativo. Sí, me veo como un líder comunitario. Me siento como un servidor público por vocación, proporcionando constantemente retroalimentación a nuestra comunidad.

Vivo en Beaverton pero soy nuevo en la ciudad. Todavía no me he involucrado con la ciudad y la comunidad de Beaverton, pero me gustaría ser útil para el desarrollo de la ciudad.

Espero obtener las siguientes habilidades del programa BOLD: liderazgo, conocimiento y habilidades de desarrollo social en el entorno de la ciudad. Creo firmemente que el conocimiento y el liderazgo son las herramientas para desarrollar comunidades.

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I believe that leadership in my community involves being an agent of change within society, creating incentives that enable social and educational growth. Yes, I see myself as a community leader. I am a public servant by vocation and provide constant feedback to our community.

Although I live in Beaverton, I am new to the city and have not yet become involved with the community. However, I would like to contribute to the development of the city.

By participating in the BOLD program, I hope to gain skills in leadership, knowledge, and social development in the city's environment. I firmly believe that knowledge and leadership are the tools for developing communities.

Jazmin Miranda | She/Her/Hers | Latino/a/x | Spanish (Costa Rica) and English

For me leadership in this context is the ability to motivate myself and those around me to bring up positive changes in the community we live in, which will benefit all and mostly marginalized and BIPOC communities. 

Yes, I see myself as a leader and I've experienced leadership positions in my personal and professional life. I also believe we all can become leaders with intentional and appropriate support, learning skills and listening opportunities, where people can identify the issues that bring up their passion and commitment to become actively involved in their community life and work.

I have been volunteering with Unite Oregon and as a Leadership Council member I hope to become more active and involved in different initiatives. I feel the BOLD Program activities, learning and networking opportunities will help me become more involved and allow for my knowledge and skills to become more accessible and integrated into UO community work.

I'm looking forward to meeting new friends, partners in crime and "Soul brothers and sisters" from around the world that have made Beaverton their home and together organize and make our new home the best place to live, grow and thrive for all, especially IR-BIPOC communities.

I'm super excited to already be part of the WaCo Leadership Council and a hope to be accepted to the BOLD Program to enhance my knowledge of Beaverton "inner-working" which will help me become a more effective community activist.

Olga Cherevatenko | She/Her/Hers | Slavic | Russian and English

Olga got involved with the City of Beaverton when she applied for a Welcoming Week Grant in 2021 to put on a Slavic Festival in Beaverton in conjunction with the Silver Years Adult Day Center, which she directs. Participants of the adult day center are from Slavic and Eastern European countries and it is a dominantly Russian-speaking community. The event was designed to celebrate Slavic culture for all ages through traditional arts & crafts, performances, and a tea ceremony. In 2022, Olga also joined the city’s Diversity Advisory Board, where she has been a strong relationship-builder and advocate for her community. Of her work with the city, she shares “I want to support all events and movements by any diverse groups and create a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere for all.”

Last year, she organized a visit from US Representative Suzanne Bonamici to Silver Years to speak about the war in Ukraine and allow seniors from the center to ask questions and learn about her work. Olga acted as an interpreter for the discussion and expressed that she wants people from the community to be heard and work with community leaders and politicians. She also supports the Slavic community through her work with IRCO, the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization and shared two important resources they have created in response to the war in Ukraine: Resource Guide for Responding to Ukraine Inquiries and Information on Immigration and Legal Aid for Ukrainians coming to the US.

Aside from her community advocacy, Olga enjoys other hobbies such as sailing and shared “I have even obtained a certificate to charter a boat anywhere in the world.” Olga is also an avid math tutor and fitness trainer. Fun fact: Olga used to be a Physical Education teacher in the Beaverton School District. 

Olinda Portillo | Ella | Latino/a/x | Español (Guatemala)

Me veo a mí misma como líder porque es parte de mi personalidad. Soy una recién llegada a Beaverton. Me gustaría aprender más sobre la comunidad para poder organizar y defender nuestros derechos. Quiero involucrarme y participar en aspectos de organización.

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I have always felt that leadership is a part of my personality, which is why I see myself as a leader. Although I am new to Beaverton, I am eager to learn more about the community and its issues so that I can help organize and defend our rights. Getting involved and participating in organizing aspects of the community is something that I am passionate about, and I am excited to see how I can make a difference in the community through my leadership skills.

Ruth Nken | She/Her/Hers | African | French and English

Leadership is in all of us

I am a leader. 

I used to be a president of Cameroonian community.  Now still operating as a member.

I will like to know more about the city of Beaverton. 

Sabdy Pacheco-Williams | She/Her/Hers | Latino/a/x, Multi-Racial | English and Spanish

Leadership in the community is a combination of strong listening and project management skills in order to put ideas to action. I do see myself as a leader, though I am typically shy to get started/speak up at first when starting something new. 

I am currently serving as Vice Chair of the City of Beaverton HRAC. This is my second year as a board member, but first year in a leadership position for the commission. I’ve been limited to engagement through a few in person events with HRAC. However I’d really like to get more involved in building a more diverse city, growing our city diversity numbers as well as diverse local businesses. 

I hope to be a stronger leader for not only HRAC, but for marginalized communities within Beaverton. 

"Highly collaborative, organized, and tech-savvy creative operations leader whose areas of expertise include design studio leadership, project management, and resource planning. Extensive cross-functional experience working in global retail, experiential and hospitality industries. A self-starter with a proven ability to manage and influence cross-functional teams in fast-paced environments, leveraging a variety of tools to drive clarity and vastly improve operational efficiency across the business." (From Linkedin)

Selerino Flores-Mendez | He/Him/His | Latino/a/x | Spanish and English

Leadership requires being compassionate with others, critical thinking, inspiring others, positive thinking, communication, and much more.

I am a young Chicano that wants to gain new experiences from helping my community. My parents taught me the value of being a trustworthy, hardworking, and well-rounded Chicano in our diverse society. I wish to gain more leadership skills as a young adult, and compassionately help others in the present and future 

I went to Westview Highschool, and I am currently attending University of Oregon, Landscape Architecture program. I would like to improve my communication (Spanish and English) and time management, collaboration with a diverse team, office skills, and problem-solving abilities.  

Strong background for work and scholarships, gain new life experiences, learning from a diverse community, connecting with the diverse community, helping people with similar backgrounds that I grew up, and mature into an adult.

Zhulma Arrobo | She/Her/Hers | Latino/a/x | Spanish and English

I see leadership as a devotion to helping my community.

Since I was in high school, I have enjoyed helping and working with/for the people. As an athlete, I learned that success is a synonym of hard work. I won many medals during this journey, but I also lost many contests, and I learned a lot from that. One of the main things I am proud of in my life as an athlete was that I learned how to work, encourage, negotiate, and support people. 

When I was in college I learned about community, and what it means to be a leader. I wanted to stand up for powerful causes such as free education and better academic curriculum and opportunities for students, so I worked with groups of students from college and other colleges around the country who supported the same causes. After I moved to the United States, I started looking for ways to be involved with people and organizations where I can practice and learn English, but also places where I could get the opportunity to learn more about causes I care about, such as shelter animals, women’s equality, immigration, and--since I became mother-- Early Learning Education. 

In 2015 I was a canine and feline volunteer at Berkeley Human in Berkeley, CA. I was in charge of feeding, cleaning cages/kennels, and walking dogs. I also was a volunteer at Women's Global Leadership Initiative. In this organization I volunteer in social activities with women in the Bay Area. 

Since 2020 I have been a member of the Early Learning Washington County Parent Advisory Council (PAC). In 2021, I was one of the Parent Leaders who worked developing Early STEM videos in Spanish and English with the purpose of providing parents an easy way to introduce STEM learning into their children’s home education. 

In June 2020 I joined the Beaverton Literacy Council’s volunteer team as Spanish Language Assistant. I was a volunteer coach at Aloha United Soccer Club during the Spring and Fall recreational Micros program (K-2nd grade). This year I am also helping as a bilingual support for families during Spring registration at THPDR. My goal is to keep looking for programs that can help me to build my leadership skills and also to improve my English skills (speaking), so I can get the tools I need to make my community stronger. To become a Senator or representative is my dream, I want to make history in this country.

I would like to get involved more in the Beaverton Community because I like the activities, support and help the city offers to its community. My children enjoyed the events in the library, online and in person. We love the parks and after-school activities offered for the city. I would like to be involved in Early Learning Programs and more activities for children. I want to help make Beaverton a multicultural city that is inclusive to everyone.