Omar Cuevas Vega is queer, undocumented, Latinx, unafraid and unapologetic. Omar was raised in Los Angeles after immigrating with his family from Mexico. He moved up to Seattle, three years ago to obtain his Master's in Social Work from the University of Washington. In his personal and professional work, Omar has advocated and organized for affordable housing, a just immigration system, economic and environmental justice. He is passionate about the intersections of environmental justice and their effects on housing, health, income on working class people of color. Omar works to bring an intersectional lens to all his work and ensuring that everyone has a seat at the table.

Omar is a community organizer for Statewide Poverty Action Network and is a shop steward for OPEIU Local 8. He is currently working to develop more grassroots partnerships across Washington State. When not working towards a more just and equitable society he spends time with his partner and cat in North Seattle.

Nichelle Curtis-McQueen is an African American woman from Indiana.  She was born in Portland, Oregon but her family moved to Indiana to escape domestic violence.  She moved back to Washington after living in Germany.  She has resided in the South King County area for the last three years.  Nichelle is a Social Worker with a Bachelors degree from the University of Indianapolis and a Master’s degree from Simmons University.

Throughout her professional career, she has dedicated her work to help the transition and re-entry of those incarcerated in the US Justice System.  She has worked in mental health in the Indiana Women’s State Prison on the acute mental health unit where she taught classes to women on how to spot a dangerous man.  Here in Washington, she works for Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration at Green Hill School in Chehalis.  There she worked as a Mental Health Coordinator and assisted juvenile offenders transition back into their communities.  Recently Nichelle accepted a new position at her current facility as a Compliance Manager for Prison Rape Elimination; a Federal Legislation mandate. She has been a member of the Federal Way Diversity Commission for two years, a member of the National Association of Social Workers Legislative and Social Action Committee, and the Federal Way Collation for Sex Trafficking.

Prior to his residency in the greater Seattle area, Afeworki Ghebreiysus lived in Eritrea and traveled in sub-Saharan Africa, where social injustice and a lack of respect for human right prevail. His refugee journey helped him gain deep insight into trauma and sparked his passion to support other refugees and immigrants as they find home in diaspora.

Since re-settling in Seattle, Afeworki has worked with both governmental and nongovernmental organizations to connect marginalized communities with information, resources, and opportunity. He remains active in fighting the oppressive conditions back in East Africa that are causing so many people to flee. He’s campaigned to put an end to conscripted labor in Eritrea and organized symposia and demonstrations to advocate for jailed journalist friends and shine a light on violations of free speech and association. Afeworki holds a BSc degree in chemistry, which he obtained upon receiving a full-ride scholarship to the University of Asmara. Science is still his first love and he’s currently interested in how climate change and environmental degradation intersect with the global refugee crisis.

Jennell Hicks is a Program Manager/ Referral Specialist with King County Coordinated Entry for all. She also serves on the board of Washington Women in Need and organization which gives scholarships to women in need to attend college, obtain mental health services and dental treatment. She has completed her certificate with King County in Equity and Social Justice with King County and Serves on Committees in Department of Community Health services to make equity and social justice a reality at King County. She also serves as the President of Local 17 PTE at King County and represented employee interest in Master Labor Agreement Bargaining. She is an organizer of people and a leader in her community.

Jennell has a Bachelors in Public Administration from Seattle University and a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Washington. She is a lifelong learner and enjoys learning new things and taking on new challenges and takes advantage of every opportunity to make the community better.

Gina Lee is a community builder and joins CLI with seven years of non-profit experience in youth empowerment, urban forestry, and community development. With B.A.'s in Environmental Studies and Psychology, her drive is rooted in seeing people develop their personal stewardship, which then radiates into community and environmental stewardship.

Having grown up in a low-income immigrant community, it was always clear to Gina that navigating resources for basic needs is froth with issues and has generational effects. Although she enjoys working directly with people, she has realized that resources needs to be equitable beginning at the city and county level.

Tomas Alberto Madrigal, PhD serves as a Food Systems Researcher at Community to Community Development, working to help other farmworkers make data-driven interventions on the local, regional, national and international scale. He works as a health promotion coordinator for a community-driven initiative for people of color communities at the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department.

He serves as a board member of the Domestic Fair Trade Association and Tacoma SEED.

With an interest in design, planning, and social studies – more specifically how one’s built environment influences behavior and thinking – Malaysia Marshall was initially drawn to the science and creative nature of architecture and design, and was encouraged to pursue these studies.

Originally from the Atlanta area, she moved to Seattle and began seeking opportunities in which she could combine and apply her knowledge of design with sustainability, environmental services, policy, and community development. When combined, these fields present opportunities to make an impact, inspire, and improve the lives of others, especially the lives of those who have been historically underrepresented and excluded. Malaysia currently serve as a young leader with Got Green.

Siobhana R. McEwen is a queer, bi-racial social justice advocate who hails from rural western Nebraska. The daughter of a blue-collar worker from South Chicago and an immigrant from Guyana, she grew up in a small town where the vast majority of her neighbors did not look like her. Growing up far away from extended biological family, she embraced and relied upon members of her “chosen” family. She fondly remembers nights spent around the kitchen table hearing stories from her “family” of international students, members of the local Oglala-Lakota tribe, and others of varying ethnicities over shared meals and endless cups of coffee. It is this background that roots Siobhana in her sense of interdependence and interconnectedness, as well as her deep belief in the Lakota phrase, “mitakuye oyasin,” which translates in English to “we are all related.”

Siobhana has worked as the lead negotiator for the Central City Teacher’s Association in Central City, Nebraska, as well as a contract bargaining member for the SEIU unit at Rosemont Treatment Center and School for Girls in Portland, Oregon. She also served as photographer in the US Navy for five years, aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. She currently is a graduate student at the University of Washington School of Social Work, where she serves on the Student Advisory Council and has been deeply involved in community-building efforts with school administrators.

In over ten years working with non-profit and non-governmental organizations, Jefferson Mok has served in many capacities – as an international aid worker, human rights advocate, journalist, radio host, and photographer. He is also an immigrant from Hong Kong and a competitive Scrabble player. Jefferson is always searching for ways to apply his diverse skills and experiences to elevate voices and projects that can advance social change. He is especially passionate about facilitation methods that can enhance cooperation across borders, lines, and differences.

Jefferson holds a Bachelors in Philosophy and in French from Grinnell College in Iowa and Master’s degrees in International Affairs and in Journalism from Columbia University in New York. He currently serves as Chair of the City of Tacoma's Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs. Before moving to Tacoma, he lived on the East Coast for a few years but he is a Midwesterner at heart, having spent over 20 years in and around Chicago. You can often find him with his dog, Chauncey, who followed Jefferson to the U.S. from Burundi in East Africa.

Thanh P. Nguyen is a Vietnamese-Chinese American, originally from Orange County before making Seattle her home. She is the first college graduate in her family, earning a Bachelor in Sociology from the University of Washington. Currently, she works at International Community Health Services in the Foundation department, raising money for uncompensated healthcare. Being fortunate to work with awesome organizations such as the Statewide Poverty Action Network, Unemployment Law Project, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, and Social Justice Fund have challenged Thanh to advocate against the institutional and racial inequities that persist in our community. Housing is a topic that she is deeply invested in as she has experienced housing instability throughout her life. She firmly believes housing is a human right and an essential need for a person to achieve social and economic mobility. She is a housing advocate and volunteers with the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance. Through CLI, Thanh looks forward to refining her leadership skills, as well as learning how to navigate and impact policy decisions.

Fun Fact: She co-wrote and co-produced a short film on female empowerment titled Support Group.

Diana Parra is a native of Medellin, Colombia who loves living in Tacoma. She is a Financial Counselor for Sound Outreach embedded at Tacoma Community House as part of an alliance to help communities reach financial stability.  Through her previous work at TCH as a victim advocate, she became passionate about immigrant and refugee rights, language access, intercultural competence and trauma informed care.

She is currently serving as Vice-Chair in the newly created Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs of Tacoma.

Vanessa Reyes currently lives in Southeast Seattle and is an Accredited Representative at the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. In the three years that they've lived in Seattle, Vanessa has strived to become an active participant in the community by engaging in direct actions put on by organizations like the NWDC Resistance, being a founding member of a grassroots organizing collective called Fuerza Colectiva, and serving as a year-long mentor with Young Women Empowered.

Vanessa was born in Los Angeles, California but grew up in Illinois and her family comes from el Estado de Mexico in south-central Mexico. As a queer femme of color who comes from a working poor immigrant family, Vanessa is passionate about fighting for social justice and building healthy communities to have a liberated future for herself and their loved ones.

Lupe Valtierra-Prieto is an indigenous queer chingona from Jalisco Mexico currently reclaiming her Tecuexe heritage and dismantling white supremacy in the Seattle area. She is currently pursuing her Bachelors in American Indian Studies at the University of Washington.
She is passionate about climate justice and helping her community heal through reclaiming stolen traditional land knowledge. She is proud to have been part of the 2017 Yahowt Program cohort of indigenous women who obtained their permaculture design certificate from Oregon State University. Since then she has received her Permaculture Teacher Certification through Earth Activist.

As a proud DACA recipient, she is particularly interested in advocating for undocumented communities so they can create systemic change in the absence of voting rights. She recognizes that her DACA status is a privilege and uses this privilege to help her community thrive.

Adriana Vining is a Filipinx-American South Seattle native. She studied Informatics at the University of Washington in hopes of working in the technology industry. Although her studies were centered in data science and tech, she always found herself looking for ways to get involved in the community throughout her college career. As she developed greater relationships with the communities she worked with, she realized her true passions lie in community development and youth work.

Adriana is participating in the CLI Fellowship in hopes of addressing affordable housing, serving immigrant communities, and uplifting youth voice. She is currently a Youth Program Coordinator with the Filipino Community of Seattle, a co-founder of Eight Rays NW, and serves on the University of Washington ECO Community Advisory Board.

Angela Westbrooks is a native of South-Central Los Angeles and is currently residing in Federal Way. She earned a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Washington and co-authored and published child welfare research. Angela is a behavioral health clinician who serves child welfare involved youths and families throughout King County by providing therapy and case management services.

As a former foster youth, and African in the diaspora, Angela is passionate about child welfare and racial justice advocacy. She strongly believes in challenging oppressive policies and practices that create socioeconomic barriers for subordinate groups while strengthening the hegemonic structure. Angela is honored to join the 2018-2019 CLI cohort on their path to social justice.