Executive Director of Latino Network

Tony DeFalco is Latino Network's Executive Director. He has held the roles of Executive Director of Verde and Living Cully Ecodistrict Coordinator, coordinating the nation’s first equity-driven ecodistrict designed to re-interpret sustainability as an anti-poverty strategy. His expertise in community economic development, environmental protection, and sustainability span 15 years of working locally and nationally in environmental advocacy, coalition building, and policy advocacy. As the Living Cully Ecodistrict Coordinator he helped lead the redevelopment of a landfill into a park in a low-income neighborhood in Portland. His current focus includes strengthening communities of color and low-income communities in deriving economic benefit from environmental investments.

Chief Operating Officer at the Native American Youth & Family Center (NAYA)

Tamara Henderson has been an activist and advocate for racial justice, equity, and college access since 2000. She in an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe. Most of her initial work was in the areas of student organizing, advocacy, and activism. Tamara worked for the Oregon Student Association (OSA) from 2006 – 2010, where she spent her final three years as the Executive Director.

She then went on to coordinate college access services to the Native American community as the College and Career Coordinator for the Native American Youth and Family Center. Tamara was involved in the Oregon College Access Network from 2010 until 2015 where she served as both Vice President and President. She has also worked with Title VII, Indian Education. Tamara is currently the Director of Youth and Education Services for the Native American Youth and Family Center and has served the organization for nearly 10 years. She currently serves on the Oregon Student Foundation board and is the president of the Oregon Indian Education Association; Tamara also chairs the American Indian/Alaskan Native Advisory Committee for the Oregon Department of Education.

Tamara attended Southern Oregon University where she got her start in the field of college access through her work as a student leader; she chaired the OSA Board of Directors as the Southern Oregon University Student Body President from 2001-2002 and held the Vice Chair position for the United States Student Association’s People of Native American Descent Caucus that same year. Tamara has a degree in Communication Studies and earned a Certificate in Conflict Resolution from Southern Oregon University. Even today, she continues to work at Southern Oregon University’s Konaway Nika Tillicum pre-college program for Native American Youth, most recently as Assistant Director of the program.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KairosPDX

Marsha Williams was appointed in July 2021 as the CEO for KairosPDX. Williams is a seasoned executive, who brings a wealth of diverse organizational skills and thought leadership to community-based and national organizations, most notably currently serving as the Chapter President of the Portland Willamette Valley Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated, and as a Trustee on Warner Pacific University’s Board. Williams is a KairosPDX Co-Founder who has been co-leading the organization as the Operations Director since its inception. She has also chaired the KairosPDX Board of Directors for the past several years. Before KairosPDX, Williams worked in the health care sector, with over a dozen years researching and publishing in academic medicine. Williams received her bachelor’s from Brandeis University, where she played collegiate basketball, and subsequently completed a Fellowship in Policy Research at Harvard Medical School. Marsha comes to Oregon from New York by way of Boston and resides in Portland with her husband and five young children.

Director of Promise Neighborhood Initiative, Self Enhancement Inc. (SEI)

Melissa Hicks is part of the executive team at Self Enhancement, Inc. and serves as the Director of the Albina Rockwood Promise Neighborhood, overseeing a $28 million dollar initiative with the Department of Education. Utilizing servant leadership with a strong belief in transparency, Melissa works across all sectors to eradicate barriers and create equitable access to opportunities so the communities most impacted by systemic injustices can thrive on their own terms. As a passionate advocate for economic justice, Melissa also facilitates culturally specific workshops on financial literacy and empowerment and has participated on several national panels addressing racial wealth disparities, impacts of gentrification, and the importance of trauma informed services. Melissa is an alumni and former board member of the Portland African American Leadership Forum (now called Imagine Black), and an active board member with the Youth Empowerment Project Pacific Northwest.

Executive Director of Verde

Candace is a first-generation American “Blacktina”, daughter of Black Americans from the south and Guatemalan immigrants. Originally from Virginia, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern Foreign Languages, with a focus on Spanish and Italian, and Master of Education degree in College Student Personnel Administration from James Madison University. Prior to her venture into the nonprofit world, she worked at Portland State University for 8 years providing civic engagement education and advising support for student leaders. She lives in NE Portland and is an active member of her community, such as a co-founder of the Black Millennial Movement, serving on the Citizen Review Committee and Charter Review Commission for the City of Portland, as well as on the boards of Portland: Neighbors Welcome, Street Roots, and the Oregon Kickball Club. Her hobbies include watching cooking shows, reading social justice literature, playing outdoor sports, and walking and biking around Portland. Su nombre en español es Candis Ávalos.

Director of IRCO Africa House and Associate Director of IRCO

Djimet Dogo is Associate Director of IRCO (Immigrant and Refugee Community of Oregon) and IRCO Africa House. Mr. Dogo has extensive education and training on community organizing, civic management, leadership, and advocacy within diverse communities. His work to effect true community engagement includes a demonstrated history of over 25 years’ experience facilitating collaborative coalition building for refugee and immigrant communities. His many educational qualifications include a Masters of Public Administration from Portland State University and several degrees in Conflict Resolution, Peace Building and Leadership from France, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and South Africa.

Mr. Dogo’s experience and connections with the local African communities was pivotal in the creation and founding of the culturally specific community focal point Africa House in 2006—the only culturally and linguistically specific one stop center targeting the increasingly diverse and rapidly growing number of African immigrants and refugees living in Oregon.

Community Development Director at APANO

Duncan Hwang grew up in a Taiwanese-American household in rural upper Michigan. He first became politicized while attending the University of Michigan where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Asian Studies. During this time he worked on numerous civic engagement and environmental campaigns. After graduating, he worked as a field organizer for a national nonprofit focusing on voter registration and GOTV campaigns. Duncan then moved to Portland, Oregon, and obtained his J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2007.

Duncan has served as APANO’s Associate Director since 2013 and transitioned to Community Development Director in 2022.

Executive Director of Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO)

Mr. Cha has been with IRCO since 1982 in numerous leadership roles, including as Director of IRCO Asian Family Center, which he helped found in 1994. He became IRCO’s Executive Director in April 2015. A tireless advocate for culturally- and linguistically-specific services for the increasingly diverse children, youth, families, and elders living in Oregon, he provides a voice for the community at large by serving on various commissions and boards, including the Governor’s Commission on Senior Services, the New Portlander Policy Council board, A Home for Everyone board, the All Hands Raised board and the Multnomah County Commission on Youth and Families. Mr. Cha is also co-founder of the Coalition of Communities of Color. Additionally, Mr. Cha empowers our diverse African, Asian and Slavic immigrant and refugee community leaders by supporting community building and integration efforts within their communities.

Mr. Cha, who speaks Hmong, Lao, Thai, and English, has also provided extensive direct service to delinquent youth, gang-involved youth, teen parents, youth with anti-social behavior and their families. A former Hmong refugee from Laos, Mr. Cha came to Oregon in 1978 and received his Master of Business Administration from Marylhurst University. He is a well-known cross-cultural trainer and a past president of Hmong American Community of Oregon.