Facilitator Bios
Keynote: Relational Worldview: Indigenous Theory and Application
Terry L. Cross
Citizen of the Seneca Nation, Founder and Senior Advisor of the National Indian Child Welfare Association.
Terry Cross is an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation of Indians and is the developer, founding executive director, and now senior advisor to the National Indian Child Welfare Association in Portland, Oregon. He has 49 years of experience in child welfare, including 10 years working directly with children and families. He is the author of Working with Substance Abusing Families, Positive Indian Parenting, Cross-Cultural Skills in Indian Child Welfare and co-authored “Toward a Culturally Competent System of Care,” published by Georgetown University. He is also the author of the Encyclopedia of Social Work entry on cultural competence and several articles on the Relational Worldview Model.
Workshop: Accessibility - It's More Than ADA
William Sarcos Cortez
(he/him/siya) Accessibility Project Manager, Metro Parks & Nature
Will Cortez is Metro Parks & Nature's Accessibility Project Manager. The role is a direct result of accessibility emerging as a priority in the Parks & Nature Bond passed by voters in 2019. Will comes to Parks & Nature having co-led the Oregon Zoo's accessibility work & drafting their ADA Transition Plan and as a champion of sustainability work, he co-wrote the draft of the Zoo's Sustainability Plan. Will also co-chairs Metro's People of Color Employee Resource Group.
Will is an experienced educator, construction project manager, social justice advocate and community activator. He's also an avid cyclist and was instrumental in the creation of BikePOCPNW, a collective of over 400 BIPOC folks in the Portland Metro area interested in bicycles, brought together by the desire to create safe spaces for personal growth, community, and learning.
will.cortez@oregonmetro.gov
(De)Constructing Org Culture: Weaving Empathy Into Equitable Action
Ruby Joy White
(prince|they\she) - Creative. Sociologist. Writer. Social Equity Strategist & Consultant.
Ruby Joy White has extensive experience in a multitude of areas focusing on anti-racist and social equity work, sociological practice with an emphasis in social systems, poverty, family & family violence, education & curriculum development, data assessment & research, employment policy, program development, wellness, journalism, writing, editing & layout, painting and drawing, cultural and creative curating, arts administration, community engagement, organizational strategic planning, leadership transmogrification, recruitment, and organizational development.
Ruby is a generationally-mixed Black diasporic person of Black American and Afro-Caribbean descent, is sapphically-inclined, gender queer, and neurodivergent. They describe themself as being half creative, half sociologist. They hold degrees in Journalism and Sociology from the University of Northern Colorado, a transformational leadership certificate from Imagine Black (formerly the Portland African American Leadership Forum), certification in Restorative Justice training, and is undergoing training for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault advocacy.
Currently, Ruby serves as the Equity and Racial Justice Program Manager for Parks and Nature at Oregon Metro, and will soon transition to Portland’5 Centers for the Arts to serve as the Director of Community Events, Education, and Culture. Ruby is also a board member of the Contemporary Art Council for the Portland Art Museum, a board member of the Alberta Abbey, a Hey Doc Clinic advisory council member, and member of Imagine Black.
Ruby’s foci when working with organizations is to address blatant acts of racism/discrimination, the dismantling of organizational culture rooted in White Supremacy, the analyzation of power and power structures, anti-Black and anti-Indigenous actions, utilization of trauma-informed assessment, and to collectively work with staff to create and identify goals, outcomes, and overall strategies to infuse racial equity into the very foundation of the organization, including recruitment and retention efforts.
www.rubyjoywhite.com
Empowering You to Submit That Grant Application
Jessica Green
(she/her) Operations and Program Director, Portland Parks Foundation
Jessica Green is the Operations and Program Director at the Portland Parks Foundation, a city-wide parks nonprofit committed to supporting Portland communities to create more equitable access to nature, play, health and places of connection. Jessica oversees both the financial aspects of PPF as well as PPF’s parks community groups initiatives. These initiatives include managing PPF’s small grants program, volunteer and leadership programs and technical workshops. In addition to her work at PPF, she also has her own run coaching company that partners with the Michael J. Fox Foundation to offer access to free coaching services each year to hundreds of runners throughout the country. She currently serves as Vice-Chair on the board of Friends of Tryon Creek.
Subashini Ganesan-Forbes
(she/her) Founder, New Expressive Works & Oregon Arts Commissioner
Subashini is a curator, arts administrator, and choreographer based in Portland, Oregon. She currently serves as an Oregon Arts Commissioner and is the former Creative Laureate of Portland (2018 – June 2021). With four decades of performing and teaching experience, Subashini uses her foundation in Bharatanatyam to engage audiences and students through innovative themes. In 2012, Subashini founded New Expressive Works (N.E.W.), a vibrant performing arts venue in South East Portland. Through residencies, artist conversations, and performance seasons, N.E.W. celebrates bold new works created by multicultural independent performing artists. Subashini is Adjunct Professor at Pacific University teaching arts advocacy and an active Community Advisory Committee member of the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center. She serves as a board member for the James F. & Marion L. Miller Foundation and the Portland Parks Foundation.
Vo is a radical educator of 13 years in over 20 countries in racial justice, intercultural communication, trauma-informed care, de-escalation and transformative justice. They have trained staff from over 300 organizations in OR and WA since immigrating to the US in 2014. Editor of an internationally renowned publication, speaker, curator, artist and musician who has exhibited and toured in Australia, Germany, Indonesia, The Netherlands, Singapore, Croatia, Mexico, Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, Vietnam, Sweden, Malaysia, and the States. Local festival organizer. One of the festivals they curate is IntersectFest: A Festival For and By People Of Color – now in it’s sixth year. It has featured over 200 Black, Indigenous, and POC artists, including dancers, poets, filmmakers, curators, visual artists and more. It also creates space to discuss radical political approaches to community organizing and artistic practice. Their recently initiated career as a visual artist has seen them primarily work in textiles, embroidery, weaving, and furniture building. Their installations seek to interrogate power dynamics, structural oppression, challenge histories and realities of imperialism, white supremacy and colonization. They continue to explore support strategies and models of community care within a post-traumatic social landscape, focusing on the resilience of BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+ and disabled communities.
*Masks are required for this workshop