Southern Oregon Equity Summit 2019

Carmen X Urbina is a proven leader who brings the diverse, lived-experience and unique skills we need in Oregon today. She has developed her exceptional talents serving in early learning settings, K-12 school districts and ESDs, higher education, and leading culturally specific and highly respected community-based organizations in Oregon. Carmen’s efforts are always grounded in equity, focused on the needs of all our students and families, and designed to bring community and education organizations together in both safe and effective ways.

Dr. Donna Beegle: Born into a migrant labor family and married at 15, earned her GED at age 26, within 10 years she then received her doctorate in Educational Leadership. She is an authentic voice from poverty that speaks, writes and trains across the nation to break the iron cage of poverty for others through Communication Across Barriers (CAB). For more than 25 years, she has traveled throughout hundreds of cities in 47 states and four countries to assist professionals with proven strategies for breaking poverty barriers. State agencies, politicians and other organizations have partnered with her to implement community-wide approaches to improving outcomes for citizens in poverty.

Ricky Robertson

Ricky Robertson has had the privilege to work with students from pre-K to 12th grade who have persevered in the face of adversity and trauma.  Ricky is the co-author of the book, “Building Resilience in Students Impacted by Adverse Childhood Experiences: A Whole-Staff Approach.”  As a consultant and coach, Ricky assists schools in developing trauma-informed systems of support and Restorative Practices that foster resilience and success for staff and students.

Eric Butler is a Restorative Justice Educator and Activist. A Hurricane Katrina survivor, he relocated to Oakland, California where he rebuilt a new life, successfully facilitating Grief Circles in response to homicide and extreme violence in area schools as part of Catholic Charities’ crisis response program. He also worked as a lead mediator with Youth Uprising, where he mediated conflicts on the ground in Oakland neighborhoods and schools.

While in Oakland, Eric gained prominence for his impactful Restorative Justice work with youth in West Oakland as the School Coordinator at Bunche High School with Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth (RJOY). Today, Eric travels from New Orleans to Texas, to New York, to California and all around the country with a personal mission to spread Restorative Justice around the globe.

Leah Hinkle has been an education consultant to ten school districts with the Teaching and Learning Department at Clackamas Education Service District for the last four years. Her specialty is English learner instruction and services funded through Title III. She formerly worked in the Greater Albany School District for ten years, first as a bilingual educational assistant, then an ELD teacher at the middle and high school levels, and lastly as the district’s Teacher on Special Assignment to English Learner Programs.

Raphaelle (Raphi) Miller, Director of Education & School Services joined the staff of Resolve in 2013, having previously served as a volunteer and intern since 2011. In her work as a restorative justice practitioner, trainer, coach and consultant, Raphi supports schools in system-wide implementation of restorative justice practices. Raphi works collaboratively to advance restorative justice in education through participation in regional collective impact initiatives and as a planning committee member for the Northwest Justice Forum. Raphi is currently pursuing a Master’s in Public Administration from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She graduated magna cum laude from Southern Oregon University with her B.A. in Human Communication, certificates in Conflict Resolution and the Management of Human Resources, and a minor in Business Administration.

Cara Walsh, As the Director of Restorative Justice, Cara has been working to support the development, implementation, and delivery of restorative justice services since 2010. In addition to providing training, consultation, and coaching on a local level, Cara works for the advancement of restorative justice throughout the region via her leadership with the Restorative Justice Coalition of Oregon, the Northwest Justice Forum and the Transforming Justice Advisory Committee. Her professional and educational experience is grounded in her passion for creating and facilitating integrative opportunities and experiences for community engagement, empowerment and transformation. Cara earned her M.A. from Prescott College.

Dr. Julie McCann has been an educator for 40 years currently working as a professor in the Concordia College Doctoral Program and as a Senior Associate for the Oregon Center for Educational Equity (OCEE). She was the 2000 Oregon Principal of the Year and as a leader focused on underserved children and families and systemic reform. She has consulted throughout the state on issues of diversity, inclusion, equity and school change.  She has presented at both state and national conferences around her dissertation topic: White Leaders Examine Power and Privilege: The Challenges of Leading for Equity.

has been an educator for 20 years.  He is currently a middle school social studies teacher in Eugene, Oregon, focusing on teaching history through a non-dominant lens.  He guides his students to critically examine, discuss and explore, through historical analysis and current events, an array of social justice issues and actions.  Jesse embraces opportunities to engage in challenging conversations around equity, diversity and inclusion with his colleagues, his students, and his own multi-racial children. He also provides professional development as a Facilitator for the Oregon Center for Educational Equity (OCEE).

K’Ehleyr is a member of the Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation whose traditional homelands are located in the now Greater Monterey Bay Area of California. She is the Youth Development Specialist for the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, primarily supporting families with youth ages 0-15. Her work includes providing resources to families with early learners, IEP and 504 support for students and families, tutoring at the Expanding Horizons Youth Center, Tribal education benefit program management and, of course, duties as assigned.

K’Ehleyr grew up in a small town in rural Northern Arizona and is working to reconnect with her Tribal heritage, traditional knowledge, and language. She earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Paleobiology from the University of California, Santa Barbara where she became an active member of the campus American Indian Student Association. Finding a family with these Native peers cemented her desire to pursue working in Indian Country, where she hopes to stay for the duration of her career.

Renae Guenther is a member of the Cow Creek South Umpqua Tribe of Indians and has been on the Tribal Attendance Pilot Project (TAPP) since its beginning in 2016. TAPP is a collaborative project of all nine federally recognized tribes of Oregon with the Oregon Department of Education to address chronic absenteeism of American Indian/Alaska Native students in selected schools. Now three years into the project, TAPP is showing gains in AI/AN attendance rates.

Being a Tribally enrolled student herself, Renae battled with chronic absenteeism and a lack of positive and accurate representations of the Native American culture and peoples. Through making connections with her peers and her tribe, Renae is now a graduate student attending Southern Oregon University. Renae focuses her efforts on encouraging the youth of American Indian/Alaska Native descent to finish primary school and progress to higher education for the success of themselves and their tribal communities.

Cow Creek Umpqua Tribal Member Rhonda Richardson has worked for the Tribe for 28 years. She has been dedicated in her previous position as the Human Services Director and is now continuing on her path as the Cultural Development Coordinator. It has been a long time passion for Rhonda to continue her career in the Cultural field. She is working alongside the Natural Resources Team. Rhonda has been involved in various committees and projects throughout the years that has touched the life situations from ages 0-99, from birth to death and helped people navigate through life. The revitalization of the Takelma Language has become the main focus of developing the culture for our Tribal community.

Lynda Coates is a Gold Star Speaker with Communication Across Barriers (CAB), a national consulting firm that provides training and keynotes that empower professionals who assist people with moving out of poverty. Lynda has a Master’s Degree in Com­munication from Portland State University and has been speaking and training for over a decade across the country. She is an authentic voice, born into generational poverty, who grew up homeless with her parents and five siblings.