PHCC BOARD OF DIRECTORS

  • Candice Jimenez (she/her), Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Board Chair

    Candice Jimenez (she/her) is a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, whose ancestors include the Wasco, Warm Springs, Paiute, Yakama, and Wintun peoples. Currently, she serves in tribal health policy and advocacy supporting the voices and priorities of Northwest Tribal leaders in healthcare access, delivery and systems change across local, regional and national spaces.This includes Tribes efforts to guide, lead and uphold health-related legislative and policy efforts for American Indians and Alaska Natives (or, AI/AN communities) for Tribes and by Tribes. 

    In the past, Candice has been involved in AI/AN public health research and continues to support health-related advocacy through technical assistance and support to improve the quality of life of AI/AN people and their communities. Trained in community-based research and people-first primary healthcare, Candice seeks to uplift tribal and BIPOC health and wellness access that centers: collective mental health, access to care and resources that are culturally and literally responsive. As a fellow community member, Candice is guided by uplifting tribal sovereignty and centering health equity for all people; a space that honors collaboration across land, language, culture, access and ability — moving from acknowledgement into collective action and accountability. She is a proud mom of two children and calls NE Portland their home away from ‘home’!

  • Jeri Jimenez (she/her), Klamath, Board Vice Chair

    Jeri is an enrolled member of the Klamath Tribes. She is a local and national leader in equitable community organizing and engagement and social justice who uses her voice to speak truth to power. Her work comes from a more relational worldview, recognizing that all life is sacred and everything is connected. She dedicates her free time to work with survivors of human trafficking, community organizing and environmental justice. She has worked for the City of Portland Bureau of Community and Civic Life and served as the executive director of the Environmental Justice Action Group from 2000-2007. She also co-founded the organizations Survivor to Survivor and the Urban Workers Union. Jeri currently is completing a fellowship with the U.S. government National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center Human Trafficking Leadership Academy for Native American People and holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Development.

  • Samantha Hernandez (she/her), Board Treasurer

    Samantha was born and raised in Miami, Florida to parents from the Dominican Republic. She identifies as a mixed race latina of mixed-race ancestry. Samantha is a Climate Justice Organizer at Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility (OPSR). After Miami, Samantha considers Portland to be a second home. The enriching friendships she has made while interning at local organizations like Portland Harbor Community Coalition, Portland VOZ, and Growing Gardens has greatly informed her perspectives on the importance of frontline community-led action and intersectional environmentalism.

  • Je Amaechi (she/they), Board Secretary

    Je mobilizes communities to advocate for safety and well-being through an abolitionist and decolonial lens, and is currently the Organizing Director at Unite Oregon. With a background in Philosophy focusing on Critical Race Theory and Neurophilosophy, Je bridges deep theoretical insights with practical strategies for systemic change. Je draws on expertise in healing justice and popular education to foster personal and community transformation. Their global and local experiences, including delegations abroad and local board service, inform their commitment to creating a just and healed world.

  • Sadie Atwell (she/her), Board Member

    Sadie Atwell is a dedicated Rec Coordinator with a deep passion for equity-based initiatives, particularly those focused on empowering children. Her commitment to fostering positive change drives her active involvement in various community projects, where she advocates for justice and inclusivity. She is particularly passionate about the work of the Environmental and Equity Justice and Leadership Initiative (EJLI), dedicating her time and expertise to advancing the organization's mission of creating equitable opportunities for all, especially for underserved communities. In addition to her EJLI work, Sadie is actively engaged in environmental efforts, such as participating in community nature projects and volunteering as a class connector at her kids school. She also plays a vital role in addressing racial injustices through her collaborations with affinity partnerships. Outside of her advocacy work, Sadie treasures moments alone or quality time with her children and family, finding balance and renewal in both solitude and their companionship.

PHCC TEAM

  • Cassie Cohen, Executive Director

    Cassie grew up in the Portland metro area, caring deeply about her connection to nature. She didn't understand why she and her family were disconnected from the Willamette River until she learned about its complicated environmental condition. Cassie is known for her skills in bringing diverse community members together to address social, racial, environmental, and economic justice issues. She serves as the Executive Director for Portland Harbor Community Coalition. She has over 15 years of experience working in nonprofit, education, and in the public sector. From 2009-2015, she led Groundwork Portland, an environmental justice organization led by and serving communities of color, during which time they formed the Portland Harbor Community Coalition. She and her team were also able to hire and employ 100 young people in a paid environmental jobs training program. Her passions are dance, and spending time with her 8-year-old daughter.

    Email Cassie: Cassie[at]phccoalition.org

  • Ja'Marian Malley, Campaign Director

    Ja'Marian grew up in Portland, particularly in St. Johns; has witnessed the changes to the area environmentally from childhood to adulthood. Having a Bachelor's degree in Exercise Science and over a decade of experience as a personal trainer, Ja'Marian has dedicated much of their professional life to empowering others. Alongside a strong background in health and fitness, Ja'Marian Malley has spent years working with youth-based organizations and after-school programs, developing a deep passion for nonprofit work. Over the past four years, he has honed their skills in team building, grant writing, and fostering relationships with partners, sponsors, and city leaders.

    Now, as Campaign Manager at the Portland Harbor Community Coalition, Ja'Marian is excited to bring his expertise to the environmental sector. having much excitement for a committed role of driving impactful initiatives that benefit the community and the environment, continuing their journey of service and leadership.

    Email Ja'Marian: Jamarian[at]phccoalition.org

  • Jacob Bureros, Development Director

    Jacob Bureros is a Filipino-American father and community activist who was raised in a rural Indigenous farming community on the banks of the Cagayan river in the Northern Philippines and moved to the Portland area when he was 15 years old. He attended Milwaukie Highschool, Portland Community College, and George Fox University before getting involved in activism and local politics, starting his own political consulting llc in 2016. He has spent a majority of his adult life fighting for racial, economic, and environmental equity and justice. He is the founder of Direct Action Alliance, a local community advocate and activist organization at the forefront of many of Portland’s most impactful movements and protests for equity and racial and social justice and is the co-founder of Occupy ICE PDX, a nationwide movement that was established to confront and challenge the Trump Administration’s “Zero Tolerance Policy” on immigration. He has recently become a song-writer and performer in the Filipino-American Hip Hop scene, working with local viral artist Talilo on projects involving artists from Tech N9ne to legendary Filipino hip hop collective, Moro Beats. He is the father of two beautiful Filipino-Cherokee children and is a lifelong lover, advocate, and warrior for all things water. 

    As the Director of Development at PHCC, Jacob looks forward to doing his part to build a powerful coalition in our community to confront polluters and hold our government accountable in our movement to restore the spirit of our river, the life source of our city.

    Email Jacob: Jacob[at]phccoalition.org

Our coalition is a collective of organizations and individuals representing frontline communities including Native American/ Indigenous, Black/African-Americans, Immigrants, Refugees, People experiencing homelessness and current residents living, working, subsisting or recreating around the Portland Harbor Superfund site.

Members who directly represent or identify as disproportionately impacted communities  

Core Members

Black Men in Training

Educate, demonstrate, and teach our young men how to exhibit love for self, love for their brother, love for life, and how to properly love and respect women, by creating a safe and positive environment to teach viable paths and skills so they can have a productive life, while embracing brotherhood.

The Blueprint Foundation

Empowering  future generations by providing culturally responsive mentoring and experiential learning opportunities along various pathways so they can build their  own futures and careers. 

Creating Tomorrow’s Workforce Bringing more diversity, inclusion and equity into environmental, conservation and natural resources work. This includes youth involvement in environmental education and exposure to environmental and scientific careers, encouraging and supporting the efforts of adults to physically challege themselves in the natural outdoors, and working to close health disparity gaps by highlighting the health and wellness benefits of an active outdoor lifesyle.

East European Coalition

Unites the Eastern European Communities in Oregon and promotes Eastern European culture.

Get Hooked Foundation

Introduces children and families in at-risk communities aquatic ecosystems through mentorship.

Ground Score Association

Is collectively-organized and radically inclusive, prioritizing work opportunities for those facing work and housing insecurities by seeking to build a more environmentally and socially aware community, while changing society’s perceptions of what and who is considered valuable.

Imagine Black

Imagine Black helps Portland’s Black community imagine the alternatives we deserve, builds our political participation, and supports leadership to achieve those alternatives.

Living Islands

Is a non-profit, volunteer-driven organization, dedicated to supporting Pacific Islander Communities through cross-cultural education and awareness since 2013.

Portland Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (PCHRP)

An organizing committee of immigrant youth, students, professionals, workers, and allies working together in solidarity to advance in the national democratic movement in the Philippines, in the United States through education, leadership development and political action.

Right 2 Survive

Educates both unhoused and housed people on their civil, human, and constitutional rights and empowers unhoused people to stand up for themselves when their rights are violated. They bridge the gap between housed and unhoused people by clearing away misconceptions and stigmas associated with houselessness.

Sisters of the Road

Builds authentic relationships and alleviates the hunger of isolation in an atmosphere of nonviolence and gentle personalism that nurtures the whole individual, while seeking systemic solutions that reach the roots of houselessness and poverty to end them forever.

Unite Oregon

Led by people of color, immigrants and refugees, rural communities, and people experiencing poverty, we work across Oregon to build a unified intercultural movement for justice.

Wisdom of the Elders

Records and preserves the oral history, cultural arts, language concepts, and traditional ecological knowledge of exemplary Native American and Indigenous historians, cultural leaders and environmentalists in collaboration with arts and cultural organizations and educational institutions.

York Collective

York Collective is driving shared liberation through community-led development. York Urban Village in York District will cultivate a space that honors the origins of Black history in the Pacific Northwest, as it relates to regional tribal histories.

Supportive/Advisory Members

All other members (businesses, environmental, neighborhoods, public health, service-based, etc.)

As a collective, we demand: Superfund job training opportunities and family-wage jobs for impacted communities, adequate and permanent affordable housing in neighborhoods adjacent to the river, reparations for displaced communities, policy measures to prevent further displacement, support for unhoused individuals (by stopping all sweeps of riverside camps and addressing the root causes of the houselessness), greater public access to the river, early opportunities for community/youth groups to help shape/lead river access projects (including restoration projects that support enhanced fish and wildlife habitat), and community Benefit Agreements (between impacted communities, polluters, and government agencies to ensure equity provisions are implemented during and following the cleanup).