FY25 Board of Directors
Dustina Haase-Lanier, MSW, UPRISE Board Member, Facilitator
Dustina Haase-Lanier, MSW (she/her) has been a social justice warrior for 20 years. She started as a volunteer at the domestic violence shelter where she once sought refuge and became an advocate. She was the LGBTQ domestic and sexual violence specialist at the Clark County YWCA and the Technical Coordinator at the Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, leading trainings and workshops all over the state of Oregon and at national conferences. She is committed to social justice work, particularly focusing on Native American and other women of color.
Kae'chauna Sinclair, UPRISE Board Member, Storykeeper
Kae'chauna Sinclair (she/her) has over 8 years of mental health experience. She strives for helping others reach
prosperity through mental health and wellness awareness. She takes her expertise into the community through
her various workshops, including but not limited to confidence, self esteem, emotional wellbeing, and more. She
is more than qualified to enter any community through her own personal experiences and intersectionality. This
allows her to relate to anyone and serve them positively.
Jennie Tian, ACC, CPCC, UPRISE Board Member, Treasurer
Jennie Tian, ACC, CPCC, (she/her) grew up between China and the Bay Area, mostly around BIPOC folks
committed to the arts, healing, innovation, and justice work. This fostered a deep interest in health and racial
equity that, years later, would lead her to support people in healing chronic stress and trauma as a leadership
and trauma coach.
Jennie created her coaching practice, Body Works Coaching, based on the foundation that the body works as it's
intended to, with the goal of introducing nervous system care to people and organizations in order to make life
and work safer. Prior to that, she led L&D programs and managed grant portfolios for philanthropic organizations
centering anti-racism and equity. In addition to coaching, Jennie is working on a poetry collection on
generational healing from the perspective of a Chinese immigrant woman.
Abdul Fofanah, MSW, QMHP, UPRISE Board Member
Abdul Fofanah, MSW, QMHP (he/him/his) Born in Sierra Leone, Abdul Fofanah is a community organizer and social change agent. He is passionate about uplifting human capacity across socioeconomic and cultural divides. He has worked in various non-profits and governmental organizations providing culturally responsive supports in building capacity for underserved communities to thrive. He currently works as a mental health clinician for Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare.
Asa Wright, MFA, UPRISE Board Member
Asa Wright, MFA, Klamath/Modoc (he/him), Artist | Designer | Activist
Asa is an enrolled member of the Klamath Tribes from Chiloquin, Oregon though he has called Portland home for the last 20 years. He is an artist of many mediums. Asa has a Bachelors degree in Public Health from Portland State University and a Masters degree in Collaborative Design from Pacific NW College of Art. He is a proud pa to daughter Yukpa and spoiled pup Wasu.
Asa blends his backgrounds in public health and art/design to work on cultural revitalization, decolonization and positive social change. Asa also creates art for action, art that brings about awareness of social justice issues that motivate communities, people and organizations to mobilize for direct change.
Coordinator for IP3-Indigenous Peoples Power Project,
Owner of Thesebraids Art & Design
Director Sa'aMaqs Studio
Founder of Portland Two Spirit Society
Hopper magazine article
Asa is an enrolled member of the Klamath Tribes from Chiloquin, Oregon though he has called Portland home for the last 20 years. He is an artist of many mediums. Asa has a Bachelors degree in Public Health from Portland State University and a Masters degree in Collaborative Design from Pacific NW College of Art. He is a proud pa to daughter Yukpa and spoiled pup Wasu.
Asa blends his backgrounds in public health and art/design to work on cultural revitalization, decolonization and positive social change. Asa also creates art for action, art that brings about awareness of social justice issues that motivate communities, people and organizations to mobilize for direct change.
Coordinator for IP3-Indigenous Peoples Power Project,
Owner of Thesebraids Art & Design
Director Sa'aMaqs Studio
Founder of Portland Two Spirit Society
Hopper magazine article
Josh Lubatkin, Esq., UPRISE Board Member
Joshua Lubatkin (he/him) was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and is a black Jewish man. He went to college and law school at Washington University in St. Louis, and has been practicing as an attorney for the last 11+ years. Josh started as a solo defense attorney focusing on providing legal service to low income clients. Josh later became a prosecutor in the City of St. Louis where he served as the Director of Diversion Programs. In this role, he helped to design and expand the programs to help exponentially more participants keep convictions off of their records and stay out of the criminal justice system. He currently works as an assistant prosecuting attorney in St. Louis County where he was appointed as the lead attorney for a pilot expungement program.
Outside of work, Josh serves as the chair of the Social Action Committee for his local chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Josh is passionate about serving the greater St. Louis region through food and goods distributions, mentoring, criminal justice reform, scholarships and educational programing.
Joshua Lubatkin (he/him) was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and is a black Jewish man. He went to college and law school at Washington University in St. Louis, and has been practicing as an attorney for the last 11+ years. Josh started as a solo defense attorney focusing on providing legal service to low income clients. Josh later became a prosecutor in the City of St. Louis where he served as the Director of Diversion Programs. In this role, he helped to design and expand the programs to help exponentially more participants keep convictions off of their records and stay out of the criminal justice system. He currently works as an assistant prosecuting attorney in St. Louis County where he was appointed as the lead attorney for a pilot expungement program.
Outside of work, Josh serves as the chair of the Social Action Committee for his local chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Josh is passionate about serving the greater St. Louis region through food and goods distributions, mentoring, criminal justice reform, scholarships and educational programing.
Matt Chorpenning, MSW, UPRISE Board Member, Alternate Officer
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Matt Chorpenning (he/him) is an Assistant Professor of Practice in the MSW program at Portland State University's School of Social Work. He generally teaches classes that can be categorized as "skilled complaining and applied anger" which really means he tries to teach social workers to be better community organizers. He is currently focusing on abolitionist social work research and organizing and balancing that with serving as the interim coordinator for PSU’s online MSW program. When he’s not social working, he enjoys playing guitar, writing and recording music, running (and recovering from running), and spending time at home with his partner and their dog Kaylee, who might be part Muppet. |
Amir Assasnik, LCSW, MPH UPRISE Board Member
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Amir Assasnik (he/him) is the son of a immigrant, brother to refugees, and was raised within the confines of poverty in a single parent home. He has made it his life mission to help leave the world better than he entered it and has focused his career on policy development and improving the mental health of our community. He is a social worker, so liberation is part of his ethos. |
Past Board Members
Marina Barcelo, MSW, MA, Former UPRISE Storykeeper
Marina Barcelo, MSW, MA, (she/her) is the Student Inclusion Coordinator at Portland State University’s School of Social Work, where she provides ongoing student and faculty support in the areas of recruitment and retention, with a specific focus on students of color and first generation students. Marina provides direct clinical support, as well as leadership around institutional change. In addition to her service on the UPRISE Collective Board, Marina serves as the Board Vice President of the ACLU of Oregon. She also serves as a board member of Momentum Alliance, a youth led organization that mentors social justice leaders. Marina is a reproductive justice advocate and member of We Are BRAVE, a people of color led coalition working at the intersections of reproductive justice, immigrant rights, youth movements, health equity, and tribal sovereignty. Lastly, Marina is a member of the Oregon Community Foundation’s Latino Partnership Program Advisory Council, where she helps strengthen Latino engagement in and influence on social and economic issues that affect their lives and communities. Marina holds a Master’s of Social Work, a Master’s in Women’s & Gender Studies, and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management & Philanthropy from Loyola University Chicago. In her “free time,” Marina serves her communities through movement. She is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and owner of Dude Girl PDX, providing body-positive fitness instruction for all levels, body shapes and sizes, and abilities.
Dr. Gita Mehrotra, Former UPRISE Board Member
Gita Mehrotra PhD (she/her) is currently on the faculty at Portland State University, School of Social Work. Prior to entering academia Gita did domestic violence work for over a decade years in a variety of capacities including: direct service, education/training, and program and organizational development, with a focus on API communities and LGBTQ communities of color. Gita has also been involved with community building within queer and trans communities of color for over 20 years in the Midwest and West Coast. Gita’s current research and teaching interests include: racial equity and social justice within social work education and in organizational contexts, intimate violence in minoritized communities, & queer people of color identities & wellness. Gita is also currently a member of the community advisory committee for Bradley Angle's LGBTQ program in Portland, OR and also serves on the board for Social Justice Fund Northwest.
Dr. Staci B Martin, Former UPRISE Board Facilitator
Dr. Staci B. Martin (she/her) is part of the faculty at the School of Social Work at Portland State University (PSU). She holds an MA in Art Therapy and an EdD in the Educational Leadership Doctoral Program: Curriculum and Instruction. She is a scholar of critical hope and critical despair. She is a community-based action researcher that researches with and led by vulnerable populations, in particular refugee youth. She has lived and worked alongside communities in over 15 countries. Her experiences vary from designing, implementing, and evaluating sustainable psychosocial peace building educational programs in four countries: Dieplsoot Informal Settlement, South Africa (nthabiseng project, 2001), Vishwa Shanti Vihara Vishwa Monastery, Nepal (Khelera Sikou Project, 2012), Jamaica (Irie Project, 2010), and Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya (Pambazuka, 2017). She has presented in over 20 conferences and authored 5 papers. One paper was co-authored with her co-researchers in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya and another one was co-authored by co-researchers at Portland Youth Builders. She is currently working on 4 papers.
Magdalena Ruiz, Former UPRISE Board Member
Magdalena Ruiz (she/her) worked in a non-profit organization in Portland for more than 16 years, leading a team to create partnerships with immigrant families from diverse countries in the world, focusing on family well-being, health, parent-child relationships, and parenting education. Her family is made up of her partner, two wonderful children, and a grandchild. In her time off, she enjoys spending time reading, listening to music, and doing yoga.
Israa Hasani, MSW, UPRISE Board Member, Former Storykeeper
Israa Hasani, MSW (she/her) Israa Hasani was born in Baghdad, Iraq and immigrated to the United States in 1996. She identifies as an Arab immigrant Muslim woman. She is a survivor of war herself and has experienced dictatorship and militarization, all of which has affected her beliefs in peace, justice, and equity. Israa earned a B.S. in psychology and a master’s degree in social work from Portland State University.
Israa served the greater community of Portland through working to narrow the gap of misunderstanding between cultures, increase diversity, and improve inclusivity through education, the art, and intercultural/ interfaith relations. She worked as a cultural consultant to several theaters in Oregon including the Portland Center Stage Center at the Armory. In her role as a cultural consultant, she challenges the gaze of the western orientalists representation of Middle Eastern women in general and Iraqi women in particular. Israa tells the story of her home country through the eyes of the women, she applies a complex scope of political, historical, sociological, and spiritual knowledge to ensure a wide representation of Iraqi women and to establish the knowledge of their important but, forgotten role during war and peace.
Israa works through the lens of decolonization using Releationality as a model to create safe and inclusive spaces that do not center itself around heteronormativity, white supremacy, imperialist values.
Israa has served for nine years as a mental health provider for immigrants, refugees and survivors of torture. She currently resides in the Portland metro area and works at Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare serving people living with sever and persistent mental health experiences.
Israa served the greater community of Portland through working to narrow the gap of misunderstanding between cultures, increase diversity, and improve inclusivity through education, the art, and intercultural/ interfaith relations. She worked as a cultural consultant to several theaters in Oregon including the Portland Center Stage Center at the Armory. In her role as a cultural consultant, she challenges the gaze of the western orientalists representation of Middle Eastern women in general and Iraqi women in particular. Israa tells the story of her home country through the eyes of the women, she applies a complex scope of political, historical, sociological, and spiritual knowledge to ensure a wide representation of Iraqi women and to establish the knowledge of their important but, forgotten role during war and peace.
Israa works through the lens of decolonization using Releationality as a model to create safe and inclusive spaces that do not center itself around heteronormativity, white supremacy, imperialist values.
Israa has served for nine years as a mental health provider for immigrants, refugees and survivors of torture. She currently resides in the Portland metro area and works at Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare serving people living with sever and persistent mental health experiences.