Strategic Plan
UPRISE was founded out of frustrations with trying to spark social change within organizations not designed for us: BIPOC, Queer and/or Trans, Poor, and Sick/Disabled. Dedicated to demystifying social change and supporting self-determination to build on community power, we “walk our talk” by upholding the history of resistance within targeted communities, reclaiming ancestral wisdom, and building anew. Our focus is to address the hurt (and the joy), understand where it comes from, heal together, build coalitions, and take collective action where we as BIPOC can dream together for something different.
Our Strategic Vision for Fiscal Years (FY) 2025-2027 represents the labor of multiple stakeholders, and the dreams of our community. Our hope with this document is to build upon our successes, learn from the places we fell short, and to remain steadfast to our stated mission. From the deepest part of our hearts, thank you for your continued support and engagement. Take care, stay well, fed, and safe, and we’ll look forward to being in community with you.
Annual Reports
We envision a collective liberation in which we as targeted peoples–grounded in our knowledge, ancestral wisdom, and survivance, and sustained by our relationship with the Earth–build a world for all to thrive.
Testimonials
I had the pleasure of working with Stephanie Roberson for one-on-one disability justice consulting and our sessions were packed with so much wisdom! From the start, Stephanie tailored each session to my team’s hopes and needs and was responsive and thoughtful as things shifted on my team. I gained new understandings of the rich history of disability justice, foundational theory, and relevant praxis to my community engagement work. Both Stephanie and Uprise Collective as an organization are deeply rooted in liberatory practices and their facilitators are highly skilled at creating a powerful container for honest reflection that pushes us to dream and think bigger about our collective struggle to a more equitable, just and beautiful society.
As someone who has worked with youth in Portland for the past 15 years, I am thrilled when I encounter cultural and community leaders who are taking action to change the ways we work with youth. I see UPRISE Collective as a pinnacle leader in the area of liberatory and participatory approaches to youth programming. When I found myself in a position to connect youth with community leaders, UPRISE Collective of course came to mind. They have facilitated workshops with youth artists I work with in a program called Voice Project, which is at Circus Project, for the past 3 years. UPRISE Collective brings a critical perspective, engaging and accessible activities, and most importantly centers youth voice. Each year I ask students which workshops they want to return or not and Uprise is always on the list to invite back.
UPRISE Collective worked with us to facilitate a training on Cross-Cultural Conflict Resolution for our staff. From the beginning of our communications with UPRISE, it was clear that they embody their values of community care and solidarity in every aspect of their work. They worked with us to provide staff training despite our limited budget, and were flexible and accommodating to the unique needs of our community. Throughout the two-day training that UPRISE hosted for us, they created space for us to learn, connect, and reflect on our work as a team. As facilitators, they struck a balance between sharing their own vast knowledge and experience, and leaving flexibility for us as participants to take the workshop in the direction that made the most sense for our group. We left the training feeling more equipped to navigate the complicated world of conflicts, and with a sense of strengthened relationships and support.
It was such a joy to work with Stephanie Roberson and Brianna Bragg of the UPRISE Collective. I had the opportunity to collaborate with them on a workshop entitled “Decolonizing Self Care: Why Moonwalking Away is Okay” for over 100 social work students, faculty, staff, field instructors, and community members. Their presentation was incredible! People were so grateful for a BIPOC space to explore the topics of self-care and community care, and Stephanie and Brianna brought such wisdom, care, and thoughtfulness to the conversation. They have a strong, bold facilitation style that is so needed. Not only do they create spaces to learn and process, but also to take action. I am grateful to be in community with The UPRISE Collective.
Board of Directors
Matt Chorpenning, MSW, (He / Him)
Board Member
Matt Chorpenning 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.
Jennie Tian, ACC, CPCC, (She / Her)
Board Member
Jennie Tian, ACC, CPCC, 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.
Josh Lubatkin, J.D. (He / Him)
Board Member
Josh Lubatkin 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.
Amir Assasnik, LCSW, MPH (He / Him)
Board Member
Amir Assasnik is the son of an 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.
Kae'chauna Sinclair, CLC (She / Her)
Board Member
Kae’chauna Sinclair 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.
Jeaneatte Morelan (They / She)
Board Member
Jeanette/J is an artist, activist, and liberation worker. With a degree in Social Entrepreneurship and Communications, J has leveraged their skills in marketing and strategy to build movements and scale reach for purpose-driven organizations.
J currently uplifts the stories of those working for the benefit of all life through her role as Marketing Lead for LIFT Economy, a worker-owned impact consulting firm. She is also currently studying to be a facilitator in healing spaces for queer/BIPOC folks impacted by legacies of trauma.
Aster Pitcher (They / Them)
Board Member
Aster is a white, queer, trans, disabled facilitator and a guest on unceded Clackamas lands. They have a background in education and work experience in non-profit and university settings. Core leadership values are justice, liberation, and authenticity. Aster brings skills in strategic planning, organizational development, and research, assessment, and evaluation. Quick with a joke, excellent at meal prep, Aster is a heart-centered leader that serves their community with love, care, and tenderness.