34, Staff Attorney at The Commons Law Center

“I wanted to know how I could combine an interest with estate planning with wanting to help Black families build intergenerational wealth,” Ekua Hackman says. Luckily for her, she happened to meet Amanda Caffall, The Commons Law Center’s deputy director who, at the time, was actively looking for an estate planning lawyer to work with Black families. With that, a new career was born.

30, Executive Director at Cultivate Initiatives

Working with local restaurants and NGOs, Caleb Coder started holding regular “Eat and Greet” events, offering free food and a space for people in the neighborhood. “It was a safe place for our unhoused neighbors to be and exist,” Coder says. “And for our neighbors housed and unhoused to come together to interact and get to know each other as humans.”

29, Project RED Program Manager at Alano Club of Portland

“Becoming pretty well known as ‘The Narcan Lady,’ as some people have called me, is kind of strange,” Ellen Wirshup says. “I’ve been a bartender. I’ve been a host. I’ve been a server. And all these other things. Those jobs felt easy. I knew how to do that. This has been such a learning curve, I didn’t know if I’d be any good at it. I just knew that I wanted Narcan to be everywhere.”

35, Executive Director at Free Geek

“I really saw a vision and I wanted to see it through,” Juan Muro said. “Part of that was selfish. I wanted to find some justice for myself through this work, but being able to connect with people who are going through similar experiences and extending an arm out for work and opportunity, I get to do that every day. For me, that’s the kind of justice I always wanted.”

28, College and Career Coordinator at Adelante Mujeres

Itzel Chávez Gómez is the college and career coordinator at the Forest Grove-based nonprofit Adelante Mujeres (“Women Rise Up”). She mentors more than 30 Latina seniors at seven high schools in Washington County, helping them choose a college, fill out applications, and apply for financial aid.

27, New Day Program Manger at New Avenues for Youth

Kat Salas is program manager for New Day, an arm of the nonprofit New Avenues for Youth. Since its founding in 2018, New Day has served about 450 youth ages 12 to 25 who are being sex trafficked or are at risk for sexual exploitation.

34, Senior Policy Manager at Partnership for Safety and Justice

Babak Zolfaghari-Azar’s criminal justice reform career began in the back of a Beaverton Police car when he was 17 years old. After being illegally pulled over and then booked into an adult jail for furnishing alcohol to minors (a charge that was thrown out in court), Zolfaghari-Azar—a straight-A student who had just graduated from Beaverton High School and was headed to Portland State University—spent 12 hours in an orange jumpsuit that would change the rest of his life.

32, Operations Manager at Lift Urban Portland (Lift UP)

Cecilia Estraviz oversees the on-site food programs at 50 low-income buildings in downtown and Northwest Portland, serving over 3,000 food-insecure people each year. Twenty-seven of the buildings have on-site food pantries where Lift UP saw a 57% increase in food distribution in the past year.

28, Executive Director of Black Oregon Land Trust

On a fall morning on a farm in the Columbia River Gorge, Qiddist Ashé has already fed the goats, harvested herbs for medicine-making, and tended to the farm cat Sheba, who just gave birth to a litter of five kittens. Ashé is weeks away from purchasing a nearby 10-acre farm as the co-founder and executive director of the Black Oregon Land Trust.

Age 30, Founder and CEO of Brown Hope

If the Portland nonprofit world has a true superstar, it’s cameron whitten. They’ve spent the last decade on the front lines in the fight for social justice—holding hunger strikes on the steps of City Hall, campaigning for LGBTQ rights and even running for elected office, including the mayorship. But they’ve made their greatest impact as the founder of Brown Hope, an organization dedicated to supporting Oregon’s communities of color through a variety of programs and initiatives, most notably the Black Resilience Fund, which last year managed to distribute $2 million in financial assistance for Black Portlanders in need.

Age 32, Founder and Executive Director of The Kindness Farm

In October 2020, Lou Lé had the idea to start a small-scale farm to distribute free, fresh produce to Portland’s increasing number of food justice organizations. By January, she had secured 1.25 acres of land in Pleasant Valley and all the material needed to start growing radishes, kale, tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables. Since then, Kindness Farm has provided over 5,000 free meals and produce boxes for houseless Portlanders and low-income neighbors experiencing food insecurity.

Age 25, Associate Director of Tribal Affairs at Willamette Falls Trust

As the director of tribal affairs for Willamette Falls Trust, Gerard Rodriguez is engaging with Oregon’s Indigenous population on how best to integrate Native perspectives and traditions into the development of the Willamette Falls Riverwalk in Oregon—the first of several projects aimed at honoring tribal history and traditions across the state.

Age 35, Deputy Director of Impact NW

It’s said that everyone is one unforeseen disaster away from ending up on the street. Kendra Johnson has spent the past 13 years laying out safety nets across Portland. As the deputy director of Impact NW, Johnson helps connect 20,000 households annually with the services that prevent the city’s most vulnerable populations from falling into homelessness, whether its food assistance, addiction recovery, parenting support or job training.

Meals on Wheels People

April Woods prepares 300 meals daily for hungry, low-income seniors 65 and over, including hot meals that are delivered across the metro area and also directs more than 15 volunteers monthly.

De Paul Treatment Centers

Gadbois team of seven counselors and case managers serves daily up to 40 kids who are seeking freedom from addiction. Of nearly 600 kids Gadbois has individually counseled at De Paul, at least 70 percent have successfully graduated from the program.

The Right Brain Initiative

Burrell’s advocacy work has helped Right Brain serve 20,000 students from 63 Portland metro-area schools in seven districts and three counties.

Adelante Mujeres

Aguilar assists more than 400 Latina girls in Forest Grove annually by providing leadership education, mentorship and college prep.