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Interim Director

Jeff Selby smiling, wearing a dark blue shirt and sport coat.

Jeff Selby's (he/him) diverse leadership career has included roles with the U.S. Army, Walt Disney Company, BMW, and the City of Lake Oswego. Jeff also brings his creative and media relations experience to his role of Interim Director with the City of Portland’s Office of Equity and Human Rights.

Jeff has held positions as Senior Management Analyst and Deputy Director at the Office of Equity and during the City of Portland's COVID-19 pandemic response, he served as the Lead Public Information Officer at the Emergency Coordination Center for one year. Jeff is currently responsible for coaching and supporting staff, collaborating with the Commissioner's Office and service area bureaus, and overseeing the internal and external communications process at the Office of Equity.

A combat veteran with ten years of broadcast journalism experience in the U.S. Army, Jeff worked in all facets of media: writing, producing, designing, and leading teams of radio and television journalists. In 1991, he was named Broadcast Journalist of the Year by the Secretary of the Army.

During his time with the Walt Disney Company, Jeff trained and led teams of musicians, actors, and hosts, and was a show writer and graphic designer with Walt Disney Imagineering. Jeff played a significant role on the Lake Oswego Interceptor Sewer (LOIS) project team, where his facilitation, public participation, and social media expertise helped deliver the largest public works project in the city’s history on time and under budget.

His social justice experience is rooted in his lifelong involvement with the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), the nation’s oldest Asian American civil rights advocacy organization. He served as Portland JACL President for two terms. He has also volunteered with Western States Center, Japan America Society of Oregon, and the Japanese American Museum of Oregon, and served on the Board of Directors of MRG Foundation (now Seeding Justice) and Wayfinding College.

The New York Yankees fan spends his free time playing drums, cooking, and regularly sampling Oregon's bounty of restaurants, wineries, and craft cocktail venues.

Administrative Specialist

Profile picture for Office of Equity and Human Rights Senior Administrative Specialist Grace Hallett

Grace Labrador-Hallett (she/her) is originally from the Philippines. Grace and her family migrated to Maui, HI at the age of 6, until she graduated from high school in 2000. Shortly after graduation, Grace ventured out to Seattle, WA and pursued college at Devry University, in Federal Way, to study Business Administration. With an interest in the healthcare field, she also has a certificate in Medical Assisting. For the last 14+ years, she has worked in the administrative end of the healthcare industry. Her experience includes all areas of administrative support and/or management and she is excited to work in a social justice role in government.

Grace is responsible for administrative support, scheduling, and coordination for each program in The Office of Equity and Human Rights. Although government work is new to her résumé, the administrative roles are similar, and she embraces the challenges of the field as she continues to thrive and grow in her role at the City of Portland.

Grace is married with two daughters, Jordan Alexis and Kourtney Madison. She spends her free time with her family, exploring different parts of the Pacific Northwest, traveling and vacationing, trying out different foods, cooking, balancing her time between supporting her older daughter’s athletic involvement in competitive basketball, and her younger daughter’s soccer and ballet pursuits!

Administrative Specialist

Photo of Claudia Claudio

Claudia Claudio (she/her) joined the City of Portland in 2016 and since then has dedicated herself to supporting the Portland community in form of local government work. Claudia grew up in the north Portland St. Johns area and values the importance of community through an equity lens.

Claudia studied at Portland Community College and Portland State University where she earned her bachelor’s in communication and advertising. During her free time, Claudia enjoys live jazz music and movie nights with family. Claudia also has a passion for volunteering with non-profit organizations that focus on improving the lives of Latinx families and LGBTQIA2S+ communities.

Interim Deputy Director

Profile picture for Office of Equity and Human Rights Senior Policy Advisor - Equity Strategies and Initiatives Judith Mowry

Judith Mowry (she/her) has over 25 years’ experience in conflict resolution, organization development, policy facilitation and  racial justice activism. Before coming to the Office of Equity, Judith had worked as a consultant as a founding partner of Full Circle Consulting, director of mediation services for a non-profit providing a wide variety of mediation programing, including restorative justice programs, and for the  Office of Neighborhood Involvement as the Effective Engagement specialist.

Judith is also the co-founder of the Restorative Justice Project on Gentrification and partnered in developing the Community Residential Siting Program for the City of Portland.

Judith is closely involved with many Office of Equity programs, working with bureau staff and leadership on implementing equity and on developing policy to institutionalize effective equity practices.

Senior LGBTQIA2S+ Policy Analyst

Photo of Lex Jakusovszky

From the depths of Oregon’s legislative chambers to the board rooms of Portland area nonprofits, Lex Jakusovszky (they/them) has spent their career advocating for the most marginalized members of Portland’s community. As the City of Portland’s first Senior LGBTQIA2S+ Policy Analyst within the Office of Equity and Human Rights, they strive to bring an intersectional lens into the City’s equity infrastructure. They are leading the charge to develop a first of its kind, ten-year strategic plan that bolsters City policy, City culture, economic development and data collection. Lex’s work is informed by their own lived experience and years of serving as the Chief of Staff for multiple equity-focused state legislators. In their Chief of Staff role, Lex crafted statewide policy on issues ranging from housing to climate to economic justice. Alongside Lex’s deep policy expertise, they bring their passion as an organizer to their work.

Lex is a former Board Member at Next Up and the Center for Women’s Leadership, and a proud alum of the Catalyst Leadership Program with Basic Rights Oregon. A Coloradan at heart, you can find Lex exploring the glorious Pacific northwest on bike, enjoying the newest Portland brewery, or hiking with their sweet pup, Buffy, through the hills of Forest Park with their partner.

LGBTQIA2S+ Policy Analyst

Aubri Qian

Aubri Qian (she/her) is an out and proud transgender woman of color, and an advocate for equity and social justice. Prior to joining the Office of Equity and Human Rights, she served as a Management Assistant with the City of Long Beach, where she served in the Housing Authority of the City of Long Beach, the City Manager’s office, the Budget Office, and the Long Beach Police Department.

Aubri holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy. Her studies focused on the intersection of arts, race and placemaking, with a specific focus on data visualization, mapmaking, and storytelling as practice for social equity. Prior to obtaining her graduate degree, Aubri served as a Program Manager with Equality California, where she managed LGBTQ+ leadership programs, transgender justice initiatives, and mental health outreach. Her work at Equality California provided the opportunity to meet and collaborate from LGBTQ+ civil servants and elected officials and inspired a growing passion for local government. Aubri began her career working in the advertising industry, as a human resources generalist focused on diversity and inclusion programs.

Aubri earned her B.S. in Organizational Behavior from New York University. In her spare time, she enjoys painting, crafting, and playing Dungeons and Dragons.

Equity Training Manager

Jamila Osman

Jamila Osman (she/her) is a writer, former public school educator, and community organizer with over 15 years of experience at the intersection of equity, education, and grassroots people's movements.

Prior to coming to the City of Portland, she was a restorative justice trainer and equity informed mediator. She is excited to bring this framework of care, repair, and deep transformation to her role as the Equity Training Manager.

Citywide Equity Policy Analyst

Photo of Asena Lawrence

Asena Canbaz-Lawrence (she/her) is a long-time City of Portland employee. Prior to working in the Office of Equity and Human Rights, Asena served in various roles in the Office of Commissioner Nick Fish for 6 ½ years, prioritizing equity and community engagement, and more recently worked on community safety and police reform for Mayor Ted Wheeler. 

Asena believes in working collaboratively with her colleagues to dismantle systems of oppression. She also values building a more inclusive culture at the City of Portland, which is rooted in compassion, and where safe and courageous conversations are the norm. 

Asena has a Master’s degree from Portland State University in Conflict Resolution, with a focus on Peacebuilding, and has a certificate in Mediation. She also earned her Bachelor’s in International Studies, the Middle East, with a minor in Turkish language, and a certificate in Contemporary Turkish Studies. 

Asena is multicultural, being half Turkish and half American, and is culturally Muslim. She enjoys spending time in nature with her dog, Orion, and her loved ones, as well as continually learning, having adventures, bouldering, traveling, exploring archaeological sites, and having engaging conversations over Turkish coffee. 

Citywide Civil Rights Title VI and Equity Manager

Danielle Brooks

Danielle Brooks (she/her) was born and raised in Portland, Danielle has a lifelong interest in racial and social justice issues, including understanding how inequitable outcomes may arise from institutionalized racism and discrimination in policy, process, and program design and implementation. She has been involved personally, academically, and professionally in antidiscrimination work for nearly 15 years. Equity and social justice are more than a vocation for her, they are an avocation, a core value, life lens, and the issue that permanently drives her– keeping her dedicated and diligent.

She joined the City of Portland in 2007 initially as a Community Service Aide in the Office of Management and Finance (OMF), where she staffed the OMF Diversity committee and worked on workforce equity issues related to outreach, hiring, retention, and employee cultural competency. She was hired in 2008 to design, plan, implement, and evaluate the Civil Rights Title VI and Americans with Disabilities Act Title II Programs for the City. She served as program coordinator for over 4 years.

After a year away to work on environmental justice issues in Maui, Danielle was rehired to her former position and served as the Civil Rights Title VI and ADA Title II Manager, housed in the Office of Equity and Human Rights. With a strong racial justice background, Danielle focuses on the intent of Civil Rights laws and administration taking an equity and justice approach to Civil Rights compliance. According to Danielle, “When you prioritize and promote equity, you are doing good civil rights work, and vice versa.” While a holistic approach is necessary, Danielle focuses on how to redevelop City infrastructure and operations to dismantle institutional discrimination, eliminate disparities, produce equitable impacts and outcomes, and provide access. In 2018, the Civil Rights division successfully expanded and Danielle assumed the specific role of Civil Rights Title VI and Racial Equity Manager. 

Danielle has served as member of the Technical Advisory Group on Equity and Civic Engagement for the Portland Plan and on the Creation Committee for the Office of Equity and Human Rights. She has participated as a founding member in the Partnership for Racial Equity, a working group convened by the Urban League of Portland to create a Racial Equity Strategy Guide for public agencies. She has presented her work on approaching Civil Rights compliance through quality Equity and Social Justice Work at a variety of public forums and conferences, including the City’s own Northwest Diversity Conference.

Danielle holds a BA in Political Science with Minors in History and Sociology from Linfield College, focusing on race, racism, inequity, institutional discrimination, and public policy development in a variety of areas including criminal justice, education, workforce development, government and public services, and public operations and administration. She received her Masters of Arts in Public Policy from the University of Washington, where her emphasis again was on antidiscrimination and antiracism policy development.

Citywide Equity and Language Access Analyst

Photo of Tatiana Elejalde

Tatiana Elejalde (she/her/ella) is an experienced systems change strategist and trainer who has worked for 20 years as a language access and civil rights advisor across sectors including city, county, state, and federal government, health and human services, behavioral health, education, and non-profit. Specialized in policy and procedure analysis, tailored strategies, and community collaboration to assess institutional barriers to access, Tatiana uses a justice and anti-discrimination civil rights framework approach. She is passionate about creating institutional and systems change to improve outcomes for communities, specifically for immigrant and refugee communities.

An immigrant to the United States from Colombia, her family also immigrated to Japan for a time during her formative years. Her multicultural and multilingual life lead to her love of cultures and languages. Tatiana has lived experience with language barriers, discrimination, and the exclusionary and othering tactics of institutions and systems that impact people’s lives. Tatiana has worked as a professional Spanish/English interpreter and translator and as an immigrants’ rights advocate. With first-hand knowledge of the complex multitude of barriers faced by immigrant and refugee communities while navigating systems, Tatiana works to hold institutions accountable to upholding those communities’ civil rights to access and non-discrimination, while simultaneously passionately providing Know Your Rights information to empower those communities. 

In her role as Equity & Language Access Analyst for the City of Portland’s Office of Equity & Human Rights, Tatiana serves as an equity and civil rights advisor and is the lead for the City’s language equity initiatives. She creates policy and procedures, provides policy recommendations, civil rights guidance, and consultation to City Council, Council policy advisors, bureau Equity Managers, bureau Directors, bureau equity staff, City communications teams, and any other City staff, on the City government’s institutional responsibilities of racial and language justice, according to Civil Rights Title VI and Executive Order 13166. She served as the City’s Equity Officer for the COVID-19 pandemic response and serves as a regional and national equity advisor for emergency management and disaster messaging for multilingual and multicultural communities.  

Responsible for creating and establishing the first Citywide Language Access Program, Tatiana provides the City’s language access policy, standard operating procedures, tools, resources, and guidance based on civil rights law, national best practices, federal guidelines, and community experience, to implement at the City bureau level. The Program approaches language access through a justice and anti-discrimination framework and holds the government accountable to its obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Executive Order 13166.

As City bureaus work to operationalize language equity into their programs, services, activities, planning, decision-making, resource allocation, and policy making, Tatiana serves as the City’s lead language access advisor, providing technical assistance and training to support the institutionalization of language equity City-wide. 

Tatiana has worked from policy design to Citywide procedure design and development to implement the City’s first language pay differential policy, which will enhance the level of service to multilingual communities facing institutional language barriers in accessing city government and also rectifies workplace equity issues for staff who provide language assistance to community and had previously not been compensated for providing the service.

Tatiana loves her work, eating international foods, travel, baking, and learning new languages.

Equity Strategies Analyst

Photo of Sheryl Felecia Means

Sheryl Felecia Means, PhD (she/her; ella [ESP]; ela [POR]) was born and raised in New Jersey. Means graduated from Spelman College with a B.A. in English Literature and University of Kentucky with a PhD in Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation, Philosophical and Cultural Inquiry. She speaks Spanish and Portuguese and is trained in ethnography and culturally responsive and equitable evaluation (CREE). As part of her research, Sheryl studied and published on racial identity formation in Brazil and across Latin America for Afro-descended youth and policy making practices for Afro-Indigenous populations in Hispanophone and Anglophone Central America.

Prior to working at the City of Portland, Sheryl was a postdoctoral fellow at University of New Mexico in the Africana Studies Department. There, she taught Afro-Latin American History (Blacks in Latin America) and African Diaspora in the Southwest. Following graduate school, she worked for the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence in Lexington, Kentucky as a Policy Associate. In her first job out of Spelman, Sheryl worked part-time for the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce in Jersey City, New Jersey. In between these roles and, sometimes, during her work full-time with these organizations, Sheryl has engaged on a part-time basis in independent consulting in teaching, evaluation, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Sheryl loves painting, drawing, creating/sewing/tailoring her own clothes, writing short stories, and singing jazz, chorale, salsa, and gospel music.

Equity and Diversity Data Analyst

Aaron Garber-Paul

Aaron Garber-Paul (he/they) has a lifelong passion for creating equitable spaces. Aaron came home to Portland in 2016. He grew up between Chicago, rural Massachusetts, and Paris; he’s since lived in New York, London, and San Francisco. He has also called a van home for months at a time, travelling nationally as the tour manager of a queer arts organization catering to rural LGBTQAI communities.

As a young gay Jewish transman, Aaron hit the ground running, forging intersectional connections as a youth leader with partner organizations like GLSEN, PFLAG, and ACLU-IL, hosting youth-driven summits teaching his Chicago-area peers how to leverage federal protections to ensure equitable access to a safe education. Aaron’s framework for community development was also fundamentally shaped by working with his Black and Brown peers on state-wide campaigns calling for reform to the Illinois state judicial system, driven by contemporary data indicating a disproportionate application of the death penalty and centering voices from community leadership, leading to a state-wide moratorium. It also led Aaron to a deeper understanding of the challenges created by systemic inequities, and the compounding effects of intersectional marginalization on lived experience.

Driven to find better tools for social justice, Aaron pursued an education in Sociology with a focus in public health, gender, and human geography, earning his BA from Columbia University. He continued developing his Data Analytics and Programming skill sets with advanced study with the University of Oregon. Aaron honed his abilities in early roles with non-profit organizations, including as a community educator and data specialist with the National Anti-Violence Project and NY-AVP; as a full board member of the Princess Diana Memorial Fund, US, delivering capacity-building tools to youth-driven organizations; and more. He also began developing his role in several queer organizations serving rural LGBTQ communities across the country, expanding the reach and developing resources through a data-centered approach. The equity-focused spaces set a table for frank discussions regarding accessibility, sparking deeper partnerships with Deaf, Disabled, and visually-impaired community members and priorities.

Aaron is proud of his skills in finding and leveraging data to drive deliberate community growth, to inform diverse stakeholders, and to guide intersectional, equity-focused initiatives.  In recent roles, Aaron served the Tech, FinTech, Manufacturing, and the Maritime Industries. He excels in projects establishing & securing initial data infrastructure, gathering qualitative and quantitative data, automating ETL data pipelines, curating extensive datasets, constructing effective dashboards, devising initial metrics, and providing comprehensive insights across various facets of organizational structure and services, including both internal and external diversity metrics.

Aaron volunteers as the VP of the Board of Howard’s Heart, serving Portland teens in foster care, where he is excited to provide technical support for data-driven development, strategy design, and policy work.

When not working or volunteering, Aaron is usually found in St. Johns relaxing with his husband and their small pack of dogs, exploring the Oregon coast, cooking feasts or making art with friends.

Civil Rights Title VI Analyst

Sabra Purifoy

Sabra Purifoy (she/her) serves as the Citywide Civil Rights Title VI Analystfor the Office of Equity and Human Rights. Sabra has significant experience in operationalizing work plans, capacity building, and civic engagement. She has worked on many consumer protection initiatives and created public programs that promote socio-economic inclusion.

She is passionate about racial equity and social justice and is excited to bring her lived and professional experience to this role. As an Analyst, Sabra supports the design and development of initiatives and helps guide the implementation and evaluation of Title VI policies, plans, practices, and tools. She also provides consultation, resources, standard operating procedures, communications, technical assistance, and training to help develop organizational capacity around Title VI and equity work. 

Prior to joining the City, Sabra served as Operations Director for the Oregon Treasury Savings Network, managing the operational functions of the division and its three savings programs. Sabra previously served as Deputy Director for the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs where she oversaw the creation and implementation of economic development policies and programs.  Specifically, she managed the strategic growth of the County’s Office of Small Business and the Center for Financial Empowerment. While at the County she was also responsible for the development and operationalization of the department’s equity plan. Before transitioning into civil service, Sabra was a practicing trial attorney in the private sector, representing a range of clients in all aspects of civil litigation in California state and federal courts. 

Sabra graduated cum laude with bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Women’s Studies from the University of South Florida. She received her Juris Doctor from Cornell University.

ADA Title II and Disability Equity Manager

Photo of Nickole Cheron

Nickole Cheron (she/her) has been working in government for 15 years. She holds two Master degrees in Public Administration and Conflict Resolution.

She served as The Disability Coordinator for the City for the 10 years, joined the Office of Equity to focus more on policy and advising the Commission on Disability, which she created under Mayor Tom Potter in 2008.  In 2018, the Civil Rights division expanded and Nickole took on the role of ADA Title II and Disability Equity Manager. 

She is an experienced trainer and has created and facilitated numerous workshops and trainings around understanding oppression, cultural competency, disability and emergency management and preparedness.

Nickole has been actively involved with the Portland community, serving several organizations including Ride Connection Board, Oregon Office on Disability and Health steering committee, United Way Diversity Council, Access Recreation, The Portland Art Museum, The Cascade AIDS project, Portland State University, Resolutions North West, The Regional ADA Dibtac, and Uniting to Understand Racism.

Digital Accessibility Analyst

Photo of Joseph Sherman

Joseph Sherman (he/him) was hired as the Digital Access Specialist in June of 2021. His goal is to make Portland’s digital communications accessible to all users. Previously, Joseph spent eight years as the Accessibility Specialist for the City University of New York IT department. He moved from New York City to Portland in August 2021.

Joseph earned his bachelor’s from Haverford College, his master’s from UCLA, and his JD from the University of Alabama.

In his free time, Joseph enjoys golf, the Yankees, and his cat Abby.

Disability Equity Data Analyst

Photo of Brie Scrivner

Brie Scrivner (they/them) joined the Office of Equity and Human Rights in July 2022.

Prior to joining the City, Brie was a postdoc researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Social Work. During their time at UAB, they were a member of a community-based research team focusing on HIV testing, linkage to care, and time to viral suppression. 

They are a UAB alum with a PhD in Medical Sociology whose research includes topics ranging from health literacy to weight stigma to implementation science. 

In their free time, you can find Brie researching any number of their special interests (e.g. sharks, southern food traditions, and tornadoes) or exploring the PNW with their extremely cool teenager and two rescue dogs (Willa Mae and Daisy).

ADA Title II Policy Analyst

Photo of Sue Minder

Sue Minder (she/her) is the Office of Equity’s ADA Title II Policy Analyst. Her prior experience includes several roles with progressive responsibility for promoting disability access in higher education; first at the University of Minnesota where she worked for the Disability Resource Center in various capacities, and then at Willamette University where she assumed the role of Director of Accessible Education Services in 2018.

She has more than a decade of experience collaborating on diversity and inclusion from an intersectional equity lens at colleges and universities and has presented extensively on this topic. Her service delivery philosophy is to create transformative disability access through education and strategic planning for long-range equity, empowerment, and innovation. Sue identifies as being both disabled and a person of color and was attracted to this position because of the intersection of race and disability, along with other identities.

She holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology and vocational rehabilitation counseling and maintains memberships in the state and national affiliates of the Association on Higher Education and Disability.

When not working, you’ll find her trying new restaurants, traveling, or spending time with her husband and pets.