Dr. Steven Holt, Chair
Dr. Holt holds a Bachelor’s degree in Pastoral Ministry and Political Science from Warner Pacific College in Portland, Oregon. In the 1970’s he was involved in a program which bused African-American kids from their inner-city neighborhoods to predominately white suburban schools. This experience proved instrumental to Bishop Holt’s ability to communicate effectively across racial, ethnic, and gender lines. His professional experience includes a stellar career in retail sales and honed leadership and business skills in managerial positions, one of which was serving as President of an urban clothing company. He travels extensively as a motivational speaker and worked as an adjunct professor at North Portland Bible College, a teacher at Portland Christian High School, and teaches at Warner Pacific College.
Bishop Holt also held credentials as a financial adviser and has served as a Field Representative for Promise Keepers, an international men’s ministry. Bishop Holt has continued to lead by finding alternative and creative ways to serve by partnering with other organizations for continued worship expressions for the church, founding the FreshWind/11:45 movement with five other pastors to address the need for mentorship and gang intervention in the Portland metro area, and becoming the Chair of the Oversight Committee to assist with the Mayor’s housing strategy for N/NE Portland. Dr. Holt is also a leading voice to assist the City of Gresham with strategy for serving the growing African American population of displaced people. He is the principle consultant of Try Excellence, LLC specializing in facilitation, training and consultation with an eye on equity, inclusion and diversity.
Aquiles Montas
"I desire a position that will allow me to put my exceptional experience in Youth Development together with my leadership and community inclusion skills to use. My aptitude for relating to people of all ages and backgrounds has proven to be invaluable in strengthening both communities and relationships. Being both bilingual and bicultural has allowed me the ability to communicate effectively with audiences of various cultures."
Mr. Montas currently works for the Multnomah County Family Services Division as a Youth Enrichment Program Director at Bienestar de la Familia in Cully; he has also worked at Outreach 360 in the Dominican Republic, at Alliance High School as a teen father mentor, and for Multnomah County as a bilingual home care worker. Mr. Montas has a BS from Portland State University in Business Administration and Marketing.
Claudia Claudio
Claudia Claudiowas born in Santa Ana, California and grew up in the St. Johns neighborhood of North Portland, where she continues to remain an active community member. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communications and Advertising from Portland State University.
For the past decade, Claudia has built her professional career in local government with the City of Portland. She currently serves as an Office Specialist with the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, supporting the city's Graffiti Program. In her role, she contributes to efforts that help maintain clean, vibrant, and welcoming public spaces.
Claudia is deeply dedicated to serving her community and brings passion, care, and a strong sense of responsibility to everything she does. Her roots in North Portland continue to shape her commitment to making a positive impact across the city.
Jesse Goncalves
Jesse Goncalves was born in North Portland in 1996. He fondly remembers playing with a diverse group of neighbors out in the streets and around Columbia Park, hanging out at just about every coffee shop in town with his stay-at-home dad and walking over to the University of Portland to visit his mom during the work day or to watch women's soccer games at night (including Megan Rapinoe, Christine Sinclair, and many other legends). He attended Cedarwood Waldorf School for K-8 and then Central Catholic for high school.
Jesse moved out of Portland from 2015 to 2021, first to study Applied Mathematics in Seattle and then to work in healthcare tech in Madison, Wisconsin. These experiences, along with his growing political consciousness and the stark differences he observed between pre- and post-pandemic Portland, motivated Jesse to dedicate his energy to healing in his hometown. He first worked at Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center upon returning to Portland, before concentrating his energy even closer to home at Central City Concern, where he currently leads the Business Intelligence team.
Aside from living in North and Northeast Portland almost his entire life, Jesse was inspired to join the Oversight Committee by his conviction that housing is a human right and that we are not separate from our houseless and housing-insecure neighbors. Nor are we separate across race, class, gender, or any other identity: our healing and liberation are completely interdependent.
Jilian Saurage Felton
Jilian Saurage Felton moved to the greater Portland area at the age of five, and it's remained her home ever since. She studied Political Science at Lewis and Clark College receiving a BA in International Affairs in 2002. In 2007 she returned to school to earn her MBA from Willamette University, graduating with honors in 2009. During that same time she began her career in banking, where she gained knowledge and proficiency with nonprofit, government, and affordable housing finance. In July 2017, she left banking to begin work as the Finance Director of the Portland Housing Center.
Jilian serves on several volunteer boards and committees as Treasurer of the Board for Sabin CDC, a Board member and development committee member of Youth Rights and Justice and a mentor with A Family for Every Child. In her free time she enjoys chasing around her children and dog, hiking, fishing, all things science fiction, and exploring the many restaurants in Portland with her husband.
John Washington
Mr. John Washington has over 3 decades of experience as an entrepreneur, community advocate, cultural responsive consultant, urban developer and national multi-media producer.
Born onto the mean streets of Patterson, New Jersey, he rose through the ashes and rubble of a violent and impoverished community that claimed many of his family, friends and neighbors, to become a powerhouse of inspiration and encouragement. He attended Rutgers University where he was an All-American football player, but the death of his father through substance abuse related illness, Mr. Washington was led to pursue addiction studies at Washington State University, WA and Evergreen College, WA.
After graduation, he interned at the Olympic Center in Bellingham, WA working with Native Americans through addiction counseling. This experience led him to Oregon where he operated as a consultant to several of the local tribes including; Grand Ronde, Siletz and Cow Creek. He also worked with Marion County where he designed programming to serve and treat historically hard-to-reach ethnic youth and families in the areas of drug/alcohol and gang intervention. In the 1990s he founded Inside Out Care in Salem, Oregon, a successfully administered treatment based program for this same population.
In the early 2000s he established Flossin Media, a multicultural media production and marketing agency that specializes in reaching Black and other communities of color through print, video and event production, and outreach, PR and social media management, which he still operates today. As CEO of Flossin Media he publishes a tri-annual publication called Flossin Magazine and is also an active editorial advisor to outside authors, bringing a cultural responsive perspective to their work. Examples include; “What A City’s For: Remaking the Politics of Displacement” by Professor Matt Hern and the outreach strategy section of the “Pathway 1000 Implementation Plan”, a displacement mitigation strategy developed by Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives. He is the host of two podcast series, Black Beat and PDX Black Rose, where he highlights Black newsmakers from around the City and the Pacific Northwest.
He also serves as the current Executive Director for the Soul District Business Association, working with small business owners and youth entrepreneurs to help them navigate complex governance systems, connect to resources, build partnerships and reinforce their perceptions of capability, significance and influence. In this role he also works as the Outreach Navigator on behalf of the N/NE Community Development Initiative committee, connecting Black and other business owners and residents of color to funding resources for property acquisition and improvement. And he oversees fiscal management of grant funds for the Williams and Russel Project working group.
Mr. Washington has help to guide a number of public art projects including chairing Prosper Portland’s Vanport 2 Development Design Committee where he worked with leadership at the Regional Arts & Cultural Council to provide a culturally responsive lens to community identity. He is currently working on a Soul District branding project with other district partners to doing similar work. Past board affiliations include Governor Ted Kulongoski‘s Juvenile Justice Task Force committee, Salvation Army White Shield and Venture Portland. He is a proud member of the Most Honorable Prince Hall Masons, Coalition of Black Men and NAACP Portland Chapter.
He is a father of 4, grandfather of 2 and has been a foster parent of over 24 Black males for the State of Oregon, many whom still call him “Pops” to this day.
Kevin Dolezal
Kevin grew up in Atlanta, GA, graduated from the University of Texas, and spent time in Chicago, Madison, and San Francisco before setting down roots in NE Portland. He has experience leading large organizations at technology companies such as Twitter, and throughout his career has prioritized volunteering with and supporting local community organizations with a primary focus on homelessness and housing.
He is passionate about housing policy and racial and social justice, and he's excited to learn from the amazing people on this committee and contribute to the important work we are doing. Outside of work, you can find him cooking up a large meal for family and friends, reading a good book and listening to records, or ideally finding himself somewhere in the woods.
Lex Weaver
Lex Weaver is a strategist, community engager, and Popular Education facilitator. She specializes in supporting Employee Resource Groups, leading trainings, and creating meaningful learning spaces that foster connection and growth. As a Queer Black woman, Lex brings both lived experience and strategic insight to her work. Outside of facilitation, she finds joy in poetry, time in nature, rock climbing, and the deep sense of community she shares with her friends.
Ramon Johns
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Ramon Johns earned his BA in Biological Science from Mississippi State University. Seven years ago, he moved to Northeast Portland and quickly knew it was his forever home. Ramon currently works in the affordable housing sector, where he is passionate about fostering vibrant and sustainable communities. Having witnessed firsthand the impact of gentrification in Detroit, which affected many of his own family members, and seeing housing disparities in Mississippi, Ramon is deeply committed to creating equitable housing opportunities.
Before moving to Portland, he built a career in social and corporate events and became a certified wedding planner in Michigan. In his free time, Ramon is an active member of PDX Frontrunners, an LGBTQIA+ running club that promotes good health and positive social connections through running and community events. When he’s not running, you’ll find him savoring desserts or getting lost in Oregon's beautiful forests.
Saelee Winters
Saelee Winters was born and raised in N/NE Portland and graduated from Jefferson High School in 2007. She went on to work in different fields until finding her passion of sewing children's clothing. Saelee and her best friend operated a clothing store on Alberta Street (from 2014-2015) which eventually led her to walk in her purpose, which was real estate. She became a licensed agent to educate the African American community on homeownership, halt gentrification and be a walking resource of information working with integrity against the predatory lending that's plagued many communities. In recent years African Americans only account for 2% of new homebuyers and she is working diligently in Portland and surrounding areas to increase that number.
Saelee currently hosts a range of free educational classes on credit repair, how to use equity to buy rental property and how to structure your self-employed business to become mortgage ready. She spends a lot of time familiarizing herself with organizations such as Portland Housing Center, AAAH and NAYA that help community members with funding and other services. Saelee is committed to bringing back neighborhoods owned by Black homeowners because we know building up someone's socioeconomic status eliminates crime and enhances overall quality of life. She is dedicated by not only doing that through homeownership but hoping to be a voice in affordable housing. Saelee believes housing is a human right.
When Saelee is not working to break generational curses alongside her peers, she enjoys spending time with her two children, friends, and family. She enjoys weightlifting, reading books, going to dinner with loved ones, concerts and traveling.
Sheila Holden
Sheila is a community and economic development aficionado. As Pacific Power’s Regional Business Manager, Sheila works with local government, business, and community leaders as the company’s interface in Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington. She has experience as an energy and conservation manager, small business and community development manager and district area manager. Sheila believes that how well Pacific Power does is directly related to how well the communities the utility serves are doing.
She serves on various boards that have advanced collaborative partnerships to achieve sustainability, community and economic development initiatives locally, regionally and nationally for more than 25 years. She is a strong advocate for comprehensive community revitalization through public/private partnerships, self-reliance, innovation and sustainable practices. She helped found the League of Utilities and Social Service Agencies, the Community Energy Project, Albina Community Bank, The N/NE Economic Development Alliance, Albina Opportunity Corporation and Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon and the Lloyd EcoDistrict. She is a graduate of Pacific University.
Ta' Neshia Renae
Ta' Neshia Renae is a highly accomplished professional and entrepreneur from Portland, Oregon. She is a veteran of the US Air Force and holds a bachelor's degree in Human Services. She is currently a Democratic Party of Oregon Precinct Committee Member and the Multnomah Community Involvement Committee Chair.
Ta' Neshia is a dedicated mother and takes great pride in her work. Her passion for helping others is what drives her to use her expertise to make a difference in her community. She is an inspirational leader who is dedicated to bettering the lives of those around her.
Virgie Ruiz
Virgie is a native Portlander. She is retired from Self Enhancement Inc. She is committed to ensuring Black residents of Portland have safe and affordable housing.