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About Us

Our Vision:

We serve the people of Oregon to empower and support women through our special roles as policy advisors to Oregon state policy makers and leaders. The OCFW is a catalyst that empowers partnerships between state government and women in rural and urban areas to ensure success for all women by addressing issues at the policy level.


Our Mission:

The mission of the Oregon Commission for Women is to work for the implementation and establishment of economic, social, legal and political equality for women and to maintain a continuing assessment of the issue and needs confronting women and girls in Oregon.

Our Principles and Values:

  • Equity for women and girls in the economy, education, health, safety, family stability, environment and civic engagement.
  • Equal treatment and protection against discrimination.
  • Access to helpful information on services and available resources.
  • Working in partnership on research and policy analysis of longstanding issues and barriers to success for women and girls statewide.
  • Inclusion of women's viewpoints in policymaking at the state level.
  • Celebration of and education about the contributions and achievements of Oregon women.

 

Our Statutory Goals and Strategic Priorities:

  • Advocate for women's issues at the state policy level.
  • Engage community and state partners to promote equity for women and girls across Oregon.
  • Study and analyze issues affecting women and recommend policy remedies to state policymakers.
  • Grow and develop leaders among women at the state level in all branches.
  • Increase the viability and visibility of women's contributions and achievements in Oregon.

 

Meet the Commissioners

Oregon City

Kasey has over a decade of experience in nonprofit development, marketing and public relations, with a focus on storytelling and brand building activities that elevate an organization’s profile.

Before joining the Oregon Savings Network, Kasey spent six years as part of the leadership team at The Climate Trust; managing a revision of organizational marketing, communications and sales as part of an overall business model shift. During her three-year tenure as Director of Internet Marketing for The Salvation Army’s Divisional Headquarters in Southern California, she managed an extensive website redesign that later became the model for all Salvation Army websites nationally. Kasey has also managed marketing campaigns and media relationships for nationally-recognized youth development agency, Self Enhancement, Inc., and provided research on a major study for The Atlantic Philanthropies Foundation, Civically Engaging Immigrant Boomers in Los Angeles County: How Do We Do It?

Kasey has an M.A. in Public Administration, with an emphasis on Environmental and Nonprofit Management, from the University of Southern California, and earned a B.F.A. in Graphic Design from Chapman University.

Her pastimes include hiking, exploring Portland’s amazing culinary culture, and spending time with her husband Frank, daughter Charlotte, and their zoo of rescued animals.
Milwaukie

​Maura Kelly is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Portland State University. Her research and teaching interests include gender, sexualities, social inequality, work and occupations, and popular culture. Her current research is primarily focused on the experiences of women and people of color in the construction trades as well as policy and programs intended to increase the diversity of the construction trades workforce. See more at www.pdx.edu/sociology/maura-kelly​​​

Corvallis

​Dr. Doris Cancel-Tirado is an assistant professor of Community Health in the Division of Health and Exercise Science at Western Oregon University. She has more than 15 years of experience working with health and human services agencies and deeply values and engages in multidisciplinary efforts to improve family well-being in diverse and multicultural contexts. As a bilingual/bicultural professional and mother, she knows first hand the challenges faced by parents raising kids in a bicultural environment and by mothers juggling work and family. Her current research areas of interest include: sexual and reproductive health issues among Latinos, health disparities, maternal and child health, fatherhood, poverty, and diversity in higher education. Doris holds a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, Master of Public Health from Oregon State University, and a doctorate in Human Development and Family Sciences, also from Oregon State University.
Doris was born and raised in Puerto Rico. In 2002, after completing her masters in Counseling Psychology, she moved to Miami, Florida. While living in Miami, she met her husband, Juan Pablo, who is a winemaker from Mendoza, Argentina. Attracted by Oregon’s growing wine industry they moved to Oregon and have lived here for the last 12 years. Their roots and family have grown and they are the proud parents of two Oregonians named Francisco and Evangelina.

Salem

Robin Morris Collin is the Norma J. Paulus Professor of law at Willamette University College of Law in Oregon.  Her latest publications include Energy Choices: How to Power the Future (2 volumes, ABC-CLIO, 2014) (coedited with Robert W. Collin), “Restoration and Redemption” in Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril (a collection including the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Barack Obama, and others)(Trinity University Press, 2010), and the Encyclopedia of Sustainability: volume 1: Environment and Ecology, volume 2: Business and Economics, volume 3:Equity and Fairness (coauthored with Robert William Collin)(Greenwood Press, 2010).  

She is the first US law professor to teach sustainability courses in a US law school.  She has been awarded the Oregon Woman of Achievement Award for 2012, David Brower Lifetime Achievement Award from the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference, the Leadership in Sustainability Award from the Oregon State Bar, the Campus Compact Faculty Award for Civic Engagement in Sustainability, and the national Environmental Justice Achievement Award from the Environmental Protection Agency for her work with the Oregon Environmental Justice Task Force. She is a Commissioner of the Oregon Commission on Black Affairs.  She has been recognized as a Founder and Leader of the Sustainable Futures Section of the Oregon State Bar. Morris Collin also served as the founding chair of the legislatively created Oregon Environmental Justice Taskforce.  She was a founding board member of the Environmental Justice Action Group of Portland, and a founding member Lawyers for a Sustainable Future. While at the University of Oregon, she cofounded the Conference against Environmental Racism and the Sustainable Business Symposium both of which continue into their second decade.​​
Beaverton

​Ugonna Enyinnaya is a lawyer by training and has worked in the legal field for seven years. She currently works for the Oregon Department of Justice in the Child Advocacy Section, supporting DOJ attorneys in providing advocacy for abused, neglected and abandoned children throughout Oregon.

Ugonna was born and raised in Nigeria. She obtained a Bachelor of law (LLb Hons) from Abia State University in Nigeria; a Barrister at Law Certificate from the Nigerian Law School; Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a focus on Public Management from Dowling College, New York and Master of Law in Employment Law (LLM) from Atlanta John Marshall Law School.

Ugonna runs a faith based nonprofit where she hosts conferences to empower and inspire women and youths in her community to pursue their dreams and live their authentic lives. She is also a small business owner.

Portland

Natasha Haunsperger has been a Portland Police Officer for fourteen years and is currently assigned to the Office of Community Engagement, Chief's office. In her current position, Officer Haunsperger has been working on addressing complex criminal justice-related issues with immigrant and refugee communities in the Portland Metro area.  Ms. Haunsperger created a unique police program that focuses on connecting police officers with newly arrived refugees and immigrants as a part of building trust, promoting cultural awareness, and welcoming and assisting new community members in their process of adaptation. 

In her previous assignment at the Criminal Intelligence Unit, Ms.Haunsperger focused on both intelligence and criminal investigations involving foreign-born labor trafficking subjects in the state of Oregon. Officer Haunsperger also co-produced a documentary film on foreign-born labor trafficking, "Reclaiming Their Lives," and is actively working on raising public awareness about trafficking trends in the Pacific NW. Officer Haunsperger is committed to developing a training curriculum for first responders and community-based stakeholders, focusing on early detection and identification of possible labor trafficking activities and victims identification and rescue. 

Ms. Haunsperger received her B.A. in Russian Language from Portland State University in 2004. In 2015, Ms. Haunsperger was a recipient of the Rotary International Peace Studies scholarship and completed a three-month course in "Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies" at the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. In 2020, Ms. Haunsperger received a Master's Degree at the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS). 
 
As a former war refugee and an immigrant from Croatia, Ms.  Haunsperger is very involved with the immigrant and refugee communities in Portland and committed to promoting social and community justice. Her interests entail gardening, baking,  and exploring the PCNW. She resides in Portland.
Grand Ronde

Camille Mercier is currently the Human Resources Director for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and Spirit Mountain Casino in Grand Ronde. She has over 25 years’ experience in the Human Resources field working in Oregon, Iowa and Washington.  Camille is passionate about finding opportunities to support women and minorities to become self-sufficient through job training, education and employment opportunities.

Camille is an enrolled tribal member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and is proud of her culture and ancestry.  Her grandmother Margaret Provost, along with two others, led efforts that eventually regained federal recognition to the Grand Ronde tribe.
 
Camille earned a MBA degree from Willamette University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from George Fox University.  Her interests include art projects in a variety of mediums, traveling, spending time with her spouse and her adult son that was recently sworn in as a police officer.
​
Cottage Grove
Dr. Krista Parent has been an educator in Oregon for the past 36 years. She began as a teacher, principal, curriculum director and assistant superintendent before becoming South Lane School District’s superintendent in 2001 where she stayed for 18 years – all in the same district! Krista was named the National Superintendent of the Year in 2007 by AASA, and one of four distinguished National Superintendents in 2014 by NASS. Beginning in July 2018, Krista became the Director of Executive Leadership for the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators (COSA). Parent leads the development of COSA’s new Executive Leaders for Oregon initiative. This executive leadership program was launched in the 2018-19 school year, and is designed to support the development of aspiring, early career, and veteran superintendents throughout the state of Oregon.

Krista earned three degrees, all from the University of Oregon, where she began her undergraduate program as an aspiring teacher while starting all four years on the Oregon Duck Softball team. Krista has been a keynote speaker and author on a variety of topics related to leadership. Krista is the mother of two young-adult children who are both products of Oregon public schools. In Krista’s spare time she is an avid fitness buff and reads all things Educational Leadership, Equity and Anti-Racism, and advocates for girls and women in every setting possible.
Salem

Helen D. Richardson is currently the Program Associate for the Office of Student Equity Access & Advancement for the Salem Keizer Public Schools.  She has worked as both an instructional mentor/coach at North Salem High School. Helen will complete her administrator internship requirements for her principal’s license in the spring of 2019. 

Born in Chicago and raised in Evanston, Illinois, Helen has a B.S. in Mass Media Communication from Andrews University, in Berrien Springs, MI., and a M.Ed. in Education from the University of Illinois-Chicago. Her area of expertise is in Instructional Leadership with an emphasis on Curriculum and Instruction.  Helen worked for Chicago Public Schools for 24 years, as both a classroom teacher and instructional coach and New Teacher Mentor, before moving to Salem with her husband and two sons, both of whom are in college.
 
Prior to becoming a teacher, Helen worked as a Senior Marketing & Training Specialist for McDougal, Littell Textbook Company. In addition, she has worked as Educational Consultant, Youth Leader, Curriculum Writer, and an Educational Consultant for the education software company Imagine Learning.  Helen is also a member of the Oregon Educator Equity Advisory Group.

Salem

Rev. Dr. Deborah L. Patterson is an ordained clergywoman in the United Church of Christ, currently serving a 130-year old rural Congregational church in the Mid-Willamette Valley.  She represents District 10, which includes South and West Salem, Monmouth, Independence, Turner and Aumsville, and parts of Four Corners and unincorporated East Salem. 

Prior to her return to active ministry, she was Executive Director of the International Parish Nurse Resource Center, which equipped RNs to provide health care advocacy and education around the world.  Deb also has served as the Executive Director of Northwest Parish Nurse Ministries, based in Portland, and was vice president of a children's health philanthropy. She has also served on the senior management team of a multi-hospital health system in the Midwest.  Deb has served on a wide variety of governing boards for health and human service organizations, including hospitals, transitional housing, residential care, and community-based services. She is currently Chair of the Marion Council Health Advisory Board and was recently appointed by Governor Brown to serve on the Oregon Disabilities Commission.

Deb holds Bachelor's and Master's degree in Music, a Master of Health Administration from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and master's and doctorate degrees from Eden Theological Seminary.  She is a strong advocate for healthcare for all, for access to quality education for all ages, and for social justice, including climate justice.   During her first term in office, she will be working to make healthcare, housing, and childcare more affordable, and will work to expand employment options, from expanding apprenticeship opportunities, to helping small businesses recover from the pandemic's challenges, to growing clean energy jobs that pay living wages.  ​​

Deb is the Mom of two young adults, one of whom has special needs, and is married to Dr. Stephen Patterson, who holds the George H. Atkinson Chair of Religious and Ethical Studies at Willamette University.​
Beaverton, District 27

​Sheri Schouten has more than 30 years of experience as a public health nurse. She has spent a lifetime helping families in Oregon raise healthy children. Her expertise led her to be appointed by the Governor to the Oregon Commission on Women, where she can help shape family-friendly policies. She is a proud lifetime resident of Washington County, having settled in Beaverton to raise her three sons, all proud college graduates.

Helping families like hers not just get by but get ahead is the reason Sheri chose to serve as State Representative for her community. Her legislative priorities focus on community health, and human services.​

OCFW Statute

Public Records Requests (PRR)

The Oregon Advocacy Commissions Office (OACO) responds to requests for public records in the general way described in the Oregon Department of Administrative Services' (DAS) Public Records Requests policy (pdf).

The DAS Public Records Requests Fees and Charges policy outlines the fees the department charges for records, and the process the agency uses to fulfill requests.

Please choose one of the following methods to request public records from OACO:
1. Email your request to Albert Lee, Executive Director of the OACO, with "PRR" included in the subject line.

OR

2. Mail a written request to this address:

Oregon Advocacy Commissions Office
421 SW Oak St., Suite 770
Portland, OR 97204

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