Civic Health Spotlight on Unite Oregon Action
Throughout this calendar year, NWHF will be highlighting our Civic Health Cohort, also known as the C4 Power Program.
“Hope will be found by understanding that diversity is the essence of the American Dream and why we need each other to fulfill it.” - Ilhan Omar
Unite Oregon is an organization led by people of color, immigrants and refugees, rural communities and people experiencing poverty. For over 20 years they have worked across Oregon to build a unified intercultural movement for justice. Unite Oregon represents over 13,000 supporters and members across Oregon. They engage these diverse members by training them to testify in Salem and in city and county council meetings across the state on issues ranging from affordable housing to criminal justice to campaign finance reform.
Early in their development, Unite Oregon realized they were advocating for policy change within systems led by people who didn't look like them. It became very clear: in order to ensure their values and communities were supported, they needed to build a new system, as well as shift power so their communities could govern.
NWHF has been funding Unite Oregon for years and is thrilled to have Unite Oregon Action, Unite Oregon’s 501(c)(4), as part of the C4 Power Program.
Unite Oregon Action works across the state with chapters in the Portland metro area as well as the Rogue Valley. They train and support candidates for elected office who “look like us, share our values and political analysis, while also mobilizing broad Immigrant, Refugee, and BIPOC (IR-BIPOC) community participation as voters, advocates and volunteers. We cannot build independent political power for our communities alone.”
Unite Oregon Action launched in 2018 and by 2020 had their first-ever candidate endorsement process, endorsing eight IR-BIPOC candidates across rural and urban Oregon. Today they have a solid C4 board and experience leading field campaigns for statewide ballot initiatives (defeating Measure 105 in 2018 and passing Measure 110 in 2020). Unite Oregon Action connects and mobilizes different communities across the state, and they are one of the few organizations doing deep bilingual organizing and leading multiple policy campaigns in rural Oregon.
Unite Oregon Action is eager to join the cohort and gain support to strengthen their work. During the program they hope to:
Engage in regional strategic planning
Partner to get additional IR-BIPOC candidates elected
Support elected candidates and engage them on key policy issues
Launch Intercultural Leadership Development 2.0, a program empowering their 500+ leadership development graduates to run for office
Meet the two Unite Oregon Action staff participants:
Before Unite Oregon, Rogue Valley Organizer Luntha Tahuna (he/him) was a student at Southern Oregon University studying Sociology, organizing and working in the Rogue Valley student community with the Maslow Project, Rogue Community College and Kids Unlimited of Oregon. After moving to Oregon from Maryland, he has found himself right at home in the Pacific Northwest as the weather is not as punishing as the humid hot summers of the East coast. When not working or schooling, Luntha spends his time critically analyzing (and enjoying) American pop culture and music, playing futbol (not soccer) and cooking anything and everything from scratch. Being born in Malawi and raised in London, Luntha often finds himself missing quality African and Jamaican food (where is the Jollof and Jerk chicken in this state!?). He also spends an overwhelmingly large amount of his time going to concerts (particularly Afro beats and Jazz), podcasting with friends about music, politics and TV disappointments like Game of Thrones. He also enjoys long hikes around Oregon’s beautiful landscapes.
Political Director Gloria Ochoa Sandoval (she/her/hers) has worked in politics for the last eight years with several nonprofit organizations, ballot measure campaigns, varying levels of candidate campaigns and both the Oregon and U.S. House of Representatives. She is actively pursuing her bachelor's in Political Science and Interdisciplinary Science. Her mission is to fight for health equity and greater immigrant and refugee rights. She spends her free time lounging with her dog Gustav Klimt, reading, obsessively organizing and starting more home projects than she can finish.