DEI Coalition
Learn about the OR-MEP Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coalition
OR-MEP is committed to equitably serving the people of Oregon and disrupting systems that maintain inequality, within the energy industry and beyond. The OR-MEP DEI Coalition will recommend and influence changes to the OR-MEP program to make it more accessible to all, especially customers with the greatest need who have not benefitted from the program.
Coalition members represent diverse backgrounds and experiences, including:
Affordable Housing Property Manager or Owner
Resident/Community Member
Community-Based Organization Representative
Community or Public Health Worker
Affordable Housing Finance Specialist
Workforce Development Specialist
Energy Industry Professional
OR-MEP is actively recruiting members of Oregon tribes to join the Coalition. The position will remain open until filled. You can find more information about the application and selection process on our “How to Get Involved” page.
OR-MEP and Oregon Housing & Community Services formed the OR-MEP DEI Coalition in 2021 to improve program accessibility. In 2024, the OR-MEP team developed a framework that outlines the processes used to form and facilitate the OR-MEP DEI Coalition and lessons learned to-date.
View the document linked below to learn from the OR-MEP team’s firsthand experiences. You can read about best practices, lessons learned, and suggested approaches intended to help anyone establish a similar coalition.
Facilitators
Ashley Arhin
Facilitator
Ashley Arhin
For example, Ashley helped co-create a council of local and historically displaced Black and immigrant residents to plan community driven real estate development. She also has experience working in a historically white land conservancy to promote increased capacity and equity for leaders of color within the organization. Ashley excels at supporting community and stakeholder engagement efforts that range from focus group planning to direct outreach. Ashley is an Associate Consultant at Encolor, a strategic consulting firm dedicated to operationalizing equity, where she supports secondary research, facilitation support, and project management.
Rachel Dortin
Facilitator
Rachel Dortin
Rachel is a Senior Consultant at Encolor, a strategic consulting firm dedicated to operationalizing equity, where she uses her role to help build a bridge between clients and the communities they serve and facilitates working groups, advisory boards, and coalitions. In addition to her work at Encolor, Rachel is also the Director of Community Organizing and Ownership at The Shared Space Project, a nonprofit organization launched in 2024 to more directly support co-creation and power sharing between communities and the institutions that serve them.
Rachel holds a PhD from Wayne State in English with a special concentration is community-based participatory research methodologies, and an MA from the University of Findlay in Rhetoric and Writing with a focus on environmental justice communications.
Kirstin Pulles
Facilitator
Kirstin Pulles
Kirstin holds a master’s degree in Community Engagement, Social Change, and Equity from the University of British Columbia, where her research centered on community-based and participatory research methods. Prior to joining Unrooz, Kirstin spent over two years at Efficiency Canada as the Community Engagement Manager. Across several roles and projects, she has worked with a variety of stakeholders – such as transit unions, farmers, rock climbers, and more – to develop community-informed policy solutions. Kirstin has also led research projects across Canada and around the world.
With her diverse background and unwavering commitment to justice and equity, Kirstin brings particular expertise in facilitation, community-based research, and engagement to Unrooz.
Sepideh Rezania
Facilitator
Sepideh Rezania
Sepideh Rezania brings over 23 years of broad industry experience in strategy development and program management, creating long-lasting solutions for the non-profit, utility, and consumer electronics design industries.
Her out-of-box thinking, passion for implementing impactful socially responsible solutions, strong leadership, and analytical system skills, give her the unique ability to drive a small or a large team towards sustainable and inclusive solutions.
Sepideh leverages her broad repertoire of experience to work with organizations to incorporate human-focused and Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion-based methodologies, tools, and metrics into program designs. In her approach, she brings an equity perspective into the process by building trust, testing assumptions, co-designing with the community, and facilitating inclusive conversations to ensure both the process and the strategies are equitable and inclusive.
Coalition Members
Cynthia Aguilar-Arizmendi
Mohanad Alnajjar
Mohanad Alnajjar
Since 2008, Mohanad Alnajjar has accumulated knowledge and experience in community development while working with non-profit organizations in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. He also worked as a project coordinator, event organizer and part-time lecturer prior to moving to the United States in 2021.
Currently, Mohanad satisfies his strong passion for community service as he works with Unite Oregon—a community-based organization led by people of color, immigrants and refugees, rural communities, and people experiencing poverty—to build a unified intercultural movement for justice.
His academic qualifications include a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, a professional graduate diploma in managing civil society organizations and postgraduate degrees in business administration.
Ellen Bolus-Edmonds
Ellen Bolus-Edmonds
Ellen Bolus-Edmonds is the Executive Director of The Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Oregon (PACCO), helping over 250 small business owners since the pandemic hit. Being a small business owner herself, she is deeply passionate about helping community members thrive so that together, we make the lives of the next generation better than ours!
Aside from being in the OR-MEP DEI Coalition, Ellen actively participates in the Portland Business Success and Job Creation Action Table and the Cross-Jurisdictional Community Engagement project (a partnership with the City of Hillsboro, the City of Beaverton and Washington County). She also serves as a volunteer Senior Director at the Coalition of Filipino-American Chambers of Commerce and a Coach-Mentor at Stage One in Action, a youth-focused non-profit organization.
Ellen is a mother and a wife, and she remains faithful to her personal mission statement: Live insanely great lives, make a difference everyday!
Brenda Brown
Brenda Brown
Esteban Montero Chacon
Esteban Montero Chacon
Esteban Montero Chacon is the Energy Services Director for Homes for Good which serves Lane County. Esteban joined Homes for Good in October 2020. Since then, he has been enhancing existing partnerships with local and regional utilities, expanding community connections, and helping low-income residents be more comfortable while supporting a healthier and more sustainable environment for all.
After working as an English-Spanish medical interpreter for over a decade, he went back to school to pursue a career he feels would be more rewarding and have more positive impact in the community. He recently received his Energy Management Degree from Lane Community College in Eugene.
Esteban also had the opportunity to work as the Assistant Community Liaison Officer for the U.S. Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica where he coordinated with several groups of volunteers and community members.
Greg Delgado
Zack Fappiano
Zack Fappiano
Zack is an experienced housing professional with over four years of expertise in managing low-income and disabled housing communities in rural areas in Oregon. He attended Portland Community College, earning a general studies degree with a heavy focus in executive leadership and sales. He also has extensive experience as both a franchise owner and VP of sales and operations. Having done volunteer work with Indigenous populations and having lived on a reservation for four years, Zack brings a profound respect for cultural diversity and a passion for amplifying the voices of historically underserved communities. His background in community engagement and housing management is complemented by a strong focus on equitable solutions that foster empowerment and opportunity for all individuals, regardless of background or ability. Zack’s primary goal as a member of the DEI coalition is to use collaborative efforts and innovative strategies to create meaningful and lasting change.
Kwame Kinabo
Kwame Kinabo
As the Lending Project Manager for Network for Oregon Affordable Housing (NOAH) , Kwame Kinabo joins the OR-MEP DEI Coalition bringing expertise of the lending transaction ecosystem for non-profit affordable housing initiatives. Kwame has been addressing social change by fostering relationships through 16 years of financial service lending. He dedicates his work to promoting equity in representation and access to energy savings conversations that empower and bridge communities. His MBA with an emphasis on Leadership Management coupled with extensive travel have honed an in-depth understanding of international cultures and business relations. Kwame was recently elected Board President of Diaspora Council of Tanzanians in America (DICOTA) and is a Board Member for Good Hope Orphanage and School in Arusha, Tanzania serving 200 children by providing advocacy, education, and a home for significantly underprivileged youth. Kwame’s enthusiasm and dedication to local communities bring lasting positive, measurable change to both the Portland and Tanzanian communities.
Robin Smith
Robin Smith
Xaun Wilson
Xaun Wilson
Previous Coalition Members
Thank you to our previous Coalition members for contributing to where we are today.
Paula J. Brown
Paula J. Brown
Stepha Dragoon
Stepha Dragoon
Stepha Dragoon, MPAff, MSSW (she/they) is the Rural Population Health Program Manager with the Oregon Office of Rural Health where they focus on initiatives related to population health in rural communities. Prior to this position, Stepha conducted research at the Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault at the University of Texas at Austin, where they also received a Master of Public Affairs and a Master of Science in Social Work. Stepha is committed to health equity and serving marginalized populations by centering underrepresented voices in the policy process and integrating social justice principles with trauma-informed practices. Stepha has over a decade of experience in community-based programming and pursuing social impact initiatives across the United States. Stepha grew up in Oregon and is thrilled to be back serving their home state.
Thomas Eldridge
Thomas Eldridge
Thomas Eldridge has over 10 years of experience in development and construction management and is fascinated with the impact thoughtfully designed and programmed real estate can have on an individual or group of people. Thomas holds an undergraduate degree in Construction Management and post graduate diploma in Construction Law, both from Kingston University in London, and a master’s degree in Real Estate Development from Portland State University.
Thomas’ most important job is being a father to his three-under-3. And on the rare occasion he has some spare time, he can be found shredding his banjo. Running or swimming. Or reading a graphic novel.
Jiselle Halfmoon
Jiselle Halfmoon
She has served on the Nixyaawii Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, the Native Public Media Station Advisory Board, and was elected General Council Secretary 2015-2017. She recently served on the National Committee for Digital Inclusion Alliance and is currently serving her second term on the CTUIR Law & Order Committee as well as a first term as an Oregon Multifamily Energy Project DEI Coalition Member.
Jiselle has won two awards from the Native American Journalists Association for news broadcasting, is a published writer and recently had artwork (linocut print medium) exhibited in Athens, Greece in 2021. In her personal time, she likes to read, photograph the scenic outdoors, chase storms, explore her Tribal homelands/history and go on spontaneous road trips around the Pacific Northwest. She also does small graphic design projects for friends and family as well as consulting and executive production work for podcasts and documentaries in need of Indigenous perspectives.
Jiselle is an enrolled Cayuse and Umatilla citizen and a descendent of the Nez Perce Nation. She grew up on the Umatilla Reservation, where she resides with her mini–Australian Shepard, Hutch.
Isaiah Kamrar
Isaiah Kamrar
Isaiah Kamrar currently serves as the Program Manager at African American Alliance for Homeownership (AAAH) and he currently leads the Power to the People PDX™, Home Retention, and annual programs at AAAH. Isaiah’s programs provide education to BIPOC homeowners and implement repair, weatherization, energy efficiency, and solar projects for underserved homeowners in Portland, Oregon. His background in economics, property management, and community leadership enables him to tackle environmental and racial justice challenges through adaptive program design, collaborative partnerships, and ongoing grant development. Isaiah is thrilled to bring his expertise, insight, and vision to the OR-MEP DEI Coalition and is eager to explore and develop pathways for underserved communities to access green energy through equitable policy development.
Jamani LaShawn
Jamani LaShawn
James Metoyer
James Metoyer
James Metoyer is the Workforce Development Training Manager at Earth Advantage (EA) and the Principal at Advanced Energy Inspections LLC (AEI). He brings over 10 years of work experience in the energy efficiency industry and has earned several industry-recognized credentials including BPI, SHP, PTCS, HERS Rater and LEED Green Rater. As Workforce Development Training Manager at EA, James builds relationships and works with youth and pre-apprenticeship programs across Oregon to deliver green workforce training for students and professionals entering the trades. He also lends his expertise across multiple programs at EA, which include delivering quality assurance on behalf of the City of Portland’s Home Energy Score program, in-field verification for LEED and EA certified buildings, and working to advance the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives at EA.
James works as a consultant at Advanced Energy Inspections to help community-based organizations and nonprofits that represent Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to create webinars for those communities on the principles of energy efficiency and healthy homes. James serves on the board of the Home Performance Guild of Oregon and Community Energy Project and is passionate about helping people navigate careers into energy efficiency and working to ensure people have equitable access to healthy, sustainable and energy efficient housing.
Natalie Thornton
Natalie Thornton
Natalie Thornton is Asset Manager at Community Partners for Affordable Housing with six years of experience in property and asset management. She develops systems and tools to manage affordable housing assets for longevity, for both the organizations that own them and the people who call them home. Natalie strives to center racial, economic, and housing justice in her work. She holds a BA in Sociology from Smith College and a certificate in Asset Management from NeighborWorks.
