Our board of directors are leaders in their communities. Their work advocates for the inclusion and visibility of communities of color in our current environmental discourse. Our board is responsible for ensuring we have an equitable & fair decision process when selecting our grantees for our community micro-grants. They are volunteering their time to ensure we stay true to Piña Soul's mission and vision as a social-purpose corporation. Our board consists entirely of womxn of color, making this a WOC-led social purpose corporation.
Patricia Allen🍍
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Identifying as multiethnic and multitribal, Patricia predominantly associates as Tlingit Alaskan Native and AfroCaribbean. Patricia is a founder of NDNs for Justice which is a women-led Indigenous civil rights organization in Seattle. She is also a member of Hip Hop grassroots organization, 206 Zulu, and is the newest member of Women of Color Speak Out; organizing and educating the systems of oppression that have led climate change and why it is important for marginalized communities to lead the global environmental justice movement. She more recently worked at the Northwest African American Museum and has many familial ties with Seattle's historic central district. Patricia has spent many years researching the intersectionality of human, environmental, and Indigenous rights in relationship to reconciliation and healing in Canada, South Africa and Peru during her undergrad at UW. She has been actively participating in coastal canoe journeys in BC, Alaska and Washington since 2011. After returning from Standing Rock, she focused her grassroots organizing in the Seattle communities of color around solidarity, accountability, and healing. She is currently serving as an elected delegate for Tlingit & Haida Tribes of Southeast Alaska and facilitating the National Coalition to End Urban Indigenous Homelessness as well as the Community Advocate with the Chief Seattle Club.
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Jackie Engebretson 🍍
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Jackie Engebretson is a Behavioral Health Program Manager at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC). Her work centers on reducing and preventing opioid and substance use disorders. Jackie previously worked with the YMCA of Snohomish County, Tulalip Tribes of Washington (Youth Services Department), and the National Indian Health Board. She received her BA from the University of Alaska Anchorage. She also completed her MSW in Community-Centered Integrative Practice and a Nonprofit Management Certificate at the University of Washington. Jackie is Ahtna Athabascan (Udzisyu), enrolled in Gulkana Village.
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Natalie Gasca 🍍
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Natalie Gasca is a multi-ethnic Latina (Mexican and white American) Biostatistics Ph.D. student at the University of Washington. She develops analysis methods and visualization tools to identify food patterns related to heart disease prevention. Natalie received the Bonderman Fellowship in 2018, traveling solo for eight months across Polynesia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America to immerse herself in local cultures. As an undergraduate at Cal Poly Pomona, she was engaged in community service and leadership development. Overall, Natalie is passionate about food justice, immigrant health, and accessible educational opportunities.
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Olivia Kugler-Umaña 🍍
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Olivia Kugler-Umaña is 1st generation Ph.D. Candidate Salvadoreña studying immunology at Umass Medical. As a child, she was raised in a tight-knit Salvadoran community composed of undocumented and working-class immigrants. She strongly believes in the power of community and the need to center indigenous voices in the case of environmental conservation and climate change. In her free time, she loves to use the power of social media to boost indigenous artist work and creates make-up looks inspired by their work.
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