Dear ROPnet,
Less than three months into the year and we have already lived through historic federal power grabs and incredible upheaval. We have also seen powerful organizing to resist these injustices. Human Dignity Groups are building community, protecting people, disobeying immoral decrees, and creating a more just world right at home. There’s so much vying for our attention and energy, but no matter what, we know we need each other. As a network, we are here for one another, to celebrate each other’s victories, learn from one another’s losses, and build our strength. We grieve, laugh, and lean on one another through hard times.
Right now, ROP is 93 Human Dignity Groups strong with groups in all of Oregon’s 35 rural counties. More than 430 people have tuned in to at least one of the 8 statewide zooms we have held since Trump was elected. We are the largest we have ever been in a moment that calls on us to continue building people power for human dignity and democracy.
It is in this spirit that we would like to introduce this year’s ROP Board slate, an incredible crew of local human dignity group organizers from around the state who lead with courage, compassion, and thoughtfulness. On Saturday, April 26th in Baker City, ROP member groups will convene at this year’s Rural Caucus & Strategy Session to set ROP’s direction for the year. While there, we will also elect a slate of Board members to shape the direction of ROP’s work. With the increasing threat of attacks on movement organizations, it has never been more important for ROP to be led by volunteer organizers who are doing the work on the ground in their home communities, regardless of ROP’s federal tax status or what form the organization needs to take.
Will we see you there? Register for the Rural Caucus and Strategy Session!
Could your group use registration scholarships, community housing, a ride in a carpool, wage replacement stipends or gas money to help get you to the Caucus this year? Let us know! We are excited to support rural leaders to travel to and participate in the Caucus! You can find more information about the Caucus on our website here, including details about physical accessibility of the space, transportation, language interpretation, and more. Email office@rop.org to let us know how we can support you and your group to fully participate in the Caucus!
Can’t make it? Donate to our scholarship fund to make it possible for others to participate this year!
Warmly,
Hannah and the ROP Team
2025 ROP Board Slate
In odd-number years, odd-number seats are up for a vote. The bolded seats below will be elected this year!
- Region 1: Lisa Gonzales – Benton County
- Region 2: Cathy Howell – Marion County
- Region 3: Jayden Ruff – Coos County
- Region 4: Colleta Macy – Warm Springs Reservation
- Region 5: Brenda Flores – Umatilla County
- Region 6: Eliot Feenstra – Josephine County/Multnomah County
- Region 7: Tina Dybowski – Douglas County
About the ROP Board Members
Brenda Flores – Umatilla County
Brenda (she/her/ella) was born and raised in rural Oregon. She comes from a family of immigrants and has always been passionate about standing up for what is right. Her introduction to advocacy work began in college and continued after graduation when she became one of the first fellows for ROP’s Rural Organizing Fellowship program. Thanks to ROP, she and a few Latinx community members were able to start Raíces, a grassroots organization to empower Latinx leaders through unity, education, and connections. Brenda is also a board member for Bilingual Basketball and Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon. When Brenda isn’t organizing, you can find her reading, walking her dog, doing a house project, or trying out a new hobby.
Cathy Howell – Marion County
Cathy (she/her) retired from the AFL-CIO in 2011 where she had been a field organizer and leadership development coordinator since 1997. Before joining the AFL-CIO, she spent over 20 years as a community and issue organizer in Oregon and in the southern USA. She grew up in a small Quaker State refinery town in western Pennsylvania. She is passionate about social and economic justice and organizing people to fight for fairness. Since her retirement, she has been dividing her time between Salem and El Salvador, where she is a volunteer and board member at the Centro de Intercambio y Solidaridad. She has taught English to Salvadorans working in social movements and helped organize delegations of international observers for the past four presidential, congressional, and mayoral elections in El Salvador. She continues to study Spanish in an effort to strengthen her ability to work more effectively in Marion and Polk Counties and El Salvador. She recently moved into an apartment in Salem and is involved in issues that affect residents in Marion and Polk counties–passing a levy to support the library, senior programs, parks, strengthening access to public transit, and reaching out to voters in local non-partisan elections.
Colleta Macy – Warm Springs
Colleta (she/her) organizes in her home community on the Warm Springs Reservation. She helped found and is a leader of Central Oregon for a Free Palestine, which has been growing since 2023. Organizing from the reservation and collaborating with communities off the reservation to lead protests and lift voices in rural areas has been a challenge, but also a blessing, because getting folks involved and having conversations in small communities can have such a big impact! Colleta has also led efforts to clean up graffiti, paint murals, and support youth in getting involved in skateboarding. She has hosted skate camps, movie nights, and other community-building events that bring youth and adults together to build health, wellness, and empowerment across the reservation.
Eliot Feenstra – Josephine / Multnomah County
Eliot (he/they) grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and has been based in rural southwestern Oregon since 2012, where he’s worked in and between theatre, storytelling, sustainable agriculture, community organizing, rural economic development, and public health. He co-founded a queer land project in Hugo, OR, and helped develop an intergenerational performance program called RiverStars Performing Arts that devises dance theatre pieces about the town of Cave Junction. Alongside community-based theatre, he has also been involved with advocacy and organizing around antiracism and rural queer thriving. In 2014, he co-founded the Josephine County Racial Justice Working Group, which first connected him to ROP. In 2019, Eliot and his collaborators received the national MAP Fund to create a full-length documentary dance-theatre piece based on interviews with community members about money, wealth, and the impact of cannabis legalization in southern Oregon. Several years later, he and his partner Sophie Traub created a statewide rural queer virtual dance and storytelling project called OUT Dance Project.
Eliot has worked as a queer community organizer with the Rogue Action Center and led a community survey project as well as lifting up local queer stories. He continues to organize annual trans events in Josephine County and a queer board games night in Cave Junction. He currently works as a project manager with Oregon’s Kitchen Table, a statewide civic engagement program, leads reflective dialogue facilitation training with Oregon Humanities, and is on the Community Leadership Team for Pride in Numbers, a statewide 2SLGBTQIA+ research project. He also served on the board of his local radio station, KXCJ-LP, and hosted a monthly radio show. Eliot is passionate about rural communities and working to create spaces of belonging, imagine alternate futures, and foster place-based culture. He also loves to read, hike, swim in rivers, and do multi-day bike tours and backpacking trips.
Jayden Ruff – Coos County
Jayden (she/her) was raised in Roberta, Georgia, surrounded by peaches and the wisdom of the caretakers in her family—Great Grandmother Flossy, Grandmother Lizzie, Mom Munilla, Auntie Mantilla, and Big Mama, Mrs. Tit. They were the keepers of history, the teachers of laughter, and the embodiment of love, showing her how to move through the world with both strength and grace.
A Lover of Context and Challenger of Systems, Jayden is committed to disrupting the status quo in pursuit of justice. For the past eight years, she has worked alongside Communities of Color and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities throughout Oregon, advocating for equitable access to healthcare, food, and dignity. She is the Director of South Coast Health Equity Coalition which organizes in Coos and Curry Counties. Her approach is deeply rooted in centering community voices and lived experiences, ensuring that those most impacted lead the solutions.
Jayden’s work is grounded in grassroots movements, truth-telling, and connection to spirit, carrying the wisdom of those who came before her. She often reflects on the words of Maya Angelou, “I come as one but stand as 10,000,” as a reminder of her accountability to community, co-creators, collaborators, advocates, and ancestors—all of whom she has the privilege of carrying with her in every space she enters.
Lisa Gonzales – Benton County
Lisa (she/her) is a long-time organizer and activist committed to practicing collective liberation in many forms through community and labor organizing. She has been a resident of Corvallis 26 years and has been serving on the ROP Board since 2018. At the time she joined ROP, she was focused on rapid response work aimed at supporting immigrant and houseless community members as part of Rapid Action Community Response (RACR). RACR also strived to help develop local security culture inspired by ROP’s principles of “watchful hospitality.” She is a founding member of the Mid-Valley Solidarity Coalition, a broad alliance of social justice, environmental, labor, and interfaith groups located in Benton and LInn Counties. MVSC is an active human dignity group in the ROP network. Lisa is also a founding member of the MId-Valley IWW, a local branch of the Industrial Workers of the World, an international labor union dedicated to the ethic, “An injury to one, is an injury for all!”.
Residents of Corvallis and Benton County are burdened with some of the highest housing costs in the state. Renters are particularly hard hit and vulnerable to continually escalating costs and exploitation. Lisa is committed to ongoing grassroots efforts to support and organize around tenants rights in Corvallis. She also has a love for bringing folks together in creative and playful ways through radical cultural work and community celebrations. Lisa brings a deep grounding and thoughtfulness to her work and is a skilled facilitator, supporting groups through discomfort and conflict to find new ways of working and being together. As an experienced and strategic organizer, Lisa brings a depth of experience to ROP and currently serves as the Chair of the board.
Tina Marie Dybowski – Douglas County
Tina (she/her) is unapologetically herself. She is determined to proudly model visibility and be a shield for those afraid to stand out. Embracing and utilizing her outspoken nature, she is passionate about actively educating others by living in her own truth and openly discussing growing up Queer and Goth in rural Southwest Wyoming.
Tina is a board member of Umpqua Valley Rainbow Collective (UVRC), a grassroots nonprofit in Douglas County, which provides a safe space, gender-affirming care, mutual aid, education and resources for 2SLGBTQIA+ and allies. UVRC works with other organizations to promote the unity and well-being of their community. Tina has played a fluid role with UVRC as Interim Treasurer, Outreach Director, and currently Secretary, De-escalation/Safety Coordinator, and Community Partnership Liaison. Within these roles, she provides skill-building by connecting community members with nonprofits and providing de-escalation, self-defense, and safety training. Her teammates’ support provides the drive for her success. Tina assists in the yearly Douglas County Pride Parade and Festival by training and leading the Safety De-escalation Team and working with other local nonprofits and rural Oregon Pride organizers to outsource volunteers and provide mutual support. Her child remains her constant driving force and inspiration for pursuing a future that is safe and equitable for all.
