Jessica Andrade
Jessica Andrade has been interested in human rights, politics, and public service since her adolescence in Clark County, Washington. Jessica attended the University of Washington where she obtained a B.A. in Political Science and Women Studies, as well as a minor in history. Later, Jessica attended the University of Michigan where she obtained her J.D. Along the way, Jessica has had experiences working and volunteering for multiple human rights and public interest-focused organizations, including Blueprint Research & Design, a non-profit consulting firm, the Gender Advocacy Program in Cape Town, South Africa, Planned Parenthood of Western Washington, the King County Prosecutor's Office Protection Order Advocacy Program, and LegalVoice (f/k/a/ the Northwest Women's Law Center).
Currently Jessica is an associate in the litigation group of Dorsey & Whitney, LLP, where she focuses her practice on complex commercial disputes. Jessica also completes significant pro bono legal work, including representing several clients who have suffered abuse in their home countries in their petitions for asylum in the United States, as well as impact litigation regarding issues of LGBT rights, gender and race discrimination. Jessica was appointed to the Seattle Human Rights Commission by the Seattle City council in 2009, and she looks forward to serving the City of Seattle by advancing the human rights of all its citizens.
Jesse Aspuria's favorite quotation describes his life: "Sleep is optional." Born in the Philippines, raised in inner city San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Tacoma, his upbringing and various experiences throughout his young adulthood that has given him an understanding about the importance of activism and leadership to help underprivileged individuals who may be discriminated against.
"My upbringing has motivated me to help others and fight for human rights causes. I don't see it as a responsibility, but more so as my passion and hope to always give back and play a role in public service."
Jesse has been involved in various leadership positions and organizations. He served in various capacities in student government at WSU until serving as the Student Body President in 2003-2004. Accomplishments include changing the University's Diversity Celebration and turned over the event's control into the students' hands, as well as evaluate policies and strategies for the recruitment and retention of students and faculty of color. Raised over $31,803 to benefit student run multicultural student recruitment and retention conferences and created policies for long term sustainability.
Jesse graduated from Washington State University with a bachelor's degree in the School of Hospitality Business Management Program and attended Apicius Culinary Institute of Florence, Italy. He works as a sales and marketing director for Marriott, and enjoys travel, hiking, camping, basketball, dancing, cooking, and running marathons.
Damien Carter
Damien W. Carter, M.D. , graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine in 2006. He works at the Harborview Medical Center Department of Surgery as a Trauma & Burns Research Fellow. Dr. Carter has received the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Community Service Award, and the Gold Humanism National Honor Society Award. He enjoys basketball, soccer, snowboarding, running, and travel in Asia & Latin America. Dr. Carter has been a Commissioner since 2008 and serves on the SHRC Homelessness Task Force.
Nika Dahlbacka
Nika Dahlbacka was born and raised in Oakland, California, a city which celebrates diversity and political activism. From her earliest years she pursued activities that furthered equality and multi-culturalism. In high school, she joined Amigos de las Americas, working in a village of 200 in Costa Rica to promote community-based, sustainable development.
At the UW, Nika was a senator in student government, and volunteered for Washington Citizen Action, First Place School, Franklin High School, and the Burke Museum. While at UW, Nika interned at Boeing where she implemented the first 737 Diversity Council. She graduated UW with distinction and a BA in International Business and marketing. After college, Nika continued her career with Boeing, and has enjoyed her role working as a Procurement agent with International Suppliers and the Flight Test Program.
Nika is honored to be pursuing her passion for social justice and equality as a member of the Seattle Human Rights Commission.
Marsha Teresa Mavunkel
Marsha Teresa Mavunkel is an associate attorney with Ketu Shah Law Offices in Bellevue, WA. She graduated from Seattle University School of Law in 2009, and has been working primarily in immigration law since that time. Marsha has worked within the human rights realm both domestically and internationally. She has worked with human rights non-profits such as the World Organization Against Torture, and the International Rescue Committee during her years in undergraduate and law school. During law school Marsha worked with the Seattle University International Human Rights Law clinic, and assisted in drafting a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Right, as well as traveled to San Jose, Costa Rica, as part of a Seattle University team to present an oral argument before the full panel of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Directly after graduating from law school Marsha worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in San Jose, Costa Rica. Marsha has been a Seattle resident for five years now, and has an ardent desire to work within her own local community in the human rights arena, helping community members and our local government with human rights initiatives and to spread awareness in order to inform and educate our city on human rights issues.
Andrea Negrete
Andrea Negrete was born in Mexico and raised in Mattawa, an isolated town in Central Washington, where her parents worked as farm workers. Andrea graduated from the UW with a BA in Psychology. While at UW, she served as a Senator for the Graduate and Professional Student Senate and worked for the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity. Andrea Negrete is a candidate for the Master of Education in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies at UW, with a focus on higher education. She advocates for social justice and equal representation in higher education through her work with Campaņa Quetzal, a Seattle nonprofit committed to working with Latino families in the Seattle Public Schools. Andrea is excited about joining the Commission as part of the Metrocenter YMCA's Get Engaged Program.
Mariah Ortiz
Mariah Ortiz is an International Student Advisor at the University of Washington, Bothell and a Graduate Fellow at the UW Human Rights Center. Mariah is part of the Amnesty International Activist Network Demand Dignity Campaign, a volunteer group focused on human rights advocacy and legislation, events mobilization, coalition building, media strategy and "gross-tops" advocacy. She is an active member of Amnesty International Group 4 Seattle and the Seattle Human Rights Film Festival. Mariah serves as a graduate student teaching assistant for the UW course, "Human Rights Theory and Practice."
Merri Ann Osborne
Since the age of sixteen, Merri Ann has volunteered for a number of domestic and international community organizations. Currently, she volunteers with Amnesty International, Multifaith Works, and with the Southern Sudanese Community of Washington.
A graduate of Roosevelt High School in Seattle, Merri Ann received her BA in Political Science from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) where she studied Japanese and Soviet Politics. Upon graduation, she attended International Christian University in Mitaka, Japan continuing her studies of Japanese politics and language.
Merri Ann recently received an MA in Conflict Resolution from the Peace Studies Department at the University of Bradford, Bradford, UK. While at Bradford, she was a member of a select group of students who studied post conflict rebuilding in Sierra Leone. It was here she witnessed the difficult task of rebuilding a country that endured an eleven year civil war.
During her visit to Sierra Leone, she was inspired by the work being done by human rights activists, women's groups, faith-based communities, politicians, law enforcement, and others working towards the common goal of peace and recovery. With this inspiration, she is committed to bringing together diverse communities towards not only productive dialogue, but meaningful outcomes.
Having traveled extensively, she has also lived in Nigeria, Japan, England. These international experiences and overseas education opportunities have provided Merri Ann with a strong foundation in cross-cultural communication and mediation.
Merri Ann Osborne regards her position on the Seattle Human Rights Commission as a privilege and is honored to serve the residents of Seattle
Martin Penner
Since youth Martin has been passionate about linking people to each other and to ideas in ways which create an environment where the voices of the most marginalized are heard and respected. Following studies in international law and human rights Martin joined the work of securing those rights on the ground level. Martin's professional experience includes conflict resolution work in Israel and Palestine, minority rights research in France, operations and translation in public health in West Africa and microfinance in India and East Africa.
As Martin's exposure to human rights work has grown, the importance of the structural environment where the work is being performed has become increasingly clear. In each location the frameworks and systems in place, whether legal, political, economic or other, played a consistently important role in determining whether or not goals were achieved. Newly returned to Seattle, Martin is thrilled for the opportunity to help define and deliver that framework on a civic level as a member of the SHRC, and to support the goals of maximizing impact at the highest levels and to greatest effect for those whose voices so often go unheard.
Michael Plengrat works in Public Accounting, with a focus in Taxation. Michael received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Washington's Michael G. Foster School of Business. When he is not working, Michael enjoys reading philosophy books, as well as literature on social theory. Among his favorite authors are Malcolm Gladwell and Matt Ridley. He also enjoys dining out with friends, camping at the lakeside, and water sports. On the Commission, Michael hopes to work on issues affecting people who are homeless. Michael resides in North Seattle and identifies as an Asian-American.
Mica Powers
Mica Powers graduated in 2005 with a degree in Political Science, and a minor in African American Studies. While in college, Mica had two life altering experiences: interning at a magazine that critically looked at race and poverty and visiting the United Nations building in New York City. Those experiences taught Mica to dig deep when problem solving, and to surround herself with great company when searching for answers. Mica has been featured in
Newsweek Magazine's Generation O multimedia blog.
Additionally, Mica's various life experiences, including tutoring 2nd graders in reading and writing and being a Precinct Committee Officer, have made Mica personally aware of some problems that we face locally. As a proud resident of Seattle, Mica hopes all of her life experiences can combine for a meaningful, educational, and unique experience as a Commissioner.
Greg Ramirez
Greg Ramirez works as a Union Organizer for SEIU Local 6. He is committed to fighting for employee rights and to ensure that workers are treated with dignity, respect, and have equal access to livable wage jobs. He previously worked at YouthCare as a Job Developer/Employment Specialist where he focused on breaking down barriers to employment for homeless, disadvantaged and other marginalized youth. Greg was born and raised in Seattle, Washington and is a graduate of John F. Kennedy Memorial High School and Western Washington University. While at Western he studied Pre-Law / Law & Diversity at Fairhaven College. In addition, he has served on Sound Transit's Diversity Oversight and Project Labor Agreement Committee and Seattle Housing Authority's Section 3 Oversight and Advisory Committee. In his spare time he enjoys playing golfing and spending time with his wife, family and friends.
Roslyn Solomon
Ms. Solomon has focused her efforts in health and human rights over the past three years. She is the co-founder of The Implementation Project which focuses on promoting comprehensive and equitable health care reform through innovative advocacy work. Prior to founding The Project, Ms. Solomon was the Director of the US program at Uplift International, a Seattle-based health and human rights organization. Ms. Solomon also served as a consultant for Health Alliance International, and the Grameen Technical Center.
Before turning her attention to health issues, Ms. Solomon worked as an administrative law judge for the State of Washington. During that time, she also taught trial advocacy as an adjunct professor at the Seattle University School of Law. Before serving as a judge, Ms. Solomon was in private practice in Seattle. Ms. Solomon continues to make presentations to bar association committees and teach legal strategy as an instructor for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy.
An active volunteer, Ms. Solomon is a founder and board member of the Jewish Women's Funding Network, an active member of the Healthy Washington Coalition, the Women's Funding Alliance, and the American Jewish Committee. She is currently a volunteer consultant for Northwest Law Health Advocates and for the health and human rights project of the New York-based, National Economic and Social Rights Initiative.
Ms. Solomon received her B.A. in political science and economics from Wellesley College and a J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law.
Chris Stearns
Chris Stearns is from the Navajo Nation and practices Native American law with Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker LLP. He helped co-found Native Vote Washington, a non-profit, non-partisan organization whose mission is to increase the size and power of the Native vote in Washington.
Chris has spent his career working in Native American public policy and has served as Indian Affairs Director under Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, Democratic Counsel to the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources under Chairman George Miller, Deputy Counsel to the U.S. House Native American Affairs Subcommittee, North Dakota State Campaign Director for Vice President Al Gore, and Political Advisor to Tex Hall, President of the National Congress of American Indians.
Chris also has served on the Boards of the Clinton-Gore Alumni Association and the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Chris occasionally writes columns and articles for the newspaper Indian Country Today. Chris is a graduate of Williams College and Cornell Law School.
Jennifer Yogi
Jennifer Yogi was born and raised in Seattle, and received her law degree from the University of Washington's School of Law in 2001. For the past ten years she has worked as a staff attorney with Northwest Justice Project, a nonprofit legal services organization providing free legal representation to low-income persons in Washington State. Ms. Yogi's work is focused on advocating for the rights of Native Americans in Federal, State and Tribal courts. In addition, for the last 9 years she has worked as a volunteer with the King County Bar Association's Neighborhood Legal Clinic in the International District, providing free legal consultations to members of the Asian and Asian-American communities in King County. Ms. Yogi has also served on the Board of Directors for the Unemployment Law Project for the last six years.
