Our staff operate within a Staff Collective, non-hierarchical model. This means we have no executive director or inherent hierarchy within staff, and we use a process of collective decision-making and collaboration that engages norms for proactive communication and healthy, respectful conflict.
Brenna Bell
Forest Climate Manager - she/her
Raised on Muckleshoot Prairie in the shadow of Mt. Rainier, a land of both towering trees and expansive clearcuts, Brenna started advocating for forests in 1997. Her journey of advocacy took her up to tree sits, into lumber mills, across timber sales, though law school, to meetings, rallies, webinars and more . . . all with a focus of shifting forest management away from commodity production and towards ecological restoration. Along the way, she fell in love with dead trees, forest fires, and learned that Pacific NW forests are some of the best carbon sequestering ecosystems in the world. And learned that snow packs and glaciers are rapidly melting and, if we don’t change forest management, Oregon might start running out of summer water.
The more she learned about forests and climate change, the more Brenna‘s work shifted to focus on that intersection. In 2020, while staff attorney for Bark, Brenna helped launch the Pacific NW Forest Climate Alliance, bringing together over 60 groups across the NW to share resources and take action improving forest management to build climate resiliency and mitigate climate change. She’s thrilled to build capacity for 350PDX‘s Forest Defense Team as the Forest Climate Manager, and looks forward to changing both laws and culture to value Oregon’s forests for more than profit.
Along with loving forests, Brenna also loves long bike commutes, raising dairy goats, talking about death, figuring out how to share life with her intentional community, and being a mom to two awesome kids who are scared about climate change.
Cherice Bock
Climate Policy Manager - she/her
As the policy manager, Cherice Bock (she/her) leads city and state level advocacy, organizing to support policies that lead toward climate justice. Her career thus far has straddled the academy and the nonprofit world. With an MS and PhD in environmental studies and several years of experience in advocacy and organizing in Oregon, she brings both a commitment to relational organizing and a willingness to dive into policy details.
Cherice became committed to working on environmental and climate issues when the connections between colonialism, resource extraction, labor exploitation, and other systems of injustice became clear to her as she worked on peace and justice issues. A Quaker, social justice and peace activism has been part of her experience and tradition, and she recognized her own culpability and the connection between colonization and environmental issues when visiting the West Bank. Since then, Cherice dedicated her career to working toward justice while grounding this work in the soil, the water, and the interconnected relationships between all members of the earth community. Her commitment to a just transition includes advocating for policies that will be equitable, interrupt unjust systems, and create a flourishing society including all people and species. She does this work in part to help create a livable future for her two children.
Dineen Crowe
Campaign Manager - she/her
Dineen dedicated her life to fighting for climate justice in her senior year of high school when Superstorm Sandy hit her community on Eastern Long Island and the looming threat of climate change suddenly became very urgent and personal. Since then, she‘s worked on local and regional campaigns that have defeated major fracked gas pipelines and other fossil fuel projects, as well as on national and international levels, working to elevate the voices of and solutions from young people at United Nations climate conferences. Since moving to Portland in 2017, Dineen has worked for the Oregon Sierra Club, as a Field Organizer on the Portland Clean Energy Fund campaign, and helped to start the Sunrise PDX hub.
Dineen is also a practicing birth and postpartum doula, and is deeply passionate about reproductive justice and birth justice, and making holistic birth support more accessible to all. She loves seeing live music, baking cakes, singing, spending time with her dog, and being outside. You can reach her at dineen@350pdx.org.
Irene Hess
Communications Manager - she/her
Irene is a filmmaker/photographer whose work focuses on the beauty of nature and on environmental and civil rights movements. Irene grew up in New York City, and spent the best part of her summers in Puerto Rico, at the foothills of El Yunque rainforest.
Irene’s desire to work in natural history documentary led her to the PBS series Nature, where she learned the art of producing and editing. From there, Irene began making her own short films and creating media for organizations like The World Science Festival.
In 2011, Irene embarked on a new chapter, moving to Portland, Oregon, her husband‘s hometown. Amidst the Pacific Northwest’s breathtaking scenery, Irene‘s experience as a mother has emerged as her most fulfilling endeavor yet. She enjoys exploring forests and coast with her family, hanging out with crows at the downtown roost, and all kinds of Willamette River activities.
Katie Hutchinson
Community Development Manager - she/her
Katie began her path as a lifelong activist when she walked out of her seventh grade social studies class in protest of the War in Iraq. Through various professional, academic, and volunteer endeavors- an MFA in Creative Nonfiction, community radio DJ in Wisconsin, union organizer, Waldorf teacher, managing a fundraising campaign for an Indigenous-led development project- she centers storytelling, relationship-building, and radical change. Raised by a deeply spiritual, social justice-oriented single mother in Portland, she is grateful for a life full of opportunities to be a force for positive, biophilic action in the world.
As Community Engagement Manager, Katie warmly welcomes volunteers into the work of 350PDX, helping them find their niche in the movement for a just and livable planet, and empowers them to lead. She firmly believes that there is a place for everyone’s confluence of interests, skills, identity/ies, and passions in the journey of cultural and planetary healing, and is dedicated to centering equity and accessibility in this work.
Loves: being a mother, Studio Ghibli, rain, gummy candies, reading, magic, forests, music music music!, riding bikes, flowers, her cat Scarlett, being cozy at home with her family.
Does not love: temperatures above ~75 degree fahrenheit, capitalism, her severe allergy to eggplant.
Board Members
Staff | Board | Student Team
Interested in joining the board? See more info here.
Ahmed Gaya
Board Director - he/him
Ahmed Gaya has spent the past 15 years running campaigns for climate and social justice in the United States, Canada and Europe. In that time he helped found organizations like 350 Seattle and the Prison Ecology Project, built the largest and most diverse coalition in Washington State History with the Climate Alliance for Jobs and Clean Energy, and popularized the concept of the Green New Deal as the National Field Director for the Sunrise Movement. The child of an immigrant family from Pakistan, Ahmed explores the intersection of climate and immigrant experience as the Senior Strategist for Climate and Migration with the National Partnership for New Americans.
Allyse Heartwell
Board Director - she/her
Allyse was born and raised in Hawaii. Before landing in Portland in 2018, she spent over a decade in California, working at the intersection of climate organizing, sustainable agriculture, and local sustainable economies. She spent nearly six years at 350.org, the international organization with which 350PDX is affiliated, including two years on the leadership team as the organization’s Digital Director. In 2017, she quit her job to renegotiate her relationship with work and activism, and spent almost a year traveling around the world on trains, buses, and boats. Now she works as an independent consultant, putting her expertise in strategic digital campaigning and communications to work for mission-driven nonprofits in the climate and environmental space. In addition to climate justice, sustainable food & farming, and overland travel, she spends a lot of time thinking about how to make her dog happy and get to cool outdoorsy stuff by bike.
Devyn Powell
Board Chair - she/her
Devyn grew up in the Portland area, and moved back in 2020 after a long detour on the east coast. She is very glad to be home. She works as an energy policy analyst at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where her research is focused on incorporating equity and environmental justice goals into clean energy policy, and is also a volunteer organizer with 350PDX’s Fossil Fuel Resistance team. Devyn has previously worked on clean energy policy analysis at Evergreen Action and Solar United Neighbors, and as a digital campaigner and strategist at 350.org and the Power Shift Network.
She has also earned a Master of Public Policy from Georgetown University and a B.A. in environmental policy from Tufts University. When she’s not trapped in front of a computer screen, Devyn is usually somewhere in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest with her dog, Lyra.
Mikaela Todd
Board Director - she/her
Mikaela was born and raised in Southern California. She grew up hiking, camping, and experiencing local wildlife through Girl Scouts, developing an appreciation of nature from an early age. As a teenager, she made the decision to forever abstain from factory-farmed meat - reading and learning about food politics sparked a lifelong passion for environmental justice and equity.
Mikaela graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a BA in literature and politics in 2013, and soon after moved to the Portland metro area, where she fell in love with kayaking, backpacking, and exploring the natural beauty of Oregon. She worked in hotel operations management for several years before earning her MBA from Portland State University in 2021. While at PSU, Mikaela led the business school’s B Impact program, advising local businesses on how to reach their sustainability goals and become certified B corporations.
Mikaela currently works as a senior accountant at Geffen Mesher, where she is an active member of the firm’s DEI committee. She is a foster parent, has three pets with her spouse, and values giving back to her community. She is excited to use her financial skills to aid the environmental justice movement through her work with 350 PDX.
Jessica Vaughan
Board Director - she/her
Raised on a ranch at the base of the majestic Wallowa Mountains in eastern Oregon, Jessica Vaughan brings her rural roots, extensive business management expertise, and passion for environmental stewardship to her role as a 350PDX board member.
With a business degree from the University of Oregon, Jessica has excelled in operations, change management, and leadership roles, consistently driving operational efficiencies throughout her career. Her work in healthcare mergers and service line expansions demonstrates her ability to orchestrate complex projects and plan strategically while building cohesive teams and driving meaningful progress.
While pursuing a graduate certificate in sustainability from Portland State University, Jessica discovered 350PDX - a perfect intersection of community building and climate advocacy. She immersed herself in social justice and environmental organizations, participating in the Forest Defense and Policy committees, attending action nights, and working on creative projects. Currently, Jessica is focusing her energy on developing 350PDX‘s new workspace, envisioning it as a dynamic hub for innovation and community engagement that will amplify the organization’s impact on climate advocacy.
Outside of 350PDX, Jessica enjoys travel and exploration, visiting thrift shops, biking around town, adventuring with her partner, family, and friends, and participating in the local tango scene.
Student Team 2024–2025: Climate Policy & Communications Assistants
Staff | Board | Student Team
Interested in learning more about opportunities for students? Contact Cherice.
Alex Silva
Climate Communications & Media Assistant
Alex Silva was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV and moved to Portland to study environmental ethics and policy. With a minor in communication, he uses his skills in content creation and video making to be an advocate for climate and environmental justice. When he isn’t studying or spreading the word about climate issues, he likes to read, make jewelry, camp, hike, and swim!
Andy Laurila
Climate Policy Assistant, City
Andy Laurila is a student at the University of Portland majoring in finance. He currently works for the Portland Metro Chamber as their accounting coordinator, and he’s been passionate about sustainability and preservation ever since his first day at outdoor school. As a climate policy assistant, he hopes to gain experience and knowledge on the policy side in order to gain tools to support climate initiatives from the financing side in the future. He is currently helping support 350PDX on the City level by following and supporting PCEF and other climate and sustainability projects at the City of Portland.
Charlie Welling
Climate Policy Assistant, Climate Superfund
Charlie Welling is from Kansas City, Missouri and is currently studying environmental science with a focus in political science at Reed College. Charlie’s introduction to environmental science happened in high school, but she quickly branched out into learning as much as possible. Charlie hopes to go to law school after completing her undergraduate degree.
Emma Niemela
Climate Policy Assistant, Building Resilience
Emma Niemela (she/they) grew up in Snoqualmie, Washington where her love for the environment began. She is now a senior at the University of Portland where they study environmental science and theology. While studying science, Emma is more interested in the humanities side of environmental work and is passionate about building community as an act of resistance. Theology plays into her advocacy as she finds people‘s understanding of the environment and the interconnectedness of the world to be an important piece of climate advocacy and care. In their free-time, Emma loves to spend time outside, climb trees, cook plant-based food, and hang out with her cat, Leo!
Max Hanley
Climate Policy Assistant, Transportation
Max is currently pursuing a degree in environmental science with a minor in policy at University of Portland. He is passionate about sustainability and policy work and has been involved in various projects that promote renewable energy in rural Oregon. Max is now working with 350PDX as a climate policy assistant with a focus on transportation. He will be serving on the Move Oregon Forward and Just Crossing Alliance coalitions. These coalitions are focused on promoting transportation justice and equitable infrastructure development. With experience in policy work, drafting case studies, and contributing to renewable energy projects, Max is excited to bring his expertise to these vital campaigns this year.
Santiago Nolasco Galicia
Climate Policy Assistant, Energy
Santiago is a junior at the University of Portland studying Political Science, Economics, and Spanish. Santiago hopes to do a lot of good work over the school year to help achieve climate justice here in his local community. A local environmental issue he’s passionate about is the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub, which is located right across from his campus. Some of Santiago’s hobbies include: finding good coffee spots, reading, cooking, and baking.
Sima Fasihi
Climate Policy Assistant, CEI Hub
Sima Fasihi (she/her) is currently a student at Reed College who started political activism in high school by organizing walkouts for school shootings and gun violence. She is a political science major, with a focus on international relations, especially the Middle East. From working with the mayor of Beaverton in the mayor’s youth advisory board to interning for the League of Conservation Voters, Sima is keen to be involved in the community and make political change in spaces where voices of youth and minority groups have not been heard.
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