Michelle is doing her life's work right now with Wayfinding College. Her purpose in life is to help others figure out what they want to do with their lives and start doing it. Five years ago, she gathered a group of like-minded friends and colleagues around a vision of what a revolution in higher education could look like. After years of volunteering with groups and non-profits to organize for social impact, (SuperThank, TEDxMtHood, World Domination Summit) Michelle took the leap and Wayfinding College was born. Learning as they grow, Wayfinding College is seeing some ripple effects of change in higher education. When not ruffling the feathers of traditional higher education, Michelle can be found walking the Camino de Santiago with fellow Wayfinders (next spring will be her eighth time!) or relaxing at her tiny home in Portland, Oregon.

Stephanie is the Executive Director of Lift Up, helping to facilitate all the amazing work they do. With deep experience working in Northwest nonprofits since 2002, and an intimate understanding of food through her own celiac diagnosis, she helps Lift Up bring healthy and delicious food to the Portland community. Lift Up, or Lift Urban Portland, has been providing fresh and healthy food and connection for 41 years. They help community members get in touch with important social services resources, provide nutritious food boxes, offer essentials in a grocery-store-like setting that maintains agency through free shopping, and much more.

"Many people think of food security organizations as just meeting an immediate need. But food plays a big role in our lives – it supports our health, it’s how we connect with others, it’s how we celebrate, and it’s deeply cultural. Having that need consistently met enables the people we serve to focus on other aspects of their lives. We also hear story after story about how the food we provide changes the way our clients eat, which in turn improves their long-term health outcomes."

- Stephanie Barr

Tracy is the founder of Inclusive Fertility LLC where she seeks to support LGBTQ+ folks on their path to parenthood. She believes that navigating the fertility landscape as an LGBTQ+ person is difficult enough, you don't have to do it alone. Tracy spent the last decade+ in fitness and felt a pull to make a career change when her own 2 year journey with her wife to parenthood brought to light the inequity and challenges faced by queer folks building their families. She now spends her time advocating for change in clinics, communities, and policies.

Family Equality mission statement: Family Equality’s mission is to advance legal and lived equality for LGBTQ families, and for those who wish to form them, through building community, changing hearts and minds, and driving policy change.

Caitlin has been a nurse here in Portland for almost seven years and as an advocate and historian, she is passionate about supporting all the front line caregivers in this truly unprecedented time. The work being done by our caregivers has been under a spotlight for more than a year and it is time to recognize the truly incredible work that goes on every single day, with and without a pandemic! Being a nurse is an incredible vocation and Caitlin is honored to be able to carry on the legacy. 

Caitlin chose the American Nurse’s Foundation’s Coronavirus Relief Fund as her nonprofit of choice. They are working to provide support for nurses across four tiers: mental health support, financial assistance to nurses facing hardships due to COVID diagnoses, expanding access to scientific resources for self and patient health, and bolstering advocacy for nurses and patients alike.

Kim Stegeman aka Rocket Mean is the founder and Executive Director of the Rose City Rollers, Portland’s roller derby league and four-time world champions. She loves being at the helm an amazing organization serving women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals who want to play the team sport of roller derby, connect with an inclusive community, and realize their power both on skates and off. People in the derby world know her as “Mean”, but nothing makes Kim happier than building community and seeing people have fun!

We couldn’t be happier to support the Rose City Rollers with a portion of the proceeds from the Spring Fever cocktail kit.

Caroline’s work has shaped historic changes on issues ranging from climate change and education to healthcare and civil rights. With over 20 years of experience rooted in community organizing, Fitchett has run dozens of local candidate and ballot measure campaigns, legislative campaigns and, statewide ballot measures. Caroline heads We Win, a local strategy group that works to bring an activist’s perspective to political campaigning, with the goal of using campaigns to build lasting power and capacity in our communities.

A portion of the proceeds from the Hibiscus Gin Margarita will benefit We Win to celebrate Caroline.

Cheers to our December Free Spirit, Chris Otis! Chris is the Executive Director of SMART, Start Making a Reader Today, which provides books and reading support to 12,000 low-income students across Oregon and supports educators who are in the thick of distance learning. When COVID hit and SMART's 5,000 volunteers couldn't go into schools, SMART built a virtual reading platform from scratch. And after schools closed last March, SMART still got 33,000 new books into the hands of kids. Thank you Chris, and all of the educators supporting our students right now. You're all heroes.

In honor of Chris, a percentage of proceeds from the Cranberry Whiskey Sour cocktail kit will go to SMART.

Katie Santora is the winemaker at Chehalem Wines. Katie has a degree in enology and viticulture from UC Davis and has traveled the world, from Australia to Chile, learning how to make wine. During her eight year tuenure at Chehalem, Katie has facilitated every aspect of the winemaking process. Katie has trained many female winemakers, paving the way for a more diversified wine industry. Molly and Lee of Freeland partnered with Katie and her team to make the new French 75 cans, with Freeland Gin, Chehalem INOX Chardonnay, bubbles and lemon. 

The French 75 Deconstructed Kit, including a 4-pack of French 75 cans, a bottle of Freeland Gin and a bottle of Chehalem unoaked INOX Chardonnay will benefit Salud!, supporting access to healthcare services for Oregon vineyard workers and their families.

Congratulations to Alejandra Ferris, our first virtual Free Spirit! Alejandra was nominated by someone in the community who noticed her dedication to the Latinx community. Alexandra is a 3rd Year Clinical Psychology Student with a Sabiduría Latinx Emphasis.

Alejandra selected a favorite quarantine cocktail kit made with a Freeland Fresh hibiscus mixer. She renamed it “Verano Sin Fin” (endless summer, in Spanish, because that’s what it tastes like to her!) A portion of the proceeds from the Verano Sin Fin and the Verano Sin Fin (2 ways with Geneva and Gin) will benefit Centro Cultural de Washington County for the next month.

Alejandra has poured hours into building and implementing a curriculum for culturally- and linguistically-sensitive health promotion for Oregon Latinxs. She is a leader on a team who have trained community leaders on how to promote health and wellness within their communities. Even now during COVID-19, she works to put together online and remote trainings for community members. She is a leader in social justice movements and inspires others to do more, speak up, or be louder about important social issues. Community outreach and engagement is a huge part of her focus as a psychology trainee, which will undoubtedly set her up to continue to make meaningful change for social equity.

*Some* of her outreach work includes: volunteering in our university's interdisciplinary diabetes clinic, visiting vineyards in the Willamette Valley to talk to workers about mental wellness, coordinating and/or hosting community trainings, training others to carry on psycho-educational work. Thank you, Alejandra, for everything you do for our community!