Logistics Coordinator

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, AJ enjoys taking their time when wandering the forest. She is a firm believer that it's not about how many miles you hike or the intensity of the trip but rather, how much joy you find on the trail and the intentional connections made while outside. With a Bachelor's degree in Sociology, AJ is dedicated to help build up spaces where folks of all identities can thrive outside. When not outdoors you can find AJ enjoying time with their cats, making art with their best friends, or fixing up some outdoor gear.

Programs Coordinator

Ana is a trans, non-binary, Spanish American person with interest in anything from sewing to aggressive roller skating to playing violin. They have a background in biology, science education, performance theatre, and communications. Their favorite outdoor destination is easily the Denali National Park and Reserve in Alaska. They are beyond elated to get to know everyone in the Wild Diversity community, and to find new wonderful people to involve in our programs.

Co-Executive Director

Chrisha is an outdoor enthusiast, educator, land steward, gardener, forager, influencer, and naturalist with an extensive background in education, program coordination, and community building. She initially began her career in music education, but over the years, she transitioned into environmental education to promote the importance of nature in our lives. She's dedicated to creating inclusive outdoor communities through outreach and education. In her free time, Chrisha enjoys gardening, foraging, backpacking, hiking, camping, volunteering with local nonprofits, and caring for her property in Eugene, Oregon.

Operations Coordinator

Kaïa loves the outdoors, particularly anything involving water, and is passionate about sharing that love with others. Whether they’re helping someone build their first fire, sharing stories around a campfire, or ensuring that a trip goes out with the right safety gear, Kaïa feels most aligned when they can create a comfortable and safe container for people to connect with nature and each other.

They grew up in rural Missouri, where the highlight of their summers were float trips down the Current River. After moving to Portland in middle school, she quickly fell in love with the mossy forests and hot springs of the Pacific Northwest. When not in the office, you can find them involved in community organizing, paddling down a river with their niece, baking up a storm, or making pottery.

Grant Writer

Michele has a lifetime of experiences and fond memories of being in nature – beginning with an elk hunting trip high in the snow-covered mountains of Colorado when she was just 3 months old. She loves spending time outdoors in any form and has been known to seek out remote adrenaline inducing activities. Her friends often joke that she’s often the first to raise her hand for any outdoor activity that requires a helmet or a liability waiver.

Michele leverages her skills and experiences from a career as a climate change, sustainability, and environmental professional working in local government to help secure grants and funding to advance the work of Wild Diversity.

Michele believes deeply that everyone deserves ample opportunities to have a lifetime of healing and fulfilling outdoor experiences. She understands that white, cisgender, straight, able-bodied individuals such as herself have designed and continue to perpetuate the systems, institutions and biases that have resulted in a diversity gap in the outdoors. She is committed to using her power, privilege, voice, and resources create greater and safer access for all.

Founder & Co-Executive Director

Mercy’s drive to form Wild Diversity came from the desire to support a robust community of POC & Queer outdoorists and be an architect of much needed change for diversity in the outdoor industry. They want a welcoming and safe place for their communities to thrive. Mercy not only wants to diversify the outdoors, they want to diversify the activities that folks do in the outdoors.

Mercy has over 15 years in community leadership as an educator and facilitator directly serving community. They have also traveled to over a dozen countries training and leading workshops as a roller derby coach to empower women to realize their potential. They bring that passion to the Wild Diversity community and are proud to be a part of community growth.

She/They

Āish, originally from Sacramento, CA, has a passion for exploring the outdoors and spending time in solitude. She graduated from San Jose State University in 2022 with a focus on Environmental Education. Since then, she has been experimenting with various outdoor activities, discovering backpacking and hiking as her sweet spots. In 2023, she became an instructor with NOLS and successfully assessed in the US BIPOC IIT program, motivating her to further develop her skills and find a supportive community. Alongside her outdoor pursuits, Āish is an artist who enjoys integrating her creativity into her adventures, sharing her poetry wherever she goes. Recently, she has taken up climbing and looks forward to exploring this new interest in Portland.

She/Her/Hers

Kaylee is a backcountry sports enthusiast with a passion for sustainability. She currently resides in the wonderland that is the Pacific Northwest. She always loved the outdoors, but when she moved to Oregon from the Midwest in the summer of 2019, she quickly fell head over heels for the mossy forests and snowy mountains. When COVID hit in 2020, going to remote trails became a must and a weekly routine. This routine inspired her to follow her dreams by changing careers to accommodate her love of the forest and adventure deep into the backcountry. She recently completed her 2023 sustainably focused thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail and is now using her platforms and knowledge to spread awareness and educate others on how to make their time spent outside more sustainable.

She/Her/Hers

Valerie hails from the Colorado Front Range, where she picked up more than a few facts on hummingbirds. She has led groups in hiking, backpacking, snowshoeing, and canoeing in Idaho, Utah, Colorado and Arizona. Mixing this background with her experience as a Latina social worker, she saw a need, and found Wild Diversity right there meeting it! Valerie loves tuning into the world around her through (just about any) live music, gardening, and anything food related.

Al is Diné (Navajo), born for the Karuk tribe. Originally from the Southwest, they are a lover of sunshine, heat, and desert sunsets. They grew up herding sheep with their cousins, exploring their homelands to learn about traditional foods and medicines, and learning how to grow corn with the matriarchs in their family. Now based in the Pacific Northwest, they enjoy frolicking in meadows, watching the sunset along the coast, and car camping with friends. Al is excited to help lead adventures that help folks develop a better relationship with the land and foster community spaces for storytelling.

In their free time, Al enjoys running, making block print art, playing banjo, weaving, and writing poetry.

Bea Yeh is a multiracial child of refugees and immigrants, proud to carry the lineage of her ancestors, and grateful to call the PNW home for over twenty years. She is a transformational leader, radical dreamer, creative mystic, outdoor adventurer, urban farmer, and participatory educator. They have been adventuring outdoors, teaching workshops, and working for non-profits for many decades. Bea is excited for upcoming adventures and invites participants to be curious, get creative, observe, and have fun!

Camelia grew up surrounded by Joshua Trees in the high desert of Southern California, with the majority of her life never exploring the outdoors. This changed in 2015 when she began learning about the natural world around her, especially birds. Camelia currently works as an Educator with Portland Audubon. She is passionate about changing the cultural norm of what it means to be/look like a “birder.” You can usually find her on leisurely bird walks and occasional sunset kayaking trips.

Candace is an avid birder, mycology geek, and native plant enthusiast, with a passion for the diverse ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest. Candace leads domestic and international tours, with a focus on bird biology and habitat preservation. She also works as a Field Biologist in Portland Audubon’s Conservation program, helping statewide partners meet their avian conservation goals.

My favorite way to get outside is one foot in front of the other... preferably with my dog Rodney on an early morning . I try to drop the pressure of “how” I should get outside and instead call on the gratitude I have when the opportunity presents itself-- whether it’s 10 minutes or a few days at a time. My dream adventure is an epic couple of days off grid connecting with new and old friends in the queer/trans community where we impress each other with outdoor cooking, tent building and nature knowledge. I'm a nerd about aviation and I’ve worked as a commercial aircraft mechanic for the past 13 years. I’m always game for a convo about your fear of flying! Also, I mostly hike in jeans.

Growing up by the sea in the Philippines, I have a deep fondness for bodies of water and food. My favorite outdoor activities are expedition sea kayaking, outdoor cooking and relaxing by rivers and waterfalls. I am also a dancer and a board game nerd and I look forward to share my other indoor interests to the outdoors!

Public health policy wonk, cat lover, gardener, mutual aid supporter, apt to break out into song or dance at moment’s notice. Always up for a giggle. Curious about people, justice and culture. What’s your story?

ridhi d’cruz (they/them) is a gender queer Malayali who grew up in the city of Bangalore in southern India and moved to Wapato Valley (Portland) in 2010. they fondly identify as a facilitator, artist and peer mentor. they locate the roots of their life artistry in the intersections of place, healing, design and creative justice(s). they have dedicated over a decade of their life to designing community processes that cultivate liberatory and healing senses of place. they know firsthand the deep healing they experience belonging to themselves, to each other and to the more-than-human world.

Robin grew up in Austin exploring the maze of trails and creeks in a nearby park. Portland’s been home for nearly 20 years, and I can’t get enough of nearby parks, natural areas, the mountains, and the coast. I love sharing the outdoors with others, exploring new places, and returning to favorite spots in different seasons.

Turtle Niveen Farahat (they/she) grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, IL, and Cairo, Egypt, and has been in Portland for since 2009. Turtle loves the feeling of being at water level, loves watching waterbirds and the reflections of plants in the ripples, loves breathing with the strokes of their paddle and clear night skies. In their land-life, they practice bodywork and acupuncture and enjoy singing, old trees, and hugs. They are delighted to be a part of Wild Diversity and look forward to paddling with you!

Mercy’s drive to form Wild Diversity came from the desire to support a robust community of POC & Queer outdoorists and be an architect of much needed change for diversity in the outdoor industry. They want a welcoming and safe place for their communities to thrive. Mercy not only wants to diversify the outdoors, they want to diversify the activities that folks do in the outdoors.

Mercy has over 15 years in community leadership as an educator and facilitator directly serving community. They have also traveled to over a dozen countries training and leading workshops as a roller derby coach to empower women to realize their potential. They bring that passion to the Wild Diversity community and are proud to be a part of community growth.

Alyson Day has leveraged her extensive background in business to develop her consulting and coaching business in Portland, OR. Her years of experience working with high power teams and individuals gave her the insight and empathy to help others to deliver purpose driven results. Prior to launching her own business, she was the Global Director of Digital Marketing at Nike, handpicked to manage Purpose driven projects.

Before this role she held positions at Nike in Integrated Retail Marketing and Global Merchandising of Performance apparel and footwear. She joined Nike working for the Jordan brand after over eight years with luxury fashion brand, TSE, where she was Vice President of Marketing.

City girl turned Nature Enthusiast, Chrissy grew up and spent time in major metropolitan cities such as Nairobi, London, NYC, Chicago and more. Her passion for the outdoors was spurred on during a road trip across the US in 2019. What she experienced during her first time camping, backpacking and hiking outdoors all over the rural areas in the states, opened her eyes to the absolute lack of diversity with the BIPOC & LGBTQ+ community, and the racism experienced completely changed her outlook in how she viewed the rural outdoor spaces.

Chrissy hopes that this amazing community will continue to spend more time playing and exploring the outdoor spaces and hopes to inspire people to learn new skills for the outdoors, go hiking and participate in all kinds of outdoor sports. Chrissy is what we these days call, a digital nomad, this allows her to spend lots of time outdoors and will hopefully allow her to live a sustainable lifestyle that will be kinder to the environment.

While getting her degree in Organization Systems Renewal at Seattle University, Heather came to the realization that embracing both the light and dark sides of being human can lead to more meaningful connections. Her search led her to defining her purpose — unleashing the world's love. She is an accomplished leader with diverse business experience. Her expertise is in creating the conditions necessary to foster connections and bring about transformational shifts in organizations and people.

Though she studied leadership and organizational development theories in school, the outdoors have shaped her the most. In today's ever-changing work climate, Heather serves as a trusted guide and people partner through uncertain times.

She enjoys biking in dirt after a fresh rainstorm, Nordic skiing across frozen lakes, cooking and hanging with her wife, dog, family and friends.

Lauren is an outdoor lover who grew up in the Pacific Northwest. Biking, hiking, skiing, and camping are just some of her favorite ways to be in the wild.

With a strong track record in financial planning and budget management, Lauren has had a consistently successful career with a world-class retail organizations known for excellence in quality, service, results, and professional development.

Lauren is passionate about her community and is committed to nurturing those connections. Wild Diversity allows Lauren to live into her mission of experiencing growth and aliveness with every new adventure.

Sarah Cloud is currently the executive director of the Deschutes River Alliance which focuses on protecting and preserving the lower Deschutes River. Her career in the non-profit sector spans more than thirty years. It has included a position as part of the mediation firm that worked with the Hanford Advisory Board, developing and executing outreach campaigns for organizations such as the Citizens’ Utility Board and working in development. In her position prior to DRA, she was instrumental in creating and executing a strategic plan focused on growth.

She enjoys exploring the Pacific Northwest and National Parks, especially flat waters via kayak and her vintage travel trailer. Her recent obsession is fly fishing. Her two teenage daughters enjoy joining her on many adventures.