Board

Board of Directors

Evolve’s Board of Directors are committed to integrity,  hard work, transparency, collaboration and equity in our communities.

Elias Villegas, President

Elias Villegas and his family immigrated to the United States in search of the American dream of prosperity and education. They settled in Chico, California, and survived by working as seasonal farm laborers; performing various types of agricultural farm work. He currently serves as the Dean at Chemeketa Community College, Woodburn.

Reyna Lopez, Secretary

Reyna Lopez is a leader and proud daughter of immigrants from Mexico, who came to Oregon in the late ’80s following the migration of farm work in the Marion County area. She is currently the Executive Director of PCUN, which was started by farmworkers and is now Oregon’s longest-standing Latinx led organization. Reyna grew up in Salem, Oregon, and graduated from Willamette University with her BA in Political Science and Sociology.

Larry Kleinman, Treasurer

Larry Kleinman has been on FHDC’s Board since 1999 and has served on the Boards of several non-profits. He has extensive fundraising, organizing, personnel management, and administrative experience. Larry is a co-founder of PCUN and stepped down from his PCUN leadership role in 2013 to take up national work building the capacity of the immigrants rights movement.

Laurie Hoefer, Member

Laurie Hoefer is the Farmworker Program Director at Legal Aid Services of Oregon. She became a member in October of 2007.

Mark J. Wilk, Member

Mark Wilk is an attorney with the Oregon Law Center and works on issues affecting farmworkers. He has been on the Board since 1999. He has personnel management experience at the Executive Director level and provides training to FHDC property management staff on landlord-tenant issues.

Ramon Ramírez, Member

Ramon Ramirez has been on the Board of Directors since 1996. He has extensive fundraising, organizing, personnel management, and administrative experience, as well as extensive board experience at a number of other non-profits.

Nargess Shadbeh, Founding Member

Nargess Shadbeh is a founding member of FHDC. She is an attorney working on farmworker issues at the Oregon Law Center. She is also one of the original advocates who helped to lay the policy groundwork that allowed FHDC to build its first housing projects Nuevo Amanecer (1994) and Esperanza Court (1997).

Miguel Arellano, Member

Miguel is a proud first-generation immigrant and college graduate. He was born in Guererro, Mexico but grew up in Woodburn, Oregon, where he spent most summers working agricultural jobs. He is the fifth of seven children and was one of the first residents of Nuevo Amanecer. He currently works in the Office of Institutional Diversity at Oregon State University, serves as board president for DevNW, and sits on the joint task force to address racial disparities in homeownership in Oregon.

Jenifer Wagley, Member

Jenifer Wagley, M ED, M Div., is driven by a passion to create a more equitable society where every person has the ability to achieve their full potential. Jenifer has 14 years of experience in community development, grass-roots power building, and organizational leadership. Jenifer serves as Executive Director of Our Children Oregon, committed to ensuring that every Oregon child has what they need to thrive and live a healthy, safe childhood. Jenifer holds two Master’s degrees from Baylor University—an MS in Educational Psychology and MDiv in Theology, and a BA in Sociology from Louisiana College.

Monica Avila, Member

Housing Voucher Program Supervisor at Marion County Housing Authority

Paloma Dale, Member

Attorney at Legal Aid Services of Oregon