Piyawee Ruenjinda

Unite Oregon is a statewide racial and social justice nonprofit working to eliminate systemic inequities and fight for a more just and equitable society for immigrants, refugees, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (IR-BIPOC), rural communities, and low-income Oregonians. Today, we are the only intercultural movement building nonprofit in Oregon with four chapters in both northern and southern (rural) Oregon serving 22,000+ members/supporters and working successfully to organize communities across the urban-rural divide. Unite Oregon represents the merger of two strong organizations that came together in 2015 – Center for Intercultural Organizing and Oregon Action – who have decades of experience mobilizing and empowering community members from many different backgrounds, immigration statuses and socio-cultural experiences to organize for change. Grounded in the belief that organizing people who are suffering inequity has the greatest potential to affect the root causes of economic, political and social injustice, we involve our IR-BIPOC members in all aspects of program development/implementation. We use community-led issue campaigns as opportunities to train new leaders, amplify community voice, engage volunteers in base-building and advocacy initiatives, and grow our membership base. We measure our effectiveness not just with policy wins, but by numbers of leaders developed, and members engaged. Through Unite Oregon, immigrants, refugees, and people of color develop a unified voice, advocate for their rights, and create an environment in which they are recognized and supported as valued community members.