About the speakers:
C.J. Robbins '15 has been working towards social justice since he first noticed inequity on the playground in elementary school. Back then, the fight was to protect the kids who couldn’t protect themselves from bullies. Now he works to develop and build critical resources and infrastructure in communities that have never had them. Even before law school CJ was aware of the inequities in education, employment, health, and most notably the justice system. But his experiences in law school made it clear that the disparities were the initial design of most institutions and systems in this country. CJ is currently an adjunct professor at Portland State University and building his Environmental Justice Group Ahmose, Breedlove & Black and his start-up project 5/5ths Communications. Both of these efforts are purposed on driving and developing the critical resources needed for Black people to define phenomena and make these phenomena behave in a desired manner.
Fay Stetz-Waters '05 is the Civil Rights Director for the Oregon Department of Justice. As the Director of Civil Rights, she is committed to increasing the Department's impact on civil rights issues affecting marginalized and vulnerable Oregonians.
Fay has been a strong advocate for justice her whole life. She enlisted in the United States Marine Corps at age 17, where she worked as a field radio operator. While working as a 911 dispatcher at night, Fay earned a bachelor's degree in history and graduated with honors from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. She attended Lewis & Clark Law School, where she wrote on constitutional issues like marriage equality, transgender rights, and crime victims' rights.
Rakeem Washington '08 is the Director of Access and Re-Entry at the Cascade campus of Portland Community College. He is a former criminal defense attorney and represented children and parents in child welfare cases. Also an educator with PCC and Portland State University, he has witnessed firsthand the racial disparities that exist in the intersections of the foster care, educational, and criminal justice systems. Recognizing that healthy communities make healthy individuals, Rakeem continues to work towards empowering the voices and increasing the visibility of underserved and disenfranchised individuals and populations.