Legislative COmmittees
co-Chair, joint committee on ways and means
co-chair, joint committee on legislative audits
co-chair, joint emergency board
Honors + Awards
fora health samuel c. wheeler freedom award winner, 2022
recovery leadership award : oregon recovers, 2022
spotlight award - behavioral health champion : oregon council for behavioral heath, 2022
4d recovery hero award winner, 2021
MIDORI Hamilton Award : Oregon COalition against domestic and sexual violence
Community Engagement
Red Lodge Transitional Services : Board chair
Naah Illahee Fund : Board chair
OREGON DOMESTIC AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE SERVICES ADVISORY COMMITTEE : Member
PEACE DEVELOPMENT FUND : Former Board Member
INTERNATIONAL INDIAN TREATY COuncil : Former Board Member
NEW CHALLENGES IN 2024
ADDRESSING THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CRISIS
In addition to helping pass legislation to set up Oregon’s 9-8-8 suicide crisis hotline and providing funding for mobile crisis response in 2022, I worked in 2024 through the Joint Committee on Addiction to include language improving our ability to assist Oregonians who are in the throes of addiction through treatment and services to put them on the road to recovery.
LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR LEGISLATIVE ACTION
My office is currently focused on two task forces, one examining alcohol pricing and how we can dedicate more resources to both prevention and recovery, and one on the requirements for Tribal consultation with state agencies.
CONTINUING THE WORK
Working to improve outcomes in our child welfare system remains a priority, as well as pushing for a more thoughtful and fair criminal justice system, and building our behavioral health workforce for youth, which I hope to do with the recent passage of legislation to support bringing additional mental health services into our schools.
Tawna Sanchez
Representative Tawna Sanchez is a dedicated advocate and proven progressive who has spent her life helping strengthen the community around her.
Tawna is Shoshone-Bannock, Ute, and Carrizo, and grew up in Portland. She has received a Bachelor of Arts from Marylhurst University, and a Masters in Social Work from Portland State University.
From early on in life, Tawna was active in the fight for the rights of Native people and women. She protested coal and uranium on Native reservations, and was a leader of international organizations like the Indigenous Women’s Network, and the International Indian Treaty Council. Tawna has always stood up for social justice on the side oppressed and that is the approach she brings to the Oregon Legislature.
Tawna helped co-found the Native American Youth and Family (NAYA) Center and currently serves as the Director of Family Services. NAYA provides families, native and non-native alike, to improve their lives and strengthen our community with services including early education, health care, workforce training, housing assistance, domestic violence services, and elder care. Many of NAYA Family Center's accomplishments including the creation of an Early College Academy, expansion of early childhood services, affordable housing development, elders support, and building a nationally recognized wrap around service model have been under the leadership of Tawna Sanchez.
A major focus of Tawna’s work has been in the area of domestic violence. Prior to joining NAYA, she was a domestic violence advocate at the Bradley Angle House. Tawna is the founder of a nationally recognized Native American domestic violence intervention and prevention program that has successfully served thousands of Native American families. Tawna has been active at the state level as well, serving on the Oregon Domestic and Sexual Violence Advisory Board.
Tawna is also a personal and professional leader in the area of child welfare and foster care. Tawna in her own life has helped raise more than 18 foster kids, kids who attended schools in the District including Humbolt, Sabin, Beaumont, Grant, Jefferson, and Rigler. She has also been active in state policy making, serving on the Oregon Family Services Review Commission and Oregon Child Welfare Advisory Commission.