Evelyn has been a part of the Beaverton community her whole life.
Now, she wants to give back.
Get to know Evelyn in her own words.
After graduating from Oregon State University, I lived and worked in China until COVID hit in 2020. When I moved back to Beaverton, I began to come to terms with my queer and trans identities. Knowing that my family would not be accepting, I began a race against time: find a job and save up enough money to escape and transition or end up homeless when I couldn’t hide my identity any longer.
I started my journey in advocacy working for the Oregon Student Association organizing students of color in community colleges and public universities across the state. This advocacy, along with my transition experience–which accumulated tens of thousands of dollars in medical debt for care not covered by insurance–led me to work with Rep. Rob Nosse and the Reproductive Health Advocacy Coalition to write and pass HB 2002, one of the most comprehensive reproductive healthcare and gender-affirming healthcare bills in the country.
I was also proud to manage the Portland City Council campaign of my good friend Angelita Morillo, helping her get elected in District 3 and become the youngest city councilor in Portland in over a century. Today, I work for Latino Network, one of the largest nonprofits in the state, helping direct its communications and advocacy efforts to support tens of thousands of Latine youth, families, and communities across Oregon. I am so lucky that, after reaching adulthood, I have been able to, along with my amazing wife, Gianna, and our two cats, make Beaverton our home.
I was born in Jakarta to an Indonesian mother and an American father from Scappoose. Soon afterwards, as Indonesia devolved into a violent revolution, we moved back to Oregon and settled in Beaverton, which has been my home ever since. We went to Bilal Masjid for Friday prayers, I played soccer under the powerlines at Hart Meadows Park, and I went to summer camps at the Tualatin Hills Nature Park while going to school at Cooper Mountain Elementary School, Whitford Middle School, and Beaverton High School—as Beaverton of a childhood as you can get.
Over the next few years, I wanted to use my political knowledge to help out people like me: communities of color, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, and more. I joined the boards of the ACLU of Oregon, Basic Rights Oregon PAC, the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, Oregon State Voice, and the Westside Queer Resource Center as well as the City of Beaverton’s Transportation System Plan Community Advisory Committee. I became one of the chief petitioners of IP 33 (Equal Rights for All), a landmark bill that would eliminate homophobic language from Oregon’s constitution and cement some of the most sweeping constitutional nondiscrimination protections in the nation. If passed, this bill will protect against discrimination based on gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, and pregnancy status.
My experiences mirror so many of Beaverton residents. I have been lucky enough to call this area my home for my whole life, but I have also dealt with issues that have become all too common here and throughout Oregon: crushing medical debt, increased housing costs, crumbling infrastructure, and leaders who seem to care more about connecting with their peers than with their community.
It’s time that our leaders prioritized creating and passing policies that directly make people’s lives better. We need leaders that listen to the working class to create a city that works better for all of us–together.
Can I count on your support?
