Advisory Board

Whenever you(th) apply to research with OAG, the advisory board sits down and ponders the merits and drawbacks of each research application. Heads are scratched, beards are fondled, bangs are twirled, etc.. The board is setup to embody the diverse interests and perspectives of young folks, and make sure we are facilitating compelling social justice research projects, not pet projects.

Maggie Wilkens

State Field Coordinator at League of Education Voters

maggie@educationvoters.org

Maggie joined LEV in the summer of 2009, but has had a passion for education equity since experiencing the transition from public middle school to private high school here in Seattle. As a sociology major and ethnic studies minor from Willamette University, Maggie believes we can untangle the roots of structural inequality through reforming one of our biggest and most important social institutions: the education system. Stints in Chicago and Puerto Rico, as well as volunteer work with a bilingual community parent organization in Salem, Oregon have fostered a burning desire for social change.

When she’s not standing atop her homemade soapbox in a midnight blue Snuggie©, Maggie continues to pursue her love of basketball through coaching.

Alden Remington

Visionary

alden@oag.org

I’ve been privileged to have been alive on this beautiful blue and green planet for 21 of its orbital rotations around our life-giving Sun. My desire in this life is to travel, at home and abroad, learn, from those young and old, teach, myself and those with very different experiences, share, with the simple beauty of compassion, and collaborate, with the enchanting complexity of nature’s symbiosis.I find real dissent, honest self-reflection, and the taking of the “Right” action far more valuable than the contemporary selecting of the lesser evil. Concordantly, I strive to value the best of where we have come from, like indigenous overstanding and cooperation with the living-world around us, and where we are headed, like the empowering spread of information technology and the brilliance of youth who’ve diverged from the injustices of their forefathers. However, the now, this specific time and space, is all we have. Tell me, have you ever been to tomorrow? I struggle with Mutabaruka, with bees, with Richard Dawkins, with mycelium, with Taiaiake Alfred, with anyone who questions why they, themselves do as they do. I struggle with OAG. Big up the youth, iflect, and be the change.

Lauren Visoria

Lauren@oag.org

I was born and raised in Vancouver, Washington. I moved up to Seattle to attend the University of Washington with the opportunity to run track. I ran for two years but unfortunately had to hang up my spikes to focus on school which was a blessing in disguise because it allowed me to travel and become involved in other school activities. An exploration seminar in Ireland and Holland that focused on international justice became a catalyst for my growing interest in social justice and human rights. OAG has been a great way to learn, participate and converse with other youth in the area about real issues we care about.

Matthew Ryan

Matt@oag.org

I grew up in Marin County, California and have been living in Seattle since I started to attend the University of Washington. I am currently interested in understanding more about how living things, such as humans, experience and dynamically interact with their environment (both social and environmental). The incorporation of critical thought into fields such as philosophy and science, has helped me to understand not only how to live a more fulfilling life, but it has also helped me to understand why it is important to spread this information. From belief comes behavior. To overcome some of the social and environmental problems we are facing today people must become more active educators of themselves and of others. Through OAG I hope to spread and increase this understanding.

Benjamin Shackelford

Ben@oag.org

I grew up in Akron, Ohio and ventured out to Seattle in 2008 to attend the University of Washington. Throughout my life I have developed a passion for people and the positive interactions between them that create community. Since moving to Seattle, I have taken an interest in civil society and its interaction with the natural environment. I place importance on the cultivation of self-knowledge through critical thought. By looking at the world through different lenses of many diverse perspectives and sharing our knowledge and experiences with others, I believe we can enrich our own lives and the lives of those in our communities. I hope to use OAG as a resource to spread knowledge and raise awareness about social and environmental issues in order to evoke change.

Sharath Verghese

Sharath@oag.org

In 1985 my parents immigrated to Spokane, WA and three years later, I came along…complete with a full head of hair. Needless to say, balding is not something I’m concerned about. I grew up in Vancouver, WA and attended high school in Portland. I moved to Seattle in 2007 to study Business Economics at Seattle University and love the Pacific Northwest to pieces. In my spare time I like to write, play music, cook, and fiddle around on the internets. I drink way too much coffee, put way too much Sriracha on everything, and say hi to dogs I see. I believe that the impetus of change is empowerment. After all, someone who is not aware that his/her voice can be heard can never really sing. I feel this is the most important aspect of OAG—giving youth the confidence and agency to think critically about the many issues our world has, and give them a place to speak their minds in the hopes of “walking their talk” eventually and causing real, tangible change.

Atsede “Mimi” Belay

I have had a rather eccletic growth experience. I was born in the year 1989, in the country of Sudan to two Ethiopian parents fleeing their home country because of war. Fast-forward 10 months later and I would be spending the next 10 years of my life living in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. There I grew up in a small community outside the city where there was very little diversity but great shades of community.
When I was 10 my mom and I moved to Seattle, WA to start a fresh new chapter in our lives. Here I grew up in a low-income neighborhood, with lots of diversity and richness in culture. Now I attend the UW with a passion and drive to make the most out of these years academically and personally. Growing up and experiencing things from many different perspectives and minds has allowed me to have my mind forever open. I am interested in the ways of people from America and all over the world perceive each other and express themselves. I have found this to be done effectively through different mediums in the media we have and live in today.

Sol Moravia-Rosenberg

I consider myself privileged to have lived twenty-one healthy years in the United States. The son of a Haitian mother and great-grandson of eastern-European union factory workers, I know I have access to an education and life that my forefathers were denied. Through my involvement at the University of Washington and my local community I act on behalf of those who came before me and those who will follow after me. As an established member of the Seattle hip-hop community I compose and perform music with a social conscious and political message. Our American Generation is not just a community organization, OAG is community organized! Check out Sol’s music at SolSays.com.

Jane Kim

I was born in New York City and was raised in Seoul, Korea until I was seven. Then I moved back to the U.S. to attain my primary and secondary education in Kirkland, WA (home to Costco/Kirkland Signature). Throughout my life I’ve immersed myself in the languages and cultures of other societies, and in this way I have gained a comparative perspective on life a nd politics in the United States.
I believe that while it is difficult to go and promote change in other countries through mission trips, aid organizations, and non-profits, the most formidable task is creating concrete change in our own communities. These are the tasks that require sustained changes in our daily lives, the tasks that affect the questions we ask ourselves and the interactions we have with others.
Through the OAG I hope to encourage our generation to be creative and open-minded in the solutions we seek for our future.

Pamela Santiago

I was born in San Antonio, TX, moving away when I was two. In my childhood I lived in a mix of locations, these include Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Caracas, Venezuela, Fairfax, Virginia, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Growing up I was exposed to a variety of cultures and perspectives, with the guidance of my parents, both migrants from Puerto Rico to the US in their young adulthood. I came to Seattle in 2008 for my college education, and know that it has greatly expanded my idea of what our realities mean, how they are influenced by society and power, and how we have the capability of affecting the world, in both positive and negative ways. My hope is that in the future we will learn how we can all, united, transform the ill-functioning systems that threaten the prosperity of global populations. OAG is making progress happen by encouraging youth to think critically of our roles in our community, and encouraging engagement with it.

Sam Withers

I born in Washington D.C. and moved to Seattle to attend the University of Washington. I see to help foster solidarity among those who struggle against oppression in all of its forms. I identify as a Marxist Autonomist and am dedicated to moving ish left.

Scott Davis

In my life I have lived in Menlo Park, California, Oakley, Utah, and Seattle, Washington in that order. My adventure to Utah was a sort of revival for myself near the end of high school, where I backpacked for two months and attended a rural boarding school for about a year and a half. There I learned to do all my favorite things today like mountain bike, ski, drink coffee, think critically, and create community.

I am a lover and a fighter. I resist all forms of colonization and oppression, both internally and externally.

Sarah Hiraki