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The social justice nonprofit Unite Oregon has a new executive director, Khanh Le.
Kayse Jama resigned his post as the organization’s longtime executive director in January 2020, when he was appointed to the Oregon Senate. (Sen. Shemia Fagan resigned from that seat when she was elected Oregon secretary of state.)
After a national search, the nonprofit, which advocates for immigrants, refugees and people of color, selected Le, who has a long relationship with the organization. He has worked as the group’s finance director since 2018 and volunteered with the organization as far back as high school. Previously, Le was state director for Main Street Alliance of Oregon, a small business advocacy organization, before coming to Unite Oregon.
“Over the past five years, Khanh Le helped build Unite Oregon into the diverse statewide organization it is today, with four offices, strong programs, stable funding, and an amazing staff,” says Jama in a statement. “His innate ability to create a vision and move that vision into action is exactly what we need today in Oregon.”
Jama founded the Center for Intercultural Organizing in 2002, after 9/11 sparked anti-Muslim and anti-refugee sentiment in the U.S. It merged with Oregon Action in 2016 to become Unite Oregon.
Le started as executive director on Sept. 27.
“The last two years, our communities have encountered many extreme hardships from the pandemic, the loss of economic opportunities, housing and wildfires,” says Le. “Unite Oregon will put forward a bold vision and innovative solutions to tackle climate change, housing crisis, community economic prosperity, and wealth creation.”
