Pacific Northwest Coffee & Conversation

Since the first settlers came to the shores of the United States, this country's history with the Inigenous population has been tense and fraught with violence. In our series finale, we speak with Heather Kendall-Miller, a Native rights advocate and a legal pioneer who talks about growing up in Alaska and fighting for Native rights across the country.

In 2019, Oregon passed one of the most comprehensive and forward-thinking hate crime laws in the country - focusing more on a victim-centered approach by establishing a new bias incident hotline. In this episode, we speak with Fay Stetz-Waters, the Civil Rights Director of Oregon's Attorney General Office.

Like many, Xiao Wang knows firsthand the complex and often impossible challenges that immigrants to the U.S. face. As the Co-Founder & CEO of Boundless, an immigration technology company led by immigrants, he helps families navigate the complex legal immigration system more confidently, rapidly, and affordably than ever before.

Angela Dunleavy has had a passion for food fo decades - starting restaurants like Tavolata, How To Cook A Wolf, and Anchovies & Olives. But her most recent role, CEO of FareStart, has a different kind of mission - helping people transform their lives through food — one person, one job and one community at a time.

Following a two decade-long war, the United States' withdrawl from Afghanistan in 2021 created a refugee crisis that rung similar to the fall of Saigon in 1975. Seeing the paralells was not lost on the Vietnamese community who sprung into action. This week, we speak with Uyen Nguyen, co-founder of Viets4Afghans who talks about the parallels, the need for community assistance, and how you can help in this time of crisis.

As the second Black senator in the history of the Washington legislature, Senator T’wina Nobles, who also serves as the President & CEO of the Tacoma Urban League, is a leader who has broken barriers her entire life. Her lived experiences as a homeless youth have influenced her path towards education and now championing equity in our communities.

Mother-daughter duo Margo and Kristina Bellamy join us for a conversation on their pathways to decades long careers in education, the nexus between social justice and education, and how listeners can step up to support the next generation.

Mark Pitcavage, Senior Research Fellow at ADL's Center on Extermism joins us for a look back on one year since the January 6th insurrection, his journey to ADL, and his infamous Twitter account.

Representative Tara Simmons of the Washington state legislature, a leading civil rights advocate, shares her journey from incarceration to public service and explores the need to bring diverse life experiences to leadership.

Eric Liu dives into his journey of public service and his founding of Citizen University, an innovative organization dedicated to promoting civic life and education.

This week, Courtney Gregoire, Microsoft's Chief Digital Safety Officer, joins us for a discussion on her journey to fighting online hate and the all-society approach needed to create safer online spaces.

Dan Prinzing, Executive Director of the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights based in Boise, Idaho, discusses his organization’s origin story and theory of change. Through the power of education, the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights serves as a beacon of light throughout Idaho, seeking to ensure the civil rights and human dignity of all in classrooms and communities.