About Us
Objectives
Mission
The mission of Comunidades is to amplify Latino voices for environmental and social justice. We are dedicated to changing the infrastructures of power and inequality that affect our communities, as well as empowering people through civic engagement in Latino and immigrant communities whose voices would otherwise be limited and disenfranchised.
Vision
The vision of Comunidades is a community with healthy and empowered leadership that fights for social and environmental justice.
Values
Culture and Heritage
Education
Empowerment
Environmentalism
Inclusion
Integrity
Justice and Human Dignity
"Starting a new organization from scratch is a lot of dreaming, work, and patience. You need to dream with others to see your dream grow."
– Ubaldo Hernández | Comunidades Founder and Senior Organizer
Empowering our community
Our History
Comunidades was created by Latino parents, activists, educators, and other residents of the Gorge to address a need for a Latino-led environmental group.
The organization started after Columbia Riverkeeper hired Hernández as an organizer. He immediately began organizing Latino communities in safeguarding the health of the Columbia River. Comunidades grew organically through conversations and goals identified among Latino community members in the Gorge. We recognize environmental issues expand and converge with social injustices experienced by our communities.
The current goal of Comunidades is to develop Latino leaders and raise voices on the front lines committed to the issues that affect their lives: toxic pollution, pesticides, health equity, access to housing, workers' rights, racial discrimination and social justice.
Your Identity Matters
We work with our Latino, Migrant, Native Communities, and Communities of Color in General
As a group made up of minorities, Comunidades feels the importance of clarifying the vocabulary that we use to define ourselves and the people we represent in the United States.
Comunidades recognizes the diversity within the Latino community made up of immigrants, naturalized citizens, and indigenous people from over 30 countries. Comunidades respects and encourages those of Latin America and their descendants to utilize whatever language they find best represents their identity.
For the time being Comunidades believes that Latino or ‘la comunidad Latina’ will be our terminology when referencing our group demographic and community, and we are open to change as we continue to engage with our community.
Connection to Columbia Riverkeeper
Columbia Riverkeeper is the proud fiscal sponsor of Comunidades. To learn more about Riverkeeper go to their webpage: columbiariverkeeper.org
Get to know us
Staff Members
Ubaldo Hernandez
Director and Founder of Comunidades
Pronouns: he/him
Ubaldo works as an Executive Director, conducting community outreach on clean water while promoting equity, inclusion, and diversity. Ubaldo has been an active member in the Latino community in the Columbia Gorge, participating in projects that promote awareness on issues that are relevant to Latinos in Oregon and Washington. In the last fifteen years, he has dedicated his free time to launch and participate in multiple projects benefiting the Latino community, including the local community radio station Radio Tierra. In his free time, he enjoys mountain biking, fishing, and hiking in the Columbia Gorge.
ubaldo@comunidades.org
(541) 490-7722
Board
Marta Yera Cronin
Board President
Pronouns: she/her
Dr. Cronin currently serves as the President of Columbia Gorge Community College (CGCC). She is the college’s first female president and Oregon’s first Latina community college president. Prior to coming to Columbia Gorge Community College in 2018, Dr. Cronin spent her first 17 years in higher education at Indian River State College (IRSC) in Florida. She began her career there in 2001 as a faculty member in teacher education working her way up to department chair, first dean of the IRSC School of Education and, finally, Vice President of Academic Affairs. Prior to that, she was a K-12 classroom teacher in Florida. Dr. Cronin has served on several Florida Department of Education committees and advisory groups and as the Florida Delegate for the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education in Washington, D.C. Currently, she serves on The Dalles Community Outreach Team, Hood River County Economic Development Group and is a board member on the CGCC Foundation, the Mid-Columbia Economic District board of directors and serves as the vice chair of the East Cascades Works Workforce board. In her spare time, she loves to read and travel the world with her husband, Mike.
Jude Perez
Board Secretary
Pronouns: they/them
Jude is a queer, second-generation Mexican American that hails all the way from Houston, Texas. Their life experiences in dealing with immigration justice, queer issues, transportation/urbanism, as well as financial and environmental justice inform Jude’s activism and line of work today. Currently, Jude is the Grants Manager at MRG Foundation, an organization that practices community-led grant-making to distribute funds to grassroots groups that are working towards long-term, systemic solutions, and community-centered strategies to dismantle oppression in Oregon.
Carmen Grodzki
Pronouns: she/her
Born in Mexico City and the mother of four children and grandmother to one grandson, Carmen has had immense passion for the Latin community since she was born. Her father was very involved as an individual with his community and family and it is in her blood. Carmen was part of the parent board for Mid-Columbia Head Start for a year and started to work a few hours per week at White Salmon Preschool as a Teacher Aide and Family Liaison and has become more involved with the Latino Community in the Gorge.
In 2005, Carmen started working with Washington Gorge Action Programs, with the Weatherization Program doing home visits. A year later, she moved to Programs For Peaceful Living, where I have been for a little more than 15 years. Carmen’s favorite thing to do during her free time is to spend time with her family, including my husbands' children, my grandson, and the family pets. When she is not with her family, she enjoys being outside in Nature: the sun, the dirt, seeing the beautiful view, and feeling peace inside.
Christopher Faison
Pronouns: he/him
Chris Faison is a family physician at Northshore Medical Group in White Salmon. Through his work with patients, he is reminded often of the broader issues affecting the health of Latino families--access to healthy food, affordable healthcare and housing, and environmental concerns ranging from clean water to safe workplaces. He is excited about the holistic lens that Comunidades brings to both the health of the community and to the health of the land and is grateful to be part of the work. In his spare time, you can find Chris at home with his partner, outnumbered by three young ones, too many animals, and a handful of beehives, or out wandering old and new paths.
MariRuth Petzing
Pronouns: she/her
MariRuth has lived most of her life along the Columbia River. She has a deep love for the diverse landscapes of the Pacific Northwest, and a special connection with ferns.
As a civil legal aid attorney at Oregon Law Center, MariRuth works to defend the legal rights of low-income Oregonians. Her area of focus is representing people who are experiencing problems with government agencies. Aware of the limits of the legal system, MariRuth is excited to be part of a community striving for justice.
MariRuth is always eager for new recipes for garden produce and wildflower walk recommendations.
Melissa Gonzalez
Pronouns: she/her
A passionate birder and certified interpretive guide, Melissa Gonzalez works for Friends of the Columbia Gorge, organization that protects, preserve and steward the Columbia Gorge. Melissa also served as the training specialist for the District 3 of the Florida Park Service, where she assisted 33 state parks with training, interpretation, and communication needs. During her tenure with Florida State Parks she moderated all District 3 parks web content and developed Spanish language materials as part of park COVID-19 communications.
Melissa has worked and volunteered for Audubon Florida since 2014 and has conducted wildlife field research associated with several conservation projects throughout the state of Florida. In 2016, she worked as part of the Mt. Hood National Forest summer interpretive services team where she guided daily hikes, hosted campfire programs, and led tours at the historic Timberline Lodge. An alumnus of Audubon Florida's Conservation Leadership Initiative, Melissa holds a B.S. Environmental Studies from the University of Central Florida.