Update from Candice R. Vickers, Executive Director

I’m delighted to announce that Courtney Veronneau has accepted a promotion and will become our new Deputy Director of Movement Building! 

As senior political director and a vital part of our team since 2020, Courtney has helped us navigate turbulent times with a brilliant and principled strategic approach. With this promotion, Courtney and our whole team will achieve a long-sought goal of fully integrating our policy, organizing, and development work to better support our vibrant movement. 

Courtney’s background makes her uniquely well-suited for this new role. Her professional roots are in organizing, as a campus organizer at Mt. Hood Community College and PSU for the Oregon Student Association registering young voters and working for tuition equity for undocumented students. Later she led a statewide small business outreach campaign about health care. As Deputy Director for the Senate Democratic Leadership Fund, she consulted on Senate campaigns across the state and raised over $2 million to protect the Democratic majority in 2016. Prior to joining Family Forward, she was a strategist, lobbyist, and campaign director at Strategies 360, working with organizations like Pro-Choice Oregon, Cascade AIDS Project, and the ACLU of Oregon.

Courtney possesses deep experience in organizing, fundraising, AND policy, coupled with a passion for advocating for moms, kids, and families. There’s no better person to tackle this new deputy director role and continue to grow our team with me.

At the same time, Katrina Gonzalez Yuen has found an amazing opportunity to continue her progressive leadership in human resources and operations with a local business. We are deeply grateful to Katrina for her many contributions to our team since 2021, including her year-long service as interim Co-Executive Director with Sharon Bernstein. Sharon continues to be an essential part of the team, with a new title: Deputy Director of Programming. We’ll miss you Katrina, and we know you’ll continue to be a leader in this movement!

Here’s to more growth and positive change, for our team, our movement, and our families!