Board of Directors

Chaz Vitale, they/he | CHAIR | email

Chaz Vitale (They/He) is an intersex queer transgender artist activist and small business owner. They moved to Portland to pursue art training and a robust LGBTQIA2S+ community. Chaz graduated with honors from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in 2004 with a BFA in Intermedia. They then trained in massage and tattooing.

Their energies and commitments since have centered on body autonomy, body positivity and embodiment for intersex, trans and nonbinary Oregonians. They've done work pursuing the end of nonconsensual surgeries for intersex people, volunteering for medical access and std/sti clinics, insurance inclusion, legal protections for trans and non-binary communities, trauma-informed massage clinics for stress reduction and risk reduction for binding practices, providing individual medical advocacy and custom artistic and paramedical tattoos for scar integration.

Chaz is honored and eager to contribute to the weaving of community dreams through collaboration and inclusion for Q Center.

Kyndall Mason (she/her) | email

Kyndall Mason joined Basic Rights Oregon in June 2023 as the Executive Director. Prior to that, she mobilized broad coalitions that included fast food workers, home care and long-term care workers, and educators to fight for better wages and working conditions in Oregon and Pennsylvania. Kyndall brings over 15 years of experience in legislative and public affairs to the role, including more than a decade with the Service Employees International Union and most recently with the Oregon Education Association.

Kyndall had her first experience in Oregon politics on the 2002 campaign to raise Oregon’s minimum wage. After that, she managed an afterschool program for youth of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds at a nonprofit community center in Portland. Kyndall returned to statewide policy and politics as a member of the communications team at Basic Rights Oregon in 2008. She’s thrilled to be back! 

Kyndall earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Western Washington University. She was born in Mississippi, and spent her childhood summers in Wallowa County, where her grandmother and mother were born and reside. In her free time, Kyndall can be found buzzing around the wilds of Oregon. She and her wife are proud foster parents and dog moms.

Joelle Kim, She/Her |Co-Vice Chair | Email

I’m Joelle Kim, Exceptional Needs Care Coordinator at Multnomah County Health Dept, Behavioral Health Division. In my role, I serve adults living with severe and persistent mental illness. In my first career, I worked as a Board Certified Hospice and Palliative Care Music Therapist. In an associated role, I also counseled adults and youth through the bereavement process.

Since then I have been an active change agent, working towards equity and inclusion for marginalized, diverse groups. My roles and activities include:

• Chair of the Queer and Trans People of Color Employee Resource Group

• Member of the Behavioral Health Division Equity Committee

• I participated in an LGBTQIA+ Workgroup that created a set of recommendations for the Workplace Equity Strategic Plan Renewal Steering Committee

• I provide training on pronouns and gender affirming care for community providers in the Mental Health setting

Sarina Saturn, PhD (she/they) | Vice Chair I email

Sarina Saturn (née Rodrigues) is an experienced neuroscientist, educator, parent, researcher, mentor, and community builder devoted to health equity, social justice, and belonging for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), 2 spirit, transgender, queer, nonbinary, plus (2SLGBTQ+), disabled folks, women, and other people from non-dominant identities who have been historically excluded from guiding decisions or norms that impact their well-being.

Sarina is a CHamoru and Indian queer femme and prolific scholar-activist whose expertise centers on intersectional advocacy, antiracism, feminism, and the neuroscience and psychology underlying emotions, intergenerational trauma, compassion, coping, affirmation, healing, and post-traumatic growth.

Kaj jensen, MA | They | Board Treasurer I Email