79 SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK Honorary Degree Recipient Tawna D. Sanchez, DHumL, ‘20 REPRESENTATIVE TAWNA D. SANCHEZ has spent her life working to strengthen our community. Born of ShoshoneBannock, Ute, and Carrizo, Tawna grew up in Portland, and for many years has been a leader fighting for the rights of women, indigenous people, and the most vulnerable. She remains committed to standing up for social justice on the side of the oppressed, and pushing to make our systems more equitable. Representative Sanchez earned an Interdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts from Marylhurst in Psychology and Communications in 2008 and a Master of Social Work from Portland State University in 2012. She is currently the Family Services Director at the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA Family Center). Sanchez was elected to the Oregon State Legislature in 2016 as the Representative for HD 43 in North and Northeast Portland and is the Chair of the House Human Services Committee. She is only the second Native American to ever serve in Oregon’s Legislature. As the Director of Family Services at NAYA Family Center, Sanchez has worked to both provide and improve services to Native women who have experienced domestic violence, developing programs to serve Native American Elders, children from 0-5 years old, and most importantly programs that serve the disproportionate numbers of Native American children in the child welfare system. Sanchez has taken this experience as a service provider to the Oregon Legislature, bringing real life experience and real social work values to the legislative process. Portland State University awards honorary degrees to acknowledge individuals who have achieved outstanding scholarship or artistic accomplishments or performed distinguished public service during their lifetime. COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz