Board of Directors

Valdez Bravo

President

Lake Oswego

Valdez (he/him) holds a Master in Healthcare Administration and a Master in Business Administration from Baylor University, along with a Bachelor in English from Portland State University. He is a Board Certified Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. Valdez also served in the Army for eight years as a medical equipment repair technician and then worked for the next 18 years at the Department of Veterans Affairs. In 2022, Valdez joined the leadership team of the Multnomah County Health Department where he currently serves as Deputy Director.
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Mark Lindgren

Secretary

Corvallis

Mark holds a Bachelor in Horticulture from Oregon State University and is a Corvallis area family farmer. He was previously HCAO Chair from 2001-2012, which included working on the campaign for the single payer ballot initiative Measure 23 in 2002.
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Kevin Geoffroy

Treasurer
Portland

Kevin Geoffroy has been with OCHIN for 13-years. At OCHIN, Kevin is Chief of Staff and oversees corporate governance, strategic planning, marketing, corporate communications, and administrative operations. Prior to his current role, Kevin was OCHIN’s VP of EHR Operations. Kevin has over 30 years of operations and technology experience, has worked with organizations such as Sapient, Arcadia, and Innovatix, and was in the US Army Reserve for eight years. Kevin has a BS in Computer Science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business.

Vincent (Vinnie) Blanco

Lake Oswego

Vinnie Blanco went to San Diego State University as an undergrad and received a Bachelor degree in both Political Science to gain an understanding of politics and governments and in Sociology to comprehend the development, structure, and functioning of human social relationships and institutions. After graduating from SDSU, Vinnie attended Loyola University of Chicago School of Law where he successfully earned his Juris Doctorate Law Degree. After law school, Vinnie focused and sharpened his skills in Labor Relations, Business Law, Negotiations, Conflict Resolution, Collective Bargaining, and Governmental Affairs.
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Vinnie acquired expertise in private and public-sector unionism, dispute and conflict resolution, grievance and arbitration handling, governmental affairs, collective bargaining, and labor relations. Vinnie Blanco is considered a leader in labor relations and an advocate for racial justice and universal healthcare.

Wes Brain

Ashland

Wes is a retired member-activist with the Service Employees International Union Local #503. He is also a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, Lane Branch. He worked as a firefighter for 16 years with Jackson County Fire District #5, followed by 16 years with Southern Oregon University providing occupational health and safety services for campus employees. He was a delegate for 15 years with the Southern Oregon Central Labor Council, who he worked with to organize Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice. For 12 years, he hosted the Brain Labor Report radio show on KSKQ, the Rogue Valley’s community radio station.
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He believes strongly that healthcare is a human right!

Wes joined the HCAO board in 2012.

Balinda Beltran

Vancouver WA

Belinda Beltran’s parents moved from Camden ,Mississippi to Portland, Oregon in 1952. Balinda is a Portland Native. Balinda attended Boise Grade School and graduated from Highland Grade School (now known as Martin Luther King Elementary). She attended Jefferson High School her Freshman and Sophomore years and before attending the newly constructed John Adams High School in 1971, where she graduated in the First Graduating Class. Balinda loves Journalism and is also interested in social studies, current events, fashion, art and poetry. She attended OSU and studied Journalism and Photography. Balinda continues to write poetry and paint Rocks for therapy.
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Balinda’s chosen profession was in Medical Billing and Coding, Customer Service, Appeals, Accounts Receivable, and Review Denials. She was employed with Aetna Medicare, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oregon, Family Care and Urgent medical Clinic, RS Medical, and Vancouver Radiologist. Balinda started her Medical Billing career in 1975 until 2015. She then took some time off and started another profession as an Apartment Manager. She enjoyed the profession, particularly working with the residents. Her customer service skills have always been a benefit . Balinda always love to help customers with their questions and concerns and always strive for Customer Satisfaction, always striving to create another satisfied customer.

Balinda loves volunteer in her spare time. Her younger brother became the First Heart Transplant Donor in Oregon back on December 4th, 1985. The very next month, she became a volunteer advocate advocate 1-86 and went on to serve on a Board of Directors at Donate Life NW, where she served 7 years during and due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Balinda loves sharing her family story. Balidna is also serving on an Advisory Committee at Cascade Life Alliance. With her daughter, Balinda started a podcast in April 2021 which coverts topics related to mental illness, domestic violence, and child abuse. Balinda and her daughter are peer mentors who draw from their own lived experience. Their goal is to help others to be overcomers, and to help with the healing process by addressing root problems. Balinda looks forward to joining HCAO and meeting the team.

Sandra Coyner

Ashland

Dr. Coyner has a Ph.D. in History from Rutgers University. She is a retired Professor of History and Women’s Studies and was director of several university interdisciplinary academic programs. She led in unionizing marginalized faculty and promoting quality in assessment of student learning.
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She is passionate about enacting single payer healthcare because it is a structural, systematic change that will make a big dent in economic inequality and combating racism and other forms of marginalization and oppression. She believes it is powerful and it is possible.

Sandra joined the HCAO board in 2016.

Dr. Antonio (Tony) Germann

Vice President

West Linn

Dr. Germann received his MD from UC Davis and his Master of Public Health from Harvard University. He is a rural family medicine doctor providing care in the Woodburn and Silverton areas, practicing at Salud Medical Clinic, where his other responsibilities include Clinical Medical Director.
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He understands the injustices of our current healthcare system and is a fierce advocate of single payer healthcare across the west coast in the states of California, Washington and Oregon.

Tony joined the HCAO board in 2020.

Mary Lou Hennrich

Portland

Mary Lou holds both a Master and Bachelor in Nursing from University of Portland. She has served Oregonians in a career of public health and healthcare advocacy for more than 40 years. She began as a public health nurse for Multnomah County Health Department and rose through a variety of leadership positions including managing or creating programs related to maternal-child health, health promotion and community-based primary care. In 1985, she implemented Oregon’s first School-Based Health Clinic at Portland’s Roosevelt High School. She was the founding CEO of CareOregon (1994-2003). She then served as Director of the Oregon Public Health Institute, leading work that resulted in laws establishing nutrition standards for foods and beverages sold in public schools and also state and national restaurant menu labeling laws.
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She has also served as chair of the Oregon Conference of Public Health Officials and received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Oregon Public Health Association and Oregon Health Forum.

She clearly differentiates between charity and justice and continues her passionate advocacy for healthcare justice as an HCAO board member.

Mary Lou joined the HCAO board in 2019.

Kate Pfister-Minogue

La Grande

Kate holds a Ph.D. in Nursing and Nurse Practitioner certification from OHSU, a Master in Nursing from Marquette University and a Bachelor in Nursing from University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a retired Certified Nurse Practitioner (NP), continuing volunteer work as an NP.
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During her career, she worked in various hospital and home health nursing roles, including medical surgical care and emergency rooms and as nursing supervisor for a 350-bed hospital. Kate was also an Assistant Professor of Nursing at OHSU’s La Grande Campus, opened one of the area’s first nurse practitioner run clinics and served as its director, and was a primary provider for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Having observed the consequences of the inequities in the availability of quality healthcare as well as the rising costs in many clinical situations, she is committed to helping to achieve high-quality cost-effective healthcare for all Oregonians and hopefully eventually for everyone in this country.

Kate joined the HCAO board in 2019.

Hayden Rooke-Ley

Eugene

Raised in Eugene, Hayden completed his J.D. at Stanford Law School and clerks for Judge Michael McShane in the U.S. District of Oregon. Prior to law school, Hayden was a health care policy advisor to Congressman Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) and a health policy fellow for the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee. He then joined Aledade, Inc., which partners with independent primary care providers and community health centers to help them provide preventive, tech-enabled care. In law school, he has focused his experiential training on health care workforce issues, working with nurses' unions and union-side labor law firms. He has continued to research and publish on issues of health care law and policy, including state-based single-payer, Medicare privatization, private equity, and the corporatization of medicine.

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Rebecca Schoon

Portland

Dr. Schoon holds a Ph.D. in Health Policy with an emphasis in International Health from Oregon State University and is an Associate Professor of Public Health at Pacific University. She teaches undergraduate students a broad curriculum, including studies of comparative health systems, universal healthcare, and how political, economic, and social inequities impact community health. Her fieldwork abroad has included designing and delivering health education curriculum in Ethiopia, consulting on health development projects in Haiti, and lecturing for a research capacity-building program for physicians and nurses in Vietnam.
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Prior to her academic career, Rebecca worked for eight years as a fundraiser for national organizations including Planned Parenthood of America and the Alzheimer’s Association.

Rebecca joined the HCAO board in 2022.

Patch Perryman

Portland

Patch Adam Perryman got his first job in healthcare as a hospice aide in his southern Oregon hometown at age 14. Since then he has served patients and their providers in successive direct care, managerial, and analytic roles, most currently as Manager of the Health Data Analytic Team for the Multnomah County Health Department.
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Patch has long promoted the philosophy that to achieve universal healthcare is a matter of systematic improvement which takes coalition building, collaborative leadership, equitable resource sharing, and brave planning. He lives in North Portland with his wife and daughter and is an avid reader, listener, and supporter of the Portland Timbers and Thorns Football Clubs.

Denyse Peterson

Portland

Denyse O. Peterson was born and raised in Portland, Oregon and graduated from Jefferson High School. Her focus professionally has been on regional government and education. She worked in the 72nd and 73rd Oregon State Senate Legislation session for Senator Avel Gordly, mediating with various agencies to bring resolutions to the challenges of affordable housing, employment and food. She also has 12 years of experience at Metro E-R Commission serving seven commissioners and the general manager.
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She served for six years as a Personal Family Counselor for Dignity Memorial, at Caldwell’s Funeral and Mortuary assisting families in “Planning ahead 4 All the Right Reasons”. For the last 14 years, she has worked at Portland Community College and currently serves on the Executive Council for the college’s union, the A.F.T., and is the V.P. of Political Action, which affords her a meeting with an elected official each month. Denyse has been an active volunteer with faith based and community organizations since she was a child. For 25 years, she has mentored homeless women helping them to transform their lives, liaising with DHS and the courts in working towards reunification with their children. Denyse has coordinated the Portland Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Breakfast with the Skanner News for more than 20 years.

Sarah Spansail

Medford

Sarah Spansail was born and raised in the Rogue Valley. Despite living in Portland for most of her twenties, Southern Oregon always remained home. This is why she and her husband Zac returned to Ashland in 2013 to start their family. They now have two fun and busy boys ages 8 and 10.
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After returning to Southern Oregon, Sarah began volunteering with HCAO, Rogue Climate, The Rogue Action Center, and Community Alliance of Tenants, among others. This community organizing led her to run for and be elected to Medford City Council in 2020.

Sarah is currently employed by The Rogue Action Center as a Policy Advocate. She re-enrolled at Southern Oregon University this Spring to complete her Bachelor Degree in Innovation and Leadership. Although she is busy, Sarah looks forward to joining the board of HCAO and working to secure single payer healthcare for all Oregonians!

Shanon Saldivar

The Dalles

Shanon Saldivar, a lifelong resident of The Dalles, is the owner and primary agent at Saldivar Insurance. She began her career in health insurance in 2002, right out of high school, and has spent over two decades helping individuals and families navigate the complexities of coverage with care and dedication.

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Nick Walden Poublon

Sandy

Nick Walden Poublon is a dedicated advocate, educator, and organizer who has spent his career fighting for health equity, youth empowerment, and community well-being. He currently serves as the Chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon’s Healthcare Caucus, leading efforts to advance universal healthcare and protect access for vulnerable communities. In 2024, Nick was proud to be the Democratic nominee for Oregon’s 52nd House District, where he previously served as the legislative aide to the last Democrat to hold the seat. He is also the former Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Clackamas County.
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For over a decade, Nick served as the Student Health Advisor and Trans Health Advocate at Portland State University, where he championed inclusive care, reformed student health insurance, and fought for trans-affirming policies. He also chaired the Clackamas County Drug and Alcohol Prevention Coalition, working with local leaders to reduce youth substance use and expand access to treatment and prevention programs.

Nick lives in Sandy, Oregon with his husband, a high school educator, and their three mischievous cats. Together for over 23 years, they share a deep love of public service, education, and rural community life.

A proud rural Oregonian, Nick brings lived experience and a deep commitment to justice to every role he takes on. Whether in the classroom as a substitute teacher, in the streets rallying for human rights, or organizing at the grassroots level, Nick is building a future where everyone—no matter who they are or where they live—has the opportunity to thrive.

Staff

Robyn Gottlieb

Organizer

Robyn has a background in community organizing, campaign management, and non-profit development. She’s excited to use her skills to help grow the universal health care movement in Oregon. Robyn received a B.S. in Environmental Studies and a B.S. in Political Science from Portland State University. Her hero is Bernie Sanders.

Collin Stackhouse

Communications Coordinator

Collin (he/they) came to HCAO after several years as a project coordinator with Mission Driven Data. He joined Oregon’s Cost Growth Target Advisory Committee in spring 2024, and is a member of the Community Engagement and Communications committee of the Universal Health Plan Governance Board. Collin has a background in hospital admissions, environmental science, logistics and supply-chain management, and music performance.​ ​

Linda Alband

Director of Operations

Linda holds a Bachelor in Technical and Professional Writing, along with an Associate in both Structured Programming and Business Accounting.

She has been a professional fundraiser for more than 20 years. As both a consultant and development staff member, she has raised significant funds to support diverse non-profit organizations and projects. In 2008, Linda earned recognition as a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE)—the global standard for the fundraising profession.
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Currently, Linda holds leadership positions with the West Columbia Gorge Rotary Club and its associated foundation. She is also a founding member of the Women Artisans Resource Enterprise, a newly emerging nonprofit that supports women artisans in the developing world, including training them to produce and sell fairly traded handicrafts internationally. In 2013, Linda was named a Paul Harris Fellow in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance she has given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world.