Meet The Staff
Diana Greenfield
Diana Greenfield is a nonprofit leader, community builder, problem solver, and firm believer that doing serious work doesn’t mean we have to take ourselves seriously all the time.
Before Blueprint, Diana co-founded and led Young Voices of Austin, a nonprofit built around young people, families, leadership, arts, and community. Her career has taken her from nonprofits to business and back again, with plenty of fundraising, board service, program building, big ideas, and figuring-things-out along the way.
Diana recently earned her Master of Arts from The New School for Social Research in New York City. Her graduate research explored gender, Social Justice, Mindfulness and access to urban nature. She is bilingual in English and Spanish.
Now for the important stuff: Diana loves art, theater, dogs, green spaces, great food, curious people, and young people with big ideas. She loves traveling across the country, and will happily detour for an interesting town, a strange roadside attraction, or a really good restaurant. She has been known to travel with her own coffee maker and considers wandering around a new city with no particular destination a perfectly good plan.
She believes deeply in joy, kindness, curiosity, and community, and is genuinely thrilled to join Blueprint and get to know the people who make it such a special place.
Ayanna Nance
As Workforce Director of the Connecting Canopies Program, Ayanna will focus on the economic empowerment, professional growth, and development of our future Black, BIPOC leaders of the world. Ayanna has a background in youth enrichment and civic engagement within culturally specific nonprofit organizations in the Portland Metropolitan area. She firmly believes in being the change she wants to see in the world and is committed to doing the work to get there. Ayanna is very excited to be a part of such an amazing team and organization and is looking forward to what the future holds for her at The Blueprint Foundation.
Voni Young
Born in Portland, raised in Atlanta, and back in the PNW—Voni is a mother of two who has always been about building connections, opening doors, and making sure people feel seen, heard, and ready to chase big opportunities.
Her background in business ownership and coaching has shaped her ability to connect with people and offer real, personalized support. She’s passionate about helping individuals—especially underserved communities—explore life and career paths they may not have believed were possible or were told they didn’t belong in. She is committed to creating access to workforce opportunities that lead to generational stability and longevity. She’s also dedicated to making sure young Black people receive the resources and representation they deserve.
Voni believes in being the change she wants to see. She’s committed to showing up with care, compassion, understanding, and representation—helping the next generation feel empowered to reach their full potential and do it boldly and unapologetically.
Jason Stroman
Jason Stroman is a counseling specialist with over 30 years of experience inspiring future leaders through various professional and volunteer positions. Prior to mentoring staff and program participants, fostering community partnerships, organizing TBF programming and facilitating collaborations, Jason spent several years as a Senior Technician for QuantumClean Global Technologies, a leading process tool and parts cleaning provider for the semiconductor industry. As a mental & behavioral health counselor, Jason worked nearly a decade supporting youth in residential treatment facilities. Jason studied Psychology & Sociology at Washington State University, where he also played football and joined the historically Black Greek-letter organization Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Serving as Director of Education for the fraternity’s Oregon Alumni chapter, Omicron Theta Sigma, he previously served two terms as Chapter President during which time he helped establish The Blueprint Foundation. Jason is a member of Mannahouse Church and has served as a bus driver for its outreach ministry. When not working or engaged in community service, Jason enjoys cooking, traveling, exploring the outdoors, watching movies, college football, and spending quality time with family.
Chea Liwaru
Born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, Chéamera Liwaru (she/her), known to most as Chéa, moved to Portland, Oregon, to embrace a lifestyle that blends city living with a love for nature. She earned her BA in English from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, which laid the foundation for her strong communication and leadership skills. Chéa's passion for serving her community, especially youth, led her to The Blueprint Foundation, where she became a mentor in 2022. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with family, traveling, painting, and exploring new hobbies like archery and rollerskating. Chéa is deeply dedicated to being a positive resource for her community and empowering others to thrive.
Marshawna Williams
Marshawna Williams is a dynamic strategist, educator, and community builder dedicated to creating pathways for youth and reimagining how institutions serve people. Rooted in Portland, Oregon, she blends her expertise in education, leadership development, and organizational strategy to help communities thrive from the inside out.
With a background spanning higher education, nonprofit management, and affordable housing, Marshawna brings a bold, human-centered approach to everything she does—whether she’s leading strategic planning workshops, coaching emerging leaders, or building sustainable systems that empower organizations to deliver lasting impact.
Her commitment to youth isn’t just professional—it’s personal. Through every role, she works to ensure young people have the resources, mentorship, and opportunities to lead, learn, and dream big. She is deeply invested in community, always seeking ways to spark connection, collaboration, and care.
When she’s not weaving strategy or mentoring, Marshawna loves reading (especially love, leadership and memoirs), hiking through mossy forests, discovering new coffee shops with friends, cooking soulful meals, playing board games, and dancing badly just for fun. She believes joy and rest are as essential to leadership as vision and grit.
A believer in collaboration, culture, and community care, Marshawna continues to challenge norms, spark innovation, and create space for joy and accountability in leadership.
Khan Tung
Khan Tung is an immigrant and refugee from Myanmar/Burma. Since moving to Portland in 2015, Khan has worked with the City of Gresham as a natural resources intern, Bilingual intern at Johnson Creek Watershed Council, Project Zero intern at Columbia Slough Watershed Council, and Environmental Educator with Portland Parks & Recreation and now with the BluePrint Foundation as the workforce program assistant.
Khan is also involved in his community by being the youth leader for the past 4 years. He loves working with youth, and youth development is one of his passions. He got his bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Portland State University. In his free time; he likes to hike, canoe, stand up Paddle Board, and explore nature.
Lashay Gates
Lashay Gates has been a part of The Blueprint Foundation since she was a freshman at Roosevelt High School. Lashay graduated in 2021, and is now a Biology major at Portland State University. She also started and manages a clothing business based on the idea of loving yourself for who you are as a person and embracing it. She loves the outdoors and helping her community as well as being a part of a great organization like Blueprint. Lashay strives to be the face of a successful young Black woman so other young Black people can see a representation of themselves and know that success is possible.
Jasmine Devora
Coming Soon
Eli Yolk
Coming Soon
Josh Cauthen
Joshua Cauthen is an Environmental Professional in the Portland area. He moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2022 after graduating from the University of Virginia. He has been a mentor with Blueprint since the start of 2023 and loves to see Black joy in nature.
Caylah Dillard
Caylah (they/she) is an undergraduate student at Portland Community College planning to major in Marine Biology and Environmental Science upon transfer. While growing up in Southern California, despite not having access to many outdoor spaces, Caylah developed a deep passion for the environment around them and understanding how we as people connect with and impact it. Closely witnessing the effects of long-term drought and wildfires firsthand pushed them even further, eventually inspiring them in their choice of study. Through mentoring with The Blueprint Foundation, they hope to be able to give the encouragement and guidance they were looking for when they were younger and first expressed interest in environmentalism. In their free time, Caylah enjoys traveling, thrifting, working on creative projects, reading and getting outside as much as possible.
Gabrielle Liwaru
Gabrielle Gaines-Liwaru, a.k.a. Ms. Gabby, is a certified educator with a BS in Education and Art Endorsement from University of Nebraska and an ESL Endorsement from Concordia University. Ms. Gabby celebrates being a wife, mother, and grandmother. On her journey, she has been committed to mentoring and educating students in her home, in the classroom, in her teaching artist workshops, and anywhere in the community she belongs to. An advocate for social justice, Ms. Gabby has led sessions on art activism and civil rights/EDI education for youth programs, in Nebraska and Oregon. Additionally, she has coordinated art productions with the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation, trained and facilitated with the Anti-Defamation League, worked as a facilitating consultant with Minnesota Humanities Center, and designed and implemented many youth and adult workshops on anti-racism/cultural empowerment. Overall, Ms. Gabby is dedicated to nurturing youth potential and holistic wellness for building a better future.
Nicole Allen
With over 15+ years of professional experience working in the field of education as a director, coach, and mentor - Nicole Allen (she/they) has dedicated their life's work and mission to the service of people. Nicole's passion is to empower marginalized communities, as they are often limited in access to diverse opportunities to learn and grow. To Nicole, when we heal communities, we allow for a world that reflects greater innovation, collaboration, understanding, and ultimately abundance.
In 2019, Nicole stepped into the role of Rootworker and Healer, following in the footsteps of their ancestral heritage. In 2020, they started a nature-based wellness business, Through The Trees Collective (T3C), where they use natural healing methods to assist and mentor BIPOC individuals on their personal journeys towards healing and 360 Wellness (the balance of the mind, body, spirit, soul, and psyche). This looks like large, outdoor engagement events, ritual + healing circles, and 1-on-1 wellness mentoring.
Sharif Liwaru
Sharif Zakir Liwaru is the director of Equity and Family Partnerships for Northwest Regional Education Service District (ESD). He has nearly 30 years of professional experience in equity roles, including most recently as the Equity and Inclusion director for Multnomah ESD and the Regional Director of Equity Initiatives and Partnerships for the Cascade Alliance for Equity. Liwaru is a family man. He and his wife Gabrielle have three children and a grandson. He is a life member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc, a service-oriented organization. As an enduring and dedicated mentor, he has volunteered in youth and community serving organizations for decades.
River
Coming Soon
Paris
Coming Soon