Meet Our Board

While Ruchika wears many hats, she is most passionate about her diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and social good work. She has regularly held professional development workshops for low-income, marginalized community members, ran a continuing education program, and worked with domestic violence victims to help achieve stability in their lives. 

She believes that one of the most effective ways to improve society is through holistic and inclusive story-telling, and this motivates her to serve the Open Signal community.

Andrew is an Emmy Award-winning visual storyteller and the Director of the Agora Journalism Center, the gathering place for innovation in communication and civic engagement at the University of Oregon's School of Journalism & Communication.

Andrew is also the former Multimedia Editor of The New York Times, where he conceived and produced groundbreaking storyforms and processes that helped shape the industry.

Andre Gray is the founder of Beyondtone. He is expanding creative communication means for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community, so members of his community have a voice in documentary, podcasts and virtual reality. His main project is developing a Deaf artist film camp in Portland involving American Signers from all over the country.

Andre also collaborates with organizations like the Portland Deaf Film Festival, Art Collective That, and Abused Deaf Women Advocacy Service as a board member or director. 

Karim spent his formative years outside the US, living in Egypt before moving to Oregon in 2007 to study landscape architecture. 

Karim is passionate about amplifying civic engagement, particularly in the urban environment. He loves cities and believes in the power of community media to positively impact Portland's social, political, and physical landscape. Karim is motivated to serve the Open Signal community, supporting citizenship as a visible, vocal, active process. 

Jessica Lagunas was born in México and has lived in Portland, OR since 2004. For several years, she has worked as the Creative Director of the collective IdeAL PDX of Latino Artists, strengthening the growing network of artists of all disciplines. She is also Latino Network's Arts and Culture's lead associate and coordinates the program Studio Latino. 

She believes that change begins with self-love, and through our transformation, we can lead others to reach their desired changes and ultimately create a better environment for all people.

Evelyn is a native Oregonian, and is involved with many community organizations and causes, including United Way Tools for Independence Vision Council, JOIN, Living Stages, Theatre of the Oppressed, Micro-Enterprise Services of Oregon and Colored Pencils Art & Culture.

She has served as Vice-Chair for Diversity Initiatives at Daimler Trucks North America, as well as holding positions with Portland State University, PacifiCorp, Legacy Health Systems and Haimoff International Jewelers.

Fiona McCann is a journalist and writer based in Portland. She is currently Senior Editor-at-Large at Portland Monthly. Previously she’s worked at social media news agency Storyful, the Irish Times newspaper, Reuters news agency, and RTE, Ireland’s national broadcaster.

Dawn is the Festival Director of the Hollywood Theatre's Portland EcoFilm Festival, the largest environmental film festival in the Pacific Northwest. Dawn also manages the Hollywood Theatre's Fiscal Sponsorship Program, which supports the production of independent films.

Dawn is also a documentary filmmaker whose work includes films for exhibits at Alaska’s Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center and the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, as well as political campaign ads for Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty.

Tyesha is the Director and co-creator of Stream PDX, a community podcast and storytelling studio. She brings a passion for the unique way in which audio can be used to tell completing stories and connecting with people in a deeply personal way.

A native Oregonian and mother or two, Tyesha is also an active member of the Portland tech, startup, and design communities, having worked with many local companies and agencies as an Experience Design consultant and mentor.