Equity Training Manager

503.823.5582 Yolanda.Sanchez@portlandoregon.gov 

Yolanda Sánchez’s passion for social justice and equity grew out of her lived experience as an immigrant indigenous woman overcoming intergenerational poverty. Born in Mexico and raised in Portland, she is bicultural and bilingual in English and Spanish and understands Mixtec, a native Mexican language. Yolanda has faced discrimination and systemic injustices throughout her life and has experienced firsthand feeling invisible and lacking a sense of belonging. Through her struggles, she has demonstrated resiliency, and she hopes that her work will deepen people’s understanding of racial inequity while highlighting the resiliency of Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color (BIPOC).

Yolanda holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Portland State University and has a background in social services and community education. She has led culturally responsive educational trainings on a variety of topics including drug, alcohol, and crime prevention. Yolanda’s previous professional experience gave her perspectives and insights into the lives of domestic violence and sexual assault survivors, ethnically-diverse youth facing economic hardship, the undocumented community and migrant workers.

In the Office of Equity and Human Rights, she is responsible for facilitating Equity 101 Training for City staff and consulting on how to incorporate an equity lens in policy and program designs.

Interesting facts about Yolanda? She has finished a marathon, the Hood to Coast relay race, and she doesn’t drink coffee. In addition to her large extended family, she has a husband, two cats, and two chickens.