Pronouns: She / Her / Hers
Lindy brings to MRG more than 30 years of experience in non-profit finance and administration. She served on the MRG Board of Directors, Grantmaking Committee and has volunteered and worked for organizations that have received funding from MRG for much of her work life. Prior to joining our team, Lindy worked at the Community Cycling Center, Partnership for Safety and Justice, and River Network.
Pronouns: She / Her / Ella
As a bilingual, bisexual, Jewish, Latina daughter of an immigrant, Dena Zaldúa’s passion for social justice is both very personal and the driving force behind her 20-year career working mostly in philanthropy with non-profits and educational institutions. She has found a home for her calling to bring about a just and joyful world in her work as the Development Director for the MRG Foundation. As Development Director, Dena is honored to manage the fundraising programs of MRG, working closely with donors, board, staff, and volunteers to raise the funds to be granted to the radical, cutting edge, and grassroots social justice grantees of MRG.
Before joining MRG, Dena was the Operations Manager for the Center for the Study of Women in Society at the University of Oregon. Prior to that, she was Development Director at Parenting Now and Associate Director of Development at the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Dena also works as a consultant to help individuals, groups, and organizations check their race, class, gender, and other privileges and learn how to truly walk the talk of equity and justice. Dena earned a BA in Art History and Women’s Studies from Williams College, and is a member of Hispanics in Philanthropy and the Williams College Latinx and Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Alumni Associations.
Dena lives and works remotely in Eugene with her son. Dena started in March 2019.
Tova is passionate about bringing communities together and guiding them towards action for real change. She has realized this passion through a collection of diverse professional pursuits including: serving as a Community Organizer and Communications Director for Oregon Rural Action, in La Grande, working for the Gifford Pinchot Task Force, Defend Oregon, and Bark in Portland, and volunteering for different organizations in Peru, Guatemala, and Israel. These experiences have broadened Tova’s perspective, shown her the value of supporting change-makers, and inspired her to become an MRG Foundation Grantmaker.
Colin is a Filipino-American who has called Oregon home since 1994. His career in social justice activism began at the University of Oregon in 2011 where he studied Political Science. During his time in Eugene, Oregon, Colin was integral in progressive politics and coalition building for social justice issues, and worked with the Oregon United for Marriage to win the freedom for same-sex couples to marry in Oregon. His intersectional approach to social justice movement building for a better tomorrow is what brought him close to MRG Foundation.
Shaun (He/Him) works in solar energy sales and marketing. He graduated from Southern Oregon University where he studied business, environmental studies, and corporate sustainability. In 2011, he studied renewable energy in Germany. In 2012, while Director of Sustainability for Student Government, he led the establishment of the SOU Green Fund to invest student dollars into local energy, water, and campus sustainability projects. The fund has helped establish three new solar installations on campus and launched the SOU Center for Sustainability.
Alaí Reyes-Santos is an assistant professor of Ethnic Studies at University of Oregon and an internationally recognized activist-scholar with particular expertise around migration, Haitian-Dominican and Dominican-Puerto Rican relations, and racial and gender dynamics in the Caribbean and its U.S. diasporas. Born in Puerto Rico, Alaí combines her passion for research into social injustice with active participation in movements for equitable access to public education, peace, and migrant labor rights. Alaí earned her PhD at UC San Diego and has been involved with a number of social justice groups, including Community Alliance of Lane County, Basic Rights Oregon, and INTEGRA, a network of anti-racist scholars and organizations based in Mexico City.
Penny has volunteered for MRG Foundation since 2000 as a general fund grantmaker, critical response and travel fund grantmaker, and a development support advisor. Penny has lived with her family at “The Hill,” a managed forest in Lookingglass, Southwest Oregon for over 40 years. She was a founder of Umpqua Watersheds and served as the first executive director for over 14 years, retiring from Umpqua Waterseds in 2007. She continues as a volunteer on the organization’s Outside In Corps of Advisors. When she’s not at “The Hill” Penny resides in Cahuita, Limon, Costa Rica with her husband John.
Connie has been concerned with issues of social and economic justice since first working with homeless Latina immigrants in the late 1980s. With the Rogue Valley chapter of Oregon Action, she worked on single payer, living wage, and affordable housing campaigns. As a founder and current board member of the Multicultural Association of Southern Oregon, she advocates around issues of discrimination and spends most of her volunteer time supporting MASO’s independent community radio station, KSKQ, and developing it as a viable tool for local communication and social change.
