BEAVERTON, Ore. — Results from the Beaverton School Board election came in Monday night and three of the newly-elected members are women of color. Their addition to the school board is another step toward added diversity and representation in a school district with more than half of its student population identifying as people of color.
Four positions were up for grabs on the board. Susan Greenberg was re-elected, but the three other positions are made up of these three newcomers: Ugonna Enyinnaya, Sunita Garg, and Dr. Karen Pérez-Da Silva.
“We are in this amazing position right now," said Pérez-Da Silva. "In the Beaverton School District we have three highly qualified women of color who ran an amazing race. We have an experienced CPA in Sunita. We have lawyer in Ugonna. We have a doctor in education in me."
Despite her more than 16 years working in education, she said for a long time she never thought of becoming a school board member.
“I never thought I could. I hadn’t seen people that looked like me that were represented in our school boards,” she said.
Although Pérez-Da Silva said she did take notice of and began following Donna Tyner. Tyner decided not to pursue re-election to the school board. She identifies as African American and a person of color. Tyner, who is also a founding member of the Oregon School Board Members of Color Caucus, said she was the first African American elected to the school board about eight years ago.
Pérez-Da Silva’s volunteer campaign manager, Stephanie Welgan, said in a school district with so many families of color, there needed to be more representation.
“We were all teachers with Karen at Barnes Elementary School and we watched her and other people of color come up in our school district and then […] see them get passed over for leadership, honestly,” said Welgan.
Welgan said the volunteer team helping Pérez-Da Silva started as a group of six friends and teachers, then expanded to parents, then students. She said the effort grew organically.
Meantime, Sunita Garg’s volunteer campaign manager said she made a decision to commit to helping candidates of color.
“You don’t see a lot of folks running or even volunteering or even frankly campaign managers that are from communities of color,” said Chrissy Erguiza, Sunita Garg’s volunteer campaign manager.
“It’s just a very exciting time in Beaverton,” she said.
“When kids can find somebody that can understand where they’re coming from, what their experience has been, it helps them feel comfortable with their skin,” said Garg.
Garg said she is excited to begin working alongside people of diverse backgrounds.
Beaverton City Councilor, Nadia Hasan, was just elected to her seat in November. She said there’s more representation than ever in Washington County.
“In November 2020, Washington County had several elections across the county and across the city specifically," Hasan said. "We actually voted [in] six different people of color that had run for office, all highly qualified, all highly intelligent."
Washington County is one of the most diverse counties in Oregon and Hasan said she and County Commissioner Nafisa Fai were the first Muslim women to be elected.
“We said we’re going to be the first, but we will not be the last,” said Hasan. "It gives me so much hope for the change we can have in Beaverton and in Washington County."
That sentiment is mirrored among her other elected officials of color, hoping their success may help others access the same, so more people in the community will have a voice and representation.
“I hope that it would inspire others to do the same, to come forward and get involved with the community because there’s a lot we can do together,” Garg said.
“It’s not about being a person of color or White, it’s about what are we gonna do for our community and what perspectives we have at the table,” said Pérez-Da Silva.
She said a more diverse school board representing a diverse student body isn’t limited to race.
“There’s ethnicity, gender, gender expression, religious beliefs, there’s immigration status, there’s language, there’s so much richness in the different identities,” she said.
At the end of the day, more perspectives will now be represented on the Beaverton School Board. Of the seven members, there will now be three new women of color and an existing board member, Becky Tymchuk, who identifies as Native American.
We tried to get in touch with Ugonna Enyinnaya but schedules didn’t line up. She sent us a statement saying, “The voters knew we needed a change and I’m so happy they have trusted me to help guide that change. We know that representation matters - as a Black immigrant woman with a masters in law and and an MBA, I know I bring the qualifications and expertise we need to serve our students. I’m a mother to a son who has struggled in this pandemic — I know what our kids need and I’m here to partner with communities to make sure they have it”.